/  \ 

(JL 


BKi' ' V  M A. 


-Yv£ 

THE 


SOLDIER    OF    INDIANA 


IN    THE 


WAR    FOR    THE    UNION, 


Let  all  the  ends  thou  aimst  at  be  thy  country's, 
Thy  God's,  and  truth's."—  SHAKSPEARE. 


INDIANAPOLIS : 
MERRILL    AND    COMPANY. 

1869. 


-5 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by 

MERRILL  AND  COMPANY, 
in  the,  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Indian* 


INDIANAPOLIS,     INDIANA: 
STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BT    DOUGLASS   &   CONNEB. 


r     r 


PREFACE. 


IT  would  be  but  an  act  of  common  courtesy  to  make  public  acknowledge 
ment  of  the  kindness  of  those  individuals  who  have  furnished  material  for 
the  second  volume  of  the  "Indiana  Soldier";  but,  as  their  name  is  legion, 
and  the  volume  has  grown  to  a  disproportionate  size,  the  grateful  duty 
must,  however  unwillingly,  be  omitted.  From  Adjutant-General  Terrell 
and  the  Major-Generals  of  the  State  down  to  the  mother  or  sister  of  the 
private  who  died  "in  the  service,"  information  has  been  obligingly  offered, 
as  well  as  promptly  given  in  response  to  inquiry.  Thanks  the  most  sin 
cere  and  cordial  are  their  due. 

Apology  must  be  made  for  the  omission  of  several  biographical  or  memo 
rial  sketches,  many  interesting  incidents,  valuable  letters,  and  narratives 
of  prison  life,  also  for  the  compression  to  which  others  have  been  subjected. 
No  doubt,  too,  notwithstanding  the  most  solicitous  care,  mistakes  have  been 
made  in  names,  dates,  and  even  in  the  narration  of  events.  Let  the  follow 
ing  story  mitigate  the  indignation  of  those  who  discover  errors: 

A  few  years  ago  Professor  J.  D.  Butler,  formerly  a  member  of  the  faculty 
of  Wabash  College,  while  looking  over  a  file  of  old  Hartford  newspapers, 
discovered  in  the  Commercial  Courant  of  September,  1777,  the  following  ad- 
yertisement : 

"TWENTY  DOLLARS  REWARD. 

"  Stolen  from  me,  the  subscriber,  at  Wallumscoik,  in  the  time  of  action, 
the  16th  of  August  last,  a  brown  mare,  five  years  old;  had  a  star  in  her 
forehead ;  also,  a  doeskin-seated  saddle,  blue  housing  trimmed  with  white, 
and  a  curbed  bridle. 

"It  is  earnestly  requested  of  all  committees  of  safety,  and  others  in  au 
thority,  to  exert  themselves  to  recover  said  thief  and  mare,  so  that  he  may 
be  brought  to  justice,  and  the  mare  brought,  to  me;  and  the  person,  whoever 
he  be,  shall  receive  the  above  reward  for  both,  and  for  the  mare  alone, 
over  one-half  that  sum.  How  scandalous,  how  disgraceful  and  ignominious 
must  it  appear  to  all  friendly  and  generous  souls  to  have  such  sly,  artful, 


-f  2 


PREFACE. 

designing  villains  enter  into  the  field  of  battle  in  order  to  pillage,  pilfer 
and  plunder  from  their  brethren  when  engaged  in  battle. 

"JOHN  STARK, 
" Bennington,  llth  Sept.,  1777.  "J3.  D.  G." 

This  old  scrap  enabled  Professor  Butler  to  correct  a  blunder  into  which 
Headley,  Everett,  Irving,  Spencer  and  other  historians  had  fallen.  Head- 
ley  says:  "  Stark' s  horse  sank  under  him."  Everett  writes:  "The  Gen 
eral's  horse  was  killed  in  the  action."  Irving's  words  are:  "The  veteran 
had  a  horse  shot  under  him." 

The  false  inference  was  owing  to  the  postscript  of  a  letter  written  by 
General  Stark  immediately  after  the  battle:  "I  lost  my  horse  in  the 
action." 

It  may  be  added  that  Mr.  Everett  paid  over  to  Professor  Butler  the  re 
ward  offered  for  the  horse,  in  the  shape  of  books  for  the  library  of  what  was 
then  the  Professor's  parish.  "Seldom,"  says  the  latter,  "are  debts  for 
'dead  horses'  collected  so  successfully,  especially  after  they  have  been  half 
a  century  outlawed." 

Surely  if  such  patient  and  careful  students,  such  excellent  and  renowned 
writers  as,  at  least,  Everett  and  Irving,  are  so  easily  misled,  the  inexpe 
rienced  may  be  very  kindly,  very  charitably  judged. 


*"** 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA 

IN  THE 

WAR  FOR  THE  UNION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

NORTH  OF  THE  OHIO. 

"0,  gentlemen,  the  time  of  life  is  short; 
To  spend  that  shortness  basely  were  too  long 
If  life  did  ride  upon  a  dial's  point, 
Still  ending  at  the  arrival  of  an  hour." — Shakspeare. 

GOVERNOR  MORTON,  after  having  fairly  commenced  form 
ing  military  organizations,  continued  the  work  throughout 
the  war,  without  any  special  reference  to  Presidential  procla 
mations.  There  was  no  time,  in  consequence,  when  recruit 
ing  was  not  going  on  in  Indiana,  and  no  exigency  for  which 
there  was  not  preparation,  although  it  might  be,  and  fre 
quently  was,  inadequate.. 

The  demands  of  the  summer  of  1862  were  enormous. 
The  tramp  of  armies  advancing  over  Kentucky  was  a  por 
tentous  sound  to  the  people  of  Indiana;  and,  without  any 
voice  from  the  Executive,  was  an  imperative  call  to  the  field. 
Additional  incentives  reached  the  head  of  affairs. 

The  following  dispatch  to  Governor  Morton  from  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  marked  "Private  and  Confidential,"  and  writ 
ten  the  day  after  the  Proclamation  for  three  hundred  thou  > 
sand  troops,  is  of  earlier  date  than  the  Rebel  advance: 

"  WASHINGTON,  July  3,  1862. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR: — I  would  not  want  the  half  of  three  hun 
dred  thousand  new  troops  if  I  could  have  them  now.  If  I 


2  THE  SOLtftSa  OF  INDIANA. 

had  fifty  thousand  additional  troops  noiv,  I  believe  I  could 
substantially  close  the  war  in  two  weeks;  but  time  is  every 
thing,  and  if  I  get  fifty  thousand  new  men  in  a  month  I  shall 
have  lost  twenty  thousand  old  ones  during  the  same  month, 
having  gained  only  thirty  thousand,  with  the  difference  be 
tween  old  and  new  troops  still  against  me.  The  quicker 
you  raise,  the  fewer  you  will  have  to  send.  Time  is  every 
thing.  Please  act  in  view  of  this.  The  enemy  having  given 
up  Corinth,  it  is  not  wonderful  he  is  thereby  enabled  to 
check  us  for  a  time  at  Richmond. 

"  Yours  truly,  A.  LINCOLN." 

General  Boyle,  in  command  at  Louisville,  from  the  hour 
the  Rebels  crossed  the  Southern  border  of  Kentucky,  until 
he  had  hold  of  the  hand  of  General  Buell,  did  not  cease  to 
pour  along  the  telegraph  line  to  Indianapolis  vociferous  and 
distressful  cries  for  help. 

"  Send  to-morrow  all  the  troops  you  can." 

"  If  Indiana  and  Ohio  do  not  pour  in  their  troops,  Ken 
tucky  will  be  overrun,  and  may  be  irretrievably  lost." 

"Any  delay  will  be  disastrous." 

"  We  need  every  man  you  have  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment." 

"I  hope  the  patriot  soldiers  of  Indiana  will  not  wait  for 
bounties.  Our  State  will  be  overrun  if  they  do,  and  your 
own  borders  desolated." 

"  Kentucky  needs  every  soldier  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illi 
nois.  It  is  no  use  to  apply  to  Governor  Todd." 

"  Hurry  forward  your  regiments.  I  fear  the  Devil  is  to 
pay.  Tell  Governor  Yates  to  wake  up." 

General  Boyle's  solicitations  were  enforced  by  both  Gen 
eral  Halleck  and  General  Buell, — the  one  requesting,  the 
other  ordering  Governor  Morton  to  send  troops  at  the  earliest 
possible  hour  into  Kentucky. 

Military  and  civil  authorities  strained  every  nerve  to  meet 
the  emergency.  Nevertheless,  recruiting  was  up-hill  work. 
The  first  ardor  of  uncalculating  enthusiasm  was  utterly 
blown  away.  In  its  place  stood  cool  reflection,  representing 
the  consequences  of  neglect  of  business,  or  loss  of  opportu- 


THE  DEPARTURE.  3 

nity,  the  horrors  of  being  cast  adrift  upon  society,  and  the 
value  to  an  individual  of  his  own  life,  with  its  insignificance 
in  the  mass,  and  the  littleness  of  its  single  results.  The 
tidings  that  the  war  was  rolling  up  to  the  very  doors  of  the 
State  fell  like  ice  upon  hearth  and  heart.  The  end  was 
pushed  back  too  far  to  reckon  upon.  He  who  enlisted  now, 
with  open  eyes  ventured  his  all. 

In  August  the  new  regiments  began  to  move  off,  many  of 
them  previously  concentrating  in  Indianapolis,  a  large  num 
ber  passing  through  the  city. 

Soldiers  were  now  so  common  a  part  of  the  current  of 
activity  that  their  arrival  and  departure,  during  the  day, 
made  little  impression.  But  who  can  forget  their  cheers 
quivering  in  the  night  air,  louder  as  a  train  appeared,  fainter 
as  it  steamed  down  towards  "the  dark  and  bloody  ground?" 
What  sleeper,  roused  at  dead  of  night  during  many  weeks 
by  the  floating,  familiar,  pathetic  sound,  did  not  breathe,  at 
each  awaking,  a  prayer  for  the  hearts  which,  whether  they 
shouted  to  keep  their  courage  up,  or  with  an  irrestrainable 
impulse  of  enthusiasm,  were  equally  plunging  into  an 
unseen  and  terrible  future? 

The  Seventieth,  formed  in  less  than  a  month,  was  the 
first  new  regiment  to  take  the  field.  It  left  Indianapolis  a 
sunny  summer  day,  Wednesday  the  13th  of  August,  moving 
off  in  silence,  or  with  only  a  faint  effort  to  cheer,  feebly  re- 
pponded  to.  In  its  ranks  were  how  many  beloved  ones ! 

One  whose  mother  proudly  said,  when  he  enlisted :  "  I 
could  not  have  felt  that  he  was  my  son,  had  he  hesitated!" 
and  yet  when  she  left  him  the  first  night  in  his  Sibley  tent, 
one  of  twenty  boys  from  town  and  country,  murmured ;  "  If 
I  could  but  lie  on  the  ground,  all  night,  on  the  outside  of  his 
tent, — anywhere  to  be  near  him!" 

One,  whose  father  had  refused  consent,  until  an  officer 
gently  repeated:  "For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

One,  who  replied  to  a  remonstrance,  based  on  the  future 
needs  of  his  infant  son :  "  The  child  that  could  grow  up  to 


4  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

be  a  bad  man,  knowing  that  his  father  had  died  for  his  coun 
try,  would  be  bad  in  spite  of  any  training  or  care." 

"  It's  a  noble  duty,"  cried  a  mother  to  one  of  the  color- 
guard.  "  My  son,  you  will  be  faithful." 

Poor  country-women,  with  babies  in  their  arms,  had  no 
hands  to  wipe  away  the  drenching  tears. 

"Be  kind  to  him,"  plead  a  young  wife  of  her  husband's 
Captain5  "  and  oh,  if — "  but  her  shuddering  lips  refused  to 
form  the  words. 

"  She  means,"  said  her  mother,  leaning  against  a  wall  for 
support,  "if  it  should  come  to  the  worst,  you  must  promise 
us  to  send  him  home.  We  are  poor,  but  he  shaynt  be  bur 
ied — "  and  her  voice  too  gave  way.  "  Never  fear  for  him," 
answered  the  Captain,  glancing  at  the  fine  young  fellow,  who 
was  the  object  of  their  solicitude.  Nevertheless  he  promised. 

The  forid  women  saw  their  soldier  in  less  than  six  months. 

He  came  to  them  stark  and  cold,  in  one  of  the  long  boxes 
which  traveled  daily  from  Kentucky  hospitals  to  Indianapolis. 

Under  Colonel  Ben.  Harrison  the  Seventieth  went  to  Bow 
ling  Green,  where  not  being  in  the  way  of  Buell,  or  Bragg, 
or  Smith,  or  Morgan,  or  Forrest,  it  staid. 

As  fast  as  they  were  formed  and  before  they  were  fully 
officered,  other  regiments  followed. 

General  Wallace  was  at  the  time  stumping  Southern  Indi 
ana,  in  favor  of  enlistments,  having  had  a  leave  of  absence 
prolonged  for  that  purpose,  at  Governor  Morton's  request. 
He  quit  speaking  and  volunteered  to  lead  one  of  the  new 
regiments  into  Kentucky.  Accordingly  he  was  intrusted 
with  the  command  of  the  Sixty-Sixth,  then  in  rendezvous 
near  New  Albany.  Hastily  completing  the  organization,  he 
marched  to  Louisville,  thence  to  Lexington,  at  the  request 
of  General  Boyle,  taking  command  of  all  the  troops  at  that 
point. 

The  Seventy- First,  Colonel  Topping;  the  Sixty- Ninth, 
Colonel  Bickle;  with  the  Twelfth,  Colonel  Link,  and  the 
Sixteenth,  Colonel  Lucas,  lately  reorganized,  also  went  to 
Lexington.  The  Seventy-Third,  Colonel  Hathaway,  fol 
lowed.  The  Sixty- Seventh,  Colonel  Emerson ;  the  Sixty- 
Eighth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  King,  of  the  Nineteenth  Regu- 


TWENTY  REGIMENTS  TO  KENTUCKY.  5 

lars,  and  the  Eighty-Ninth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Craven,  were 
thrown  forward  to  Munfordsville, 

The  Seventy-Second,  General  Dumont;  Seventy-Fourth, 
Colonel  Chapman;  Seventy-Fifth,  Colonel  Petit;  Seventy- 
Ninth,  Colonel  Kneffler;  Eighty-First,  Colonel  Caldwcll; 
Eighty-Second,  Colonel  Hunter;  Eighty- Seventh,  Colonel 
Shryock,  Eighty-Eighth,  Colonel  Humphrey,  with  Lilly's 
battery,  the  Eighteenth,  and  Harris'  battery,  the  Nineteenth, 
swelled  the  ranks  of  the  army  of  the  Ohio. 

Six  companies  of  the  Fourth  Cavalry,  Colonel  Gray,  were 
scattered  to  different  points,  but  chiefly  to  Madison,  Indiana, 
and  Louisville,  Kentucky  ;  while  four  companies,  Major  Plat 
ter,  followed  the  Sixty-Fifth,  Colonel  Foster,  to  Henderson, 
Kentucky,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  guerrillas  were  numerous. 
The  Seventy- Sixth,  raised  and  prepared  for  the  field  in  forty- 
eight  hours  by  Colonel  Gavin  and  Colonel  Wilder,  closed  an 
active  service  of  thirty  days,  near  Henderson,  just  before  the 
arrival  of  Colonel  Foster.  The  Ninety- First,  which  con 
sisted  of  a  battalion  of  seven  companies  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Mehringer,  also  went  to  Henderson,  whence  detach 
ments  were  sent  to  Smithland  and  Madisonville.. 

So  promptly  and  fully  did  Indiana  answer  the  demand 
which  was  made  upon  her,  that  she  gave  twenty  regiments 
to  the  relief  of  Kentucky,  while  Ohio  in  the  same  period, 
and  in  response  to  the  same  call,  sent  but  eight,  and  Illinois 
contributed  but  one. 

The  troops,  thus  hastily  thrown  forward  were  not  only  un 
fit  for  battle,  because  entirely  undrilled  and  uninstructed,  but 
many  of  them  were  unprovided  for  the  march  and  the  bivouac, 
being  without  tents,  haversacks,  knapsacks,  and  canteens. 
It  was  with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  they  were  allowed 
to  depart  in  so  unprepared  a  condition ;  and  not  without 
many  warm  expressions  of  anxiety  transmitted  by  Governor 
Morton  to  General  Boyle.  The  gruff  Kentuckian  replied, 
that  ';  Kirby  Smith's  men  were  without  tents  and  we  must 
stand  what  these  devils  do." 

It  will  be  remembered,  indeed  can  Indiana  ever  forget  it, 
that  several  of  our  raw  regiments,  thrown  forward,  apparently 
without  an  object,  on  the  route  of  an  approaching  enemy, 


6  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  posted  at  Richmond,  with  the  Kentucky  river  at  their 
back,  suffered  a  crushing  defeat.  Why  they  were  so  strangely 
exposed  it  is  necessary  to  explain,  before  following  the  officer 
at  whose  command  they  had  advanced,  to  another  part  of 
the  field. 

After  Colonel  Scott's  easy  victory  over  Colonel  Metcalfe 
at  Big  Hill,  he  pushed  up  about  twenty  miles,  beyond  his 
support,  and  within  four  miles  of  Richmond.  It  was  an 
audacious  venture,  and  General  Wallace  determined  to  take 
advantage  of  it,  by  throwing  his  whole  force  by  night 
marches,  on  the  daring  Rebel,  his  cavalry  on  the  rear,  his  in 
fantry  on  the  front.  Whether  he  should  succeed  or  fail  he 
proposed  to  follow  up  the  movement  by  a  cavalry  reconnoi- 
sance,  with  infantry  support,  towards  London  and  Mount 
Vernon.  He  calculated  that  he  would  in  the  end  make  a 
stand  behind  the  Kentucky,  and  before  he  set  his  expedition 
in  motion,  he  ordered  the  assembling  at  Lexington  of  all  the 
able-bodied  negroes  of  Fayette,  Jessamine  and  Madison 
counties,  with  the  view  to  intrenching  along  the  river.  He 
then  started  his  troops  forward,  and  was  mounting  his  horse 
to  follow,  when  General  Nelson  appeared  and  relieved  him 
of  the  command. 

Wallace  imparted  all  the  information  in  his  possession  in 
regard  to  the  enemy's  movements,  detailed  his  plan  to  entrap 
the  rebel  cavalry  ;  andr  fearful  of  misfortune,  unwilling  to  lose 
the  opportunity  to  retrieve  Metcalfe's  disaster,  and  prompted 
by  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  Sixty-Sixth  Indiana,  which  he  had 
undertaken  to  command  until  its  Colonel  could  be  regularly 
appointed,  he  offered  his  services  in  any  capacity,  to  General 
Nelson,  who  being  his  inferior  in  rank,,  had  no  authority  to 
detain  him.  Neither  the  plan  nor  the  offer  was  acceptable 
to  Nelson.  He  immediately  recalled  the  troop  of  horse* 
although  he  unaccountably  allowed  the  infantry  to  pursue  its 
march. 

General  Wallace  having  nothing  to  do,  now  left  the  front 
and  went  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  immediately  began  to  make 
preparations  to  return  to  his  old  division  at  Memphis.  He 
was  convinced  that  in  volunteering  to  render  services  out  of 
the  regular  line  of  duty  one  endangers  his  reputation  with- 


"RETURN  TO  CINCINNATI."  7 

out  getting  any  thanks,  and  he  thought  the  sooner  he  left  the 
disturbed  department  of  the  Ohio  the  better. 
A  telegram  was  brought  to  him  : 

"  LEXINGTON,  KY.,  September  1,  1862. 
"Major  General  Leiv.  Wallace  : 

"Please  come  down  immediately  to  take  command  of  the 
troops  in  this  vicinity. 

H.  G.  WRIGHT, 
Major  General  Commanding." 

General  Wright  was  also  his  inferior  in  rank,  but  conjec 
turing  that  some  disaster  had  occurred,  Wallace  forgot  his 
reflections,  waived  etiquette  and  was  on  the  road  to  Lexing 
ton  in  an  hour.  It  subsequently  appeared  that  the  troops  at 
Richmond  had  been  surrendered  and  killed  or  dispersed,  and 
his  services  were  desired  to  get  the  public  stores  from  Lex 
ington,  and  to  conduct  the  retreat  of  the  remnant  of  the 
force  to  Louisville.  Midway  of  the  journey,  at  Paris,  an 
other  dispatch  made  him  face  about.  From  the  same  officer 
and  place,  it  ran :  "  Return  to  Cincinnati.  Take  command 
of  the  troops  there  and  at  Covington." 

Cincinnati  was  wholly  without  defenses;  and  it  had  no 
soldiers,  nor  arms,  nor  gunboats,  nor  munitions,  nor  material 
of  any  kind.  In  the  extraordinary  emergency  General  Wal 
lace  resorted  to  extraordinary  measures.  A  city  of  two 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants  could,  and  should,  be  made  to 
defend  itself.  He  proclaimed  martial  law,  suspended  busi 
ness,  seized  whatever  was  required,  and  sent  the  whole 
working  population  across  the  Ohio  to  intrench  the  hills 
around  Newport  and  Covjngton.  His  proclamation  ap 
peared  in  all  the  papers  on  Tuesday,  September  2d: 

PROCLAMATION. 

"The  undersigned,  by  order  of  Major  General  Wright, 
assumes  command  of  Cincinnati,  Covington  and  Newport. 

"  It  is  but  fair  to  inform  the  citizens  that  an  active,  daring, 
and  powerful  enemy  threatens  them  with  every  consequence 
of  war;  yet  the  cities  must  be  defended,  and  their  inhabi 
tants  must  assist  in  the  preparation. 


8  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"  Patriotism,  duty,  honor,  self-preservation  call  them  to  the 
labor,  and  it  must  be  performed  equally  by  all  classes. 

"First.  All  business  must  be  suspended  at  nine  o'clock 
to-day.  Every  business  house  must  be  closed. 

"  Second.  Under  the  direction  of  the  Mayor  the  citizens 
must,  within  an  hour  after  the  suspension  of  business,  (ten 
o'clock  A.  M.,)  assemble  in  convenient  public  places  ready  for 
orders.  As  soon  as  possible  they  will  then  be  assigned  to 
their  work. 

"  This  labor  ought  to  be  that  of  love,  and  the  undersigned 
trusts  and  believes  it  is  so.  Anyhow,  it  must  be  done. 

"The  willing  shall  be  properly  credited;  the  unwilling 
promptly  visited.  The  principle  adopted  is,  citizens  for  the 
labor,  soldiers  for  the  battle. 

"  Third.  The  ferry  boats  will  cease  plying  the  river  after 
four  o'clock  A.  M.  until  further  orders. 

"Martial  law  is  hereby  proclaimed  in  the  three  cities;  but 
until  they  can  be  relieved  by  the  military,  the  injunctions  of 
this  proclamation  will  be  executed  by  the  police. 

LEWIS  WALLACE, 
Major  General  Commanding." 

The  wisdom  of  the  regulations,  together  with  the  bold, 
imperative  language  in  which  they  were  proclaimed,  dis 
pelled  a  consternation  and  dismay,  which  throughout  the 
previous  day  and  night  had  been  profound. 

Unexpectedly  Kirby  Smith's  column  stopped  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Lexington,  and  his  troops  employed  themselves 
foraging  and  in  establishing  a  depot  of  supplies  at  Camp 
Dick  Robinson,  giving  to  Wallace  time  to  organize  his  im 
mense  force  of  citizens, — -some  to  fight,  the  rest  to  work. 

It  was  a  rare  sight  which  the  3d  of  September  presented; 
shops  closed,  manufactories  silent,  courts  and  colleges 
empty,  ten  thousand  men  issuing  from  mansion  and  tene 
ment,  shouldering  their  spades,  crossing  the  Ohio  from  Cin 
cinnati,  joining  the  citizens  of  Covington  and  Newport,  and 
bending  their  backs  in  fellowship, — the  banker  and  the  rag 
man,  the  Irishman  and  the  negro^^-to  the  great  business  of 


FORTIFYING  CINCINNATI.  9 

the  hour,  intrenching,  with  the  promise  of  wages,  a  dollar  a 
day! 

The  defence  of  Cincinnati  from  a  foe  approaching  from 
the  South,  requires  a  great  line  of  works,  extending  semi- 
circularly  round  Newport  and  Covington ;  a  large  army  to 
man  the  works,  and  a  fleet  of  gunboats  to  patrol  the  Ohio 
river  in  the  event  it  is  so  low  as  to  be  fordable,  which  was 
now  the  case. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war  General  O.  M%  Mitchell 
began  and  nearly  completed  several  redoubts,  designed 
chiefly  to  cover  the  important  roads  of  approach  from  the 
South.  On  the  Lexington  turnpike  he  threw  up  quite  a 
pretentious  little  bastioned  fort,  which  was  now  named,  in 
remembrance  of  him,  Fort  Mitchell. 

With  a  party  of  engineers  Wallace  rode  two  days,  tracing 
lines  for  fortifications. 

As  to  an  army  to  man  the  works,  Cincinnati  alone,  besides 
the  immense  working  parties,  furnished  eleven  regiments  of 
fighting  men,  who  marched  over  and  took  position  in  the 
trenches  and  on  the  lines.  Militia  from  other  parts  of  the 
State  reported  in  thousands,  and  were  for  the  most  part  as 
signed  to  what  was  known  as  the  River.  Defences.  As  soon 
as  a  company  or  regiment  was  organized  and  armed,  it  was 
put  on  a  boat  or  on  the  cars  and  sent  to  guard  the  fords. 
To  patrol  the  river  and  assist  the  militia  in  holding  the  fords 
a  flotilla  of  sixteen  steamboats  was  organized,  each  protected 
by  bales  of  hay  and  armed  with  two  guns.  The  mechanics 
of  Cincinnati  threw  a  pontoon  bridge  over  the  Ohio  between 
Cincinnati  and  Covington,  accomplishing  the  task  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  A  precisely  similar  structure  thrown  across  the 
river  at  Paducah  by  Fremont  required  about  eight  weeks. 

Miles  Greenwood  turned  over  a  number  of  guns  just  from 
his  foundry,  but  there  was  an  alarming  deficiency  in  arms 
and  but  a  small  supply  of  ammunition. 

A  requisition  was  made  upon  the  Governor  of  Ohio,  at 
Columbus,  for  arms  and  ammunition,  but  it  received  no 
attention.  He  was  engrossed  in  the  work  of  furnishing 
men.  In  the  dilemma  recourse  was  had  to  the  Governor  of 


10  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

Indiana.  The  response  was  immediate  :  "  Your  requisition 
filled.  Indiana  has  plenty.  Send  on  your  orders." 

Fifteen  hours  from  the  receipt  of  the  requisition  by  Gov 
ernor  Morton,  ninety-three  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  pounds  of  ammunition  for  artillery,  and  three  million 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  rounds  of  small  arms, 
three  thousand  muskets  and  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery 
were  landed  at  Cincinnati  and  Covington,  and  the  artillery 
was  in  position  for  use. 

Governor  Morton  also  diverted  from  the  Kentucky  stream 
and  hurried  to  Cincinnati  five  Indiana  regiments,  the  Eigh 
tieth,  Colonel  Denby;  Eighty-Fourth,  General  Morris; 
Eighty-Fifth,  Colonel  Baird;  Eighty-Sixth,  Colonel  Hamil 
ton;  and  One  Hundred  and  First,  Colonel  Gavin,  with  An 
drews'  battery,  the  Twenty-first. 

So  rapidly  did  volunteers  report  that  Wallace's  informal 
returns  of  September  10th  show  a  force  of  thirty-eight  thou 
sand  men,  all  raw,  but  formidable  behind  works. 

"  If  the  enemy  should  not  come  after  all  this  fuss,"  said 
one  of  his  friends  to  General  Wallace,  "  you  will  be  ruined." 
"Very  well,"  Wallace,  replied,  "but  they  will  come.  If  they 
do  not,  it  will  be  because  this  same  fuss  has  made  them 
think  better  of  it." 

About  the  eighth  of  September  General  Wright  came 
from  Louisville  and  relieved  Wallace  of  everything  but  the 
immediate  command  of  the  troops  and  defences  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  river.  Regarding  the  order  for  the  sus 
pension  of  all  business  unnecessarily  stringent,  Wright  re 
voked  it,  but  after  one  day's  observation,  was  convinced  of 
its  propriety,  and  promulgated  it  again.  He  attempted  no 
other  modification  of  existing  orders. 

On  1he  12th  a  column  of  rebels  under  General  Heath  ap 
peared  in  front  of  Fort  Mitchell  on  the  Lexington  turnpike. 
It  comprised  four  brigades  of  veteran  infantry,  two  regiments 
of  cavalry,  and  field  batteries  in  proportion,  in  all  between 
ten  and  twelve  thousand  men.  Skirmishing  continued  at 
intervals  during  four  days,  Wallace  meantime  eagerly  expect 
ing  battle,  while  with  the  utmost  circumspection  and  caution 
he  made  preparation.  Telegraphic  wires  were  extended  from 


THE  ENEMY  BAFFLED.  H 

his  quarters  to  every  point  of  importance  along  the  lines. 
Troops  lay  in  the  intrenchments  and  remained  at  the  guns 
night  and  day.  The  gunboats  were  concentrated  upon  the 
threatened  flank,  with  a  system  of  signals  carefully  arranged 
that  their  fire  might  be  directed  over  the  bluffs;  five  batteries 
were  planted  on  the  Cincinnati  side  of  the  river,  ready  to 
cover  a  retreat  and  particularly  the  crossing  of  the  pontoon 
bridge  ;  roads  were  cut  and  leveled  to  admit  a  speedy  trans 
fer  of  columns  of  support  from  one  point  of  the  fortifications 
to  another. 

In  view  of  the  completeness  and  excellence  of  the  arange- 
ments  for  the  enemy's  reception,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  on 
the  night  of  September  16th  he  silently  withdrew,  "  without 
even  setting  eyes  on  the  city  he  had  it  in  his  heart  to  sack," 
and  began  a  precipitate  retreat  to  Lexington. 

Wallace  requested  permission  to  organize  five  thousand 
of  his  best  troops,  including  a  brigade  of  veterans  who  had 
just  arrived  under  General  Gordon  Granger,  to  pursue  the 
enemy.  General  Wright,  influenced  by  a  suspicion  that 
Heath's  movement  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  our 
troops  out  of  their  fortifications  into  the  open  field,  declined 
the  proposition. 

At  the  time  of  the  enemy's  disappearance,  Wallace's  force 
behind  the  lines  round  Newport  and  Covington,  amounted 
to  forty-two  thousand  men ;  adding  the  men  who  guarded 
the  fords  and  manned  the  gunboats,  the  number  could  not 
have  amounted  to  less  than  sixty-five  thousand,  a  prodigious 
army  to  be  raised,  equipped,  supplied,  organized  and  placed 
in  position  in  a  little  less  than  fifteen  days. 

The  day  after  the  army,  so  suddenly  and  laboriously  raised, 
was  all  ready  to  march  to  Louisville  to  defend  that  city, 
General  Wallace  was  relieved  from  the  command.  He  took 
leave  of  Cincinnati  in  the  following  address: 

"  For  the  present,  at  least,  the  enemy  has  fallen  back,  and 
your  cities  are  safe.  It  is  the  time  for  acknowledgments. 
I  beg  leave  to  make  you  mine.  '  When  I  assumed  command, 
there  was  nothing  to  defend  you  with,  except  a  few  half-fin 
ished  works  and  some  dismounted  guns ;  yet  I  was  confident. 


12  THE  SOLDIER,  OF  INDIANA. 

The  energies  of  a  great  city  are  boundless;  they  have  only 
to  be  aroused,  united,  and  directed.  You  were  appealed  to. 
The  answer  will  never  be  forgotten.  Paris  may  have  seen 
something  like  it  in  her  revolutionary  days,  but  the  cities  of 
America  never  did.  Be  proud  that  you  have  given  them  an 
exnmple  so  splendid.  The  most  commercial  of  people,  you 
submitted  to  a  total  suspension  of  business,  and  without  a 
murmur  adopted  my  principle,  'Citizens  for  labor,  soldiers 
for  battle.'  In  coming  times,  strangers  viewing  the  works 
on  the  hills  of  Newport  and  Covington  will  ask,  '  Who  built 
these  intrenchments?'  You  can  answer,  '  We  built  them.' 
If  they  ask, '  Who  guarded  them  ? '  you  can  reply, *  We  helped 
in  thousands.'  If  they  inquire  the  result,  your  answer  will 
be,  *  The  enemy  came  and  looked  at  them,  and  stole  away  in 
the  night.'  You  have  won  much  honor.  Keep  your  organi 
zations  ready  to  win  more.  Hereafter  be  always  prepared  to 
defend  yourselves. 

LEWIS  WALLACE. 

Major  General." 

General  A.  J.  Smith  succeeded  to  the  command  of  Cin 
cinnati,  while  General  Wallace  was  ordered  to  Columbus, 
Ohio,  and  placed  in  charge  of  a  camp  of  mutinous  paroled 
prisoners,  with  instructions  to  organize  them  for  service 
against  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest. 

o 

From  the  City  Council  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  Legislature 
of  Ohio,  he  received  formal  votes  of  thanks  "for  the  signal 
service  he  has  rendered  to  the  country  at  large  in  connection 
with  the  army  during  the  war;  and  especially  for  the  prompt 
ness,  energy  and  skill  exhibited  by  him  in  organizing  the 
forces,  planning  the  defence,  and  executing  the  movements 
of  soldiers  and  citizens  under  his  command  at  Cincinnati  in 
August  and  September,  which  prevented  the  Rebel  forces 
under  Kirby  Smith  from  desecrating  the  soil  of  our  noble 
State." 

In  commemoration  of  the  promptness  with  which  the 
Governor  of  Indiana  came  to  their  assistance,  the  citizens  of 
Cincinnati,  after  the  war  was  over,  procured,  by  the  hand  of 
their  favorite  artist,  the  portrait  of  Governor  Morion. 


THE  ENEMY  DISAPPOINTED.  13 

i 

A  few  months  after  the  close  of  the  war  General  Wallace 
met  General  Heath  at  the  Burnet  House,  in  Cincinnati,  and 
spent  an  evening  in  conversation  with  him,  chiefly  in  regard 
to  the  affair  in  which  they  had  been  engaged  and  opposed. 
Heath  stated  that  the  day  before  he  returned  to  Lexington 
he  had  issued  orders  for  an  assault,  and  his  troops  were  in 
motion  to  take  up  their  positions  when  he  received  a  dis 
patch  from  General  Kirby  Smith  ordering  him  to  return 
without  attacking.  This  interference  was  all  that  prevented 
attack.  General  Heath  was  very  confident  of  success.  The 
point  he  had  chosen  for  the  assault  was  between  Fort 
Mitchell  and  the  river.  He  disclaimed  any  intention  to  de 
stroy  the  city,  had  he  taken  it,  and  asserted  that  his  purpose 
was  merely  to  levy  a  contribution.  As  he  would  hardly 
have  been  satisfied  with  less  than  fifteen  or  twenty  millions, 
his  success  would  somewhat  have  impoverished  the  rich  city. 

The  failure  made  the  South  sore  enough.  The  blame, 
however,  fell  not  upon  Smith,  but  upon  Bragg.  "  Had  Gen 
eral  Bragg  done  his  duty  as  well  and  promptly  as  General 
Smith  did,"  declared  the  Atlanta  Intelligencer,  "Louisville 
would  have  been  ours,  Cincinnati  would  have  furnished  us 
supplies,  while  Columbus,  Ohio,  might  have  been  our  head 
quarters.  Then  would  the  Vallandighams  of  Ohio,  and  the 
Brights  of  Indiana,  have  rallied  to  the  issuing  of  General 
Bragg's  noted  proclamation;  then  would  many  thousand 
friends  in  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  Illinois  have  joined  the  South 
ern  army;  then,  too,  could  General  Bragg,  having  cut  off  the 
Western  from  the  Eastern  States,  have  whispered  terms  of 
peace  into  the  Northwestern  ear;  and  then  might  we  reason 
ably  have  hoped  for  peace." 

Had  General  Bragg  done  his  duty,  in  the  Southern  ac 
ceptation  of  the  word,  and  had  Kirby  Smith,  in  conse 
quence,  with  all  his  veterans,  been  free  to  appear  before  the 
coveted  city,  he  would  have  found  himself  mocked  by  the 
living  wall  which  rose  in  its  front.  It  was  that  wall,  more 
than  Bragg's  remissness,  which  baffled  him  now. 

While  the  enemy  still  dallied  before  Cincinnati,  a  long 
train  of  wagons,  with  sanitary  stores,  and  doctors,  and 


J4  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

women  from    our   State,  wound   over   the    Kentucky   hills 
towards  the  scene  of  the  late  struggle. 

On  the  night  of  Sunday,  the  31st  of  August,  Governor 
Morton,  with  such  hospital  supplies  and  assistance  as  he 
could  procure  at  a  moment's  notice,  went  to  Louisville, 
whence  he  proceeded  to  Lexington.  On  his  return,  which 
was  without  delay,  he  empowered  Dr.  Bullard  to  afford  relief 
to  the  hospitals  in  Richmond,  and  to  bring  home  such 
wounded  as  he  should  find  able  to  be  moved,  putting  in  his 
hand  a  sum  amounting  to  one  thousand  dollars,  and  author 
izing  him  to  use  as  much  more  as  would  be  necessary.  Dr. 
Bullard  left  Indianapolis  Sunday  evening,  September  7th. 
He  was  compelled  to  wait  three  and  a  half  days  in  Cincin 
nati  while  the  United  States  and  the  Confederate  authorities 
made  arrangements  for  his  passage  through  the  Rebel  lines. 
During  the  delay  Dr.  McDermot,  Medical  Director  of  the 
United  States  army,  arrived  from  Richmond  to  procure  the 
articles  and  the  assistance  with  which  Dr.  Bullard  was  sup 
plied;  also,  ex-Governor  Dennison  added  ten  ambulances  to 
the  train.  Dr.  McDermot  joined  the  expedition,  which  now 
consisted  of  forty  ambulances,  with  about  sixty  persons, 
drivers,  doctors,  nurses  and  commissaries,  and  a  very  small 
escort.  On  the  llth  it  crossed  the  Ohio  on  the  pontoon 
bridge,  and  a  few  miles  from  the  river  submitted  to  an  hour's 
delay,  until  the  flag  of  truce  had  silenced  the  bullets  which 
constantly  \vhistled  between  the  Union  and  Confederate 
lines,  not  more  than  three  or  four  hundred  yards  apart,  and 
until  a  Confederate  Colonel  appeared  to  conduct  the  train 
through  the  camp.  During  the  delay  a  lively  and  amicable 
conversation  was  carried  on  with  the  Rebels  who  were  on  the 
spot.  They  were  the  flower  of  the  Southern  army,  accord 
ing  to  one  of  the  doctors,  rugged  and  ragged,  without  insig 
nia  of  rank,  or  uniform,  but  all  boasting  some  distinguished 
antecedent  or  high-sounding  title. 

On  the  13th  the  train  entered  Lexington,  finding  there 

^  thirty-seven   wounded,   twenty  of  whom  were   Indianians* 

They  were  overjoyed  to  learn  that  they  were  affectionately 

and  thoughtfully  remembered.     They  had  been  removed  to 

an  old  boarding-house  from  the  fine  large  halls  pf  the  Uni- 


EXPEDITION  TO  RICHMOND.  15 

vcrsity,  which  had  been  appropriated  to  their  use  by  the 
United  States  authorities,  and  had  been  deprived  of  medical 
stores,  beds,  and  bedding,  but  they  had  not  otherwise  been 
ill-treated.  It  was  to  the  interest  of  the  Confederates  to 
conduct  themselves  civilly  in  Kentucky,  as  their  object  was 
as  much  to  convert  as  to  conquer. 

The  train  arrived  at  Richmond  on  the  morning  of  the  15th. 
All  the  public  buildings  and  many  of  the  private  houses  in 
the  village  and  for  miles  around,  were  used  as  hospitals, 
while  three  hundred  wounded  had  been  taken  into  private 
families,  some  of  them  many  miles  distant  in  the  country, 
and  tended  and  entertained  with  the  utmost  kindness.  Evi 
dences  of  unkindness  and  neglect  were  found  in  but  one 
place,  a  young  ladies'  seminary,  which  had  been  appropriated 
as  a  hospital,  and  now  held  ninety-six  patients.  Immedi 
ately  after  the  battle  the  building  was  occupied  by  four  hun 
dred  wounded,  while  the  small  enclosure  round  it  served  as 
a  prison  for  two  thousand  men.  A  large  number  of  ampu 
tations  had  been  made  in  it  and  many  men  had  died.  But 
neither  the  house,  nor  the  inclosure  had  received  the  slightest 
attention  in  regard  to  cleanliness.  Floors  and  walls,  clothes 
and  bedding  were  spattered  with  blood,  and  there  were  am 
putated  limbs  unburied  in  the  yard.  The  sight  was  too  hor 
rible  for  description.  Some  of  the  patients  had  not  been 
washed  since  they  were  wounded.  Some  lay  in  narrow,  dark, 
ill-ventilated  rooms,  while  large  airy  apartments  were  unoc 
cupied.  The  new-comers,  with  water  and  soap,  and  good 
sense,  soon  affected  an  almost  magical  change. 

Dr.  Bullard,  speaking  in  that  gentle,  flexible  voice,  and 
touching  the  sufferer  with  that  tender  hand,  which  those  who 
have  been  his  patients  love  to  remember,  went  from  bed  to 
bed,  from  room  to  room,  and  from  house  to  house.  The  other 
physicians  were  not  less  attentive. 

On  the  17th  the  train,  with  all  the  wounded  and  sick  who 
could  bear  removal,  returned  to  Lexington  where  several 
hundred  ladies,  assembled  at  the  hospital,  contributed  gener 
ously  all  that  they  could  command,  to  soften  the  hard  jour 
ney.  As  the  wagons  with  their  melancholy  freight  passed 
slowly  through  the  streets,  Union  flags  from  windows  and 


1(5  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

doors,  still  further  expressed  the  sympathy  and  courage  of 
women.  Confederate  officers,  grouped  on  the  comers,  scowled 
in  silence.  More  than  two  hundred  men  were  brought  away, 
while  one  hundred  and  seventy,  who  could  not  bear  transpor 
tation,  were  left  behind. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Confederate  authorities  the  re 
turn  was  through  Maysville,  and  consequently  was  long  and 
tedious. 

While  newly  enlisted  volunteers  were  sent  to  the  assistance 
of  Ohio  and  Kentucky  on  the  threatened  approach  of  Kirby 
Smith,  the  Home  Legion  was  summoned  to  the  protection  of 
the  Indiana  border;  also  all  who  were  subject  to  military  ex 
ercise  in  the  river  counties  were  required  to  assemble,  with 
whatever  arms  they  could  command,  to  organize  into  com 
panies,  and  be  instructed  in  military  tactics.  The  Legion 
diligently  guarded  all  the  points  of  the  Ohio  from  Dearborn 
to  Posey,  and  several  regiments  made  several  reconnoissances 
into  Kentucky.  The  Spencer  county  regiments,  on  short  and 
hurried  notice,  marched  twenty  miles  to  the  relief  of  a  force 
defending  Owensboro  against  a  much  larger  force,  and  find 
ing  that  the  Rebels  had  retired  after  a  successful  engagement 
in  which  the  Union  commander  was  killed,  followed  eight 
miles  to  Panther  creek.  Here,  in  a  severe  encounter,  the  Le 
gion  gained  a  decided  victory,  inflicting  heavy  loss  and  suf 
fering  comparatively  little, — three  killed  and  thirty-five 
wounded. 

The  Vanderburg  county  Legion  went  several  times  to  the 
relief  of  Owensboro,  and  performed  other  service  in  Ken 
tucky,  especially  in  protecting  the  locks  of  Green  river,  but 
the  chief  object  of  its  care  was  Evansville. 

The  Seventy-Eighth  regiment,  organized  under  Colonel 
Warren  for  sixty  days  service,  performed  guard  duty  at 
Evansville,  and  picket  duty  along  the  river,  and  frequently 
made  expeditions  into  Kentucky.  In  a  fight  with  guerrillas 
on  the  1st  of  September  at  Uniontown,  Captain  Tighlman 
A.  Howard  was  mortally  wounded.  He  was  twenty-two 
years  old.  He  had  served  with  distinction  as  Lieutenant 
and  Captain  in  the  Fourteenth,  through  the  campaign  in 
West  Virginia. 


COLONEL  LINK.  17 

An  independent  company  from  Terre  Haute  and  two  hun 
dred  citizens  from  Lafayette  reported  at  Evansville.  The 
Crescent  city  of  Indiana  was  so  well  protected  that  the  ene 
my,  either  in  bands  of  guerillas  or  in  larger  force,  at  no  time 
ventured  an  attack.  No  serious  effort  was  made  to  invade 
Indiana  at  any  point. 

The  ten  regiments  which  were  captured  and  paroled  at 
Munfordsville  and  Richmond,  returned  to  Indianapolis  in 
September,  and  were  allowed  short  furloughs  to  visit  their 
homes.  They  were  then  reorganized,  chiefly  in  Indianapo 
lis;  were  occupied  in  military  exercises  and  subjected  to 
strict  discipline.  Their  taste  of  war  had  not  increased  their 
military  spirit,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  five  regiments 
which  came  in  contact  with  Kirby  Smith.  They  had,  indeed, 
swallowed  the  dregs  of  the  cup  as  soon  as  their  lips  had 
touched  the  brim. 

The  Twelfth  and  Seventy- First,  which  had  been  deprived 
of  their  commanding  officers,  seemed  quite  disheartened. 
The  Twelfth,  composed  as  it  was  largely  of  troops  who  had 
learned  to  love  Colonel  Link  while  under  his  command  in 
Virginia,  was  like  a  bereaved  family. 

"  Many  of  our  companies,"  wrote  Lieutenant  Aveline  from 
Indianapolis,  "  seem  to  have  lost  all  desire  to  excel  in  discip 
line  and  drill,  as  they  are  no  longer  cheered  by  their  beloved 
Colonel  Link." 

Colonel  Link  died  on  the  20th  of  September,  in  Rich 
mond,  where  he  had  been  affectionately  tended  by  Captain 
Baldwin.  His  body  was  brought  home  and  buried  on  the 
24th,  a  larger  concourse  attending  his  funeral  than  was  ever 
before  seen  in  Fort  Wayne.  As  the  little  orphan  children 
pressed  close  to  the  cold  coffin,  and  tears  at  the  sight  of  them 
were  in  every  eye,  many  recalled  the  words  of  the  dead  man, 
spoken  with  modest  earnestness  a  few  weeks  before,  during 
the  reorganization  of  the  Twelfth:  "I  have  three  little 
motherless  children  that  need  me  every  hourr  but  I  feel  that 
they  can  better  do  without  their  father  than  without  a  home 
in  a  free  and  blessed  nation." 

Late  in  the  fall  the  paroled  troops  were  exchanged.  In 
2 


18  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

November  and  December  they  were  returned  to  the  field. 
The  Twelfth,  under  Colonel  Williams,  the  Sixteenth,  Six 
tieth,  Sixty- Seventh,  Sixty-Ninth  and  Eighty-Ninth  were 
sent  to  Memphis.  The  Seventy-First,  Colonel  Biddle,  was 
sent  to  Kentucky.  The  Sixty-Sixth  went  to  Corinth;  the 
Fiftieth  to  Jackson,  Tennessee,  and  the  Sixty-Eighth  to 
Murfreesboro.  The  two  companies  of  the  Seventy-Fourth, 
captured  at  Munfordsville,  joined  their  regiment  at  Castiiian 
Springs,  Tennessee. 

The  remaining  new  troops  organized  and  put  in  the  field 
before  the  close  of  the  year,  consisted  of  two  companies  of 
the  Fifth  cavalry,  thrown  forward  into  Kentucky  early  in  the 
fall;  ten  companies  of  the  Fifth,  stationed  in  December  in 
tJae  southern  border  of  Indiana;  the  Eighty-Third,  Colonel 
Spoxmer.;  the  Ninety-Seventh,  Colonel  Catterson;  Ninety- 
Third,  Colonel  Thomas;  Ninety- Ninth,  Colonel  Fowler,  and 
One  Hundredth,  Colonel  Stoughton,  dispatched  to  Memphis, 
and  the  Twentieth  battery,  under  Lieutenant  Ludwig,  sent 
to  Henderson,  thence  to  Nashville.  The  Twenty-Third  and 
Twenty-Fourth  batteries  were  organized  in  November,  and 
the  Twenty- Second  in  December,  but  they  were  retained  for 
service  in  Indiana. 

Although  in  1862  Indiana  sent  thirty-three  regiments  and 
seven  batteries  to  the  field,  the  course  of  her  patriotism  did 
not  by  any  means  run  smooth.  The  opponents  of  the  Ad 
ministration  got  their  heads  above  water,  and  succeeded  in 
making  their  dolorous  voices  heard  before  the  close  of  1861 ; 
and  they  were  fairly  afloat  by  the  next  midsummer,  grasping 
at  every  untoward  event  to  turn  it  to  account,  and  painting 
in  false  colors  the  face  of  every  truth  which  was  unfavorable 
to  them.  What  was  the  nation's  bane  was  their  meat.  To 
say  nothing  of  McClellan's  and  Pope's  great  and  unfortu 
nate  campaigns,  in  which  Indiana  had  comparatively  but 
small  individual  share;  the  surrender  at  Munfordsville;  the 
blunder  at  Perry ville;  the  disaster  at  Richmond;  the  return 
of  captured  regiments,  many  of  them  torn  to  pieces  by  the 
severity  of  their  few  days  service ;  the  harshness,  or  the  inca 
pacity,  or  the  lawlessness  of  several  prominent  officers ;  tax 
ation,  high  prices,  a  depreciated  currency,  aversion  to  con- 


WATCHMAN,  WHAT  OF  THE  NIGHT?  19 

scription,  with  countless  smaller  occasions  they  used  to  such 
purpose  that  they  gained  the  State  elections. 

In  1860  Indiana  gave  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  thousand 
and  thirty-three  votes  for  Lincoln  to  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  thousand  one  hundred  and  ten  against  him.  In  1862  she 
gave  one  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  five  hundred  and 
seventeen  for  the  administration,  to  one  hundred  and  twen 
ty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty  votes  for  the  oppo 
sition. 

Before  such  a  demonstration  of  the  strength  of  the  powers 
of  darkness,  the  stanchest  hearts  trembled. 

"Nothing  but  success,"  said  the  Governor,  the  Auditor, 
and  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  Congressman  Dunn,  address 
ing  President  Lincoln,  on  the  21st  of  October,  "  Nothing  but 
success,  speedy  and  decided  will  save  our  cause  from  utter 
destruction  in  the  Northwest.  Distrust  and  despair  are 
seizing  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people." 

The  angel  of  success  held  aloof.  Darkness  crept  over  the 
land.  Croakers  lifted  up  their  voices  and  croaked.  Hear 
one.  And  no  ignoble  nor  disloyal  man  was  he: 

"  If  there  were  signs  of  any  amendment,  we  could  have 
patience,  though  disaster  marked  the  hours  and  blood  dripped 
the  seconds!  But  there  is  none." 

There  was  none.  No  cock  crowed.  No  harbinger  of 
coming,  day  appeared.  The  darkness  deepened  with  the 
slowly  flitting  months.  The  midnight  of  the  year  was  the 
midnight  of  hope.  The  wild  Christmas  bells  rang  out  to 
the  wild  sky,  but  they  gave  to  the  ear  of  faith  alone  a  prom 
ise  of  recovery  to  the  apparently  dying  Nation. 


20  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NORTH  OF  THE  POTOMAC. 

Up  from  the  meadows  rich  with  corn, 

Clear  in  the  cool  September  morn, 

The  clustered  spires  of  Frederick  stand, 

Green-walled  by  the  hills  of  Maryland. 

Round  about  the  orchards  sweep, 

Apple  and  peach  tree  fruited  deep, 

Fair  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord 

To  the  eyes  of  the  famished  Rebel  horde, 

On  that  pleasant  morn  of  the  early  fall, 

When  Lee  marched  over  the  garden  wall. —  Whitticr. 

"  I  have  heard  of  being  knocked  into  the  middle  of  next 
week,"  said  President  Lincoln,  when  on  the  2nd  of  Septem 
ber  1862,  the  armies  of  McClelland  and  Pope  came  crowd 
ing  round  Washington  after  the  second  disastrous  battle  of 
Bull  Run,  "but  never  before  of  being  knocked  into  the  mid 
dle  of  last  year!" 

To  all  appearance  the  retrogression  was  even  further  back 
than  the  middle  of  the  preceding  year.  The  gloom  which 
spread  over  the  whole  country,  the  confusion,  if  not  disaster, 
which  seemed  to  prevail  wherever  the  national  armies  exten 
ded,  were  deepest  and  most  prevailing  at  the  centre  of  the 
Government,  Virginia  fugitives  pressed  into  Washington 
as  to  a  city  of  refuge,  while  citizens  hastened  out  of  it  as 
from  the  city  of  destruction.  Rumbling  of  wheels,  clatter 
of  cavalry,  tramp  of  infantry,  the  murmur  of  masses  of  mov 
ing  men  filled  night  as  well  as  day.  Most  dire  sound  of  all 
was  the  rolling  thunder  of  the  enemy's  guns.  Most  grievous 
sight  was  the  despondency  of  the  exhausted  troops.  Long 
marching,  hard  fighting,  want  of  food,  want  of  sleep,  defeat, 
retreat,  disappointment  and  loss  seemed  to  have  deadened 
their  very  hearts. 

In  the  Army  of  Virginia  the  exhausted  Seventh,  reduced 


WATCHMAN,  WHAT  OF  THE  NIGHT?  21 

to  one  hundred  and  forty  men,  who  had  been  twenty-four 
days  without  blankets  and  without  a  change  of  clothing;  in 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  the  weary  Fourteenth,  numbering 
one  hundred  and  fifty,  with  clothes  ragged,  unwashed,  and, 
since  the  10th  of  August,  unchanged,  represented  the  condi 
tion  of  the  Indiana  regiments,  except  perhaps  the  Twenty- 
Seventh,  which  had  been  somewhat  less  exposed.  So  over 
wearied  were  the  men  that,  whenever  there  was  opportunity, 
they  sank  to  the  ground,  and,  stretched  on  the  pavements  of 
the  city,  or  curled  up  in  the  fence  corners  of  the  suburbs,  lost 
themselves  in  sleep. 

General  Kimball  had  not  seen  the  inside  of  a  tent  for 
nearly  two  weeks.  He  had  shared  with  his  soldiers  in  bat 
tle,  in  bivouac  and  on  the  march. 

On  the  last  night  of  the  retreat  he  snatched  the  Four 
teenth  from  the  grasp  of  the  enemy.  It  was  one  of  the 
darkest  of  nights,  the  army  was  marching  rapidly,  and  his 
brigade  was  in  the  rear,  when  he  discovered  the  absence  of 
his  Indiana  regiment,  and  learned  that  by  the  neglect  of  an 
officer  appointed  to  the  service,  it  had  been  left  on  the  picket 
lines,  uninformed  of  the  general  withdrawal.  Instantly  Gen 
eral  Kimball  with  his  staff,  wheeled  about  and  hastened  back. 
He  went  four  miles  through  a  strange  country,  and  with  the 
enemy  on  all  sides,  and  brought  the  regiment  off  just  as  day 
was  breaking. 

The  beginning  of  reorganization, — filling  the  places  of 
Kearney,  and  of  thousands  of  other  dead  who  were  as  bright 
and  brave  as  "the  gallant  General  with  the  empty  sleeve," 
of  Pope,  who  was  banished  to  the  far  North- West,  and  of 
McDowell,  who  was  suspected  by  the  country  and  was  sub 
jected  to  a  court  of  inquiry ;  uniting  the  two  broken  armies, 
and  giving  the  command  again  to  McClellan, — opened  the 
very  depths  to  the  general  eye. 

The  scene  of  the  summer's  operations  was  equally  dis 
heartening.  The  James  was  deserted  by  United  States  gun 
boats;  the  Rapidan,  the  Rappahannock,  and  the  Shenandoah, 
almost  to  its  mouth,  were  in  Rebel  hands ;  while  along  the 
Potomac  small  detachments  watched  for  the  coming  of  Lee, 
without  the  force  to  withstand  him.  The  only  points  re- 


22  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

maining  to  the  Government  were  Harper's  Ferry  in  the  north 
west  corner  and  Fortress  Monroe  in  the  south-east. 

The  rebel  army  on  the  other  hand  was  high  in  hope  and 
triumph.  Perhaps  it  lost  a  little  time  in  ambiguous  demon 
strations,  but  it  soon  moved  in  definite  and  defiant  march, 
with  light  knapsacks  and  empty  wagons,  from  the  desolated 
plains  of  Virginia  towards  the  verdant  valleys  of  Maryland. 
Scouts  and  spies  appeared  north  of  the  Potomac  as  early  as 
the  3d  of  September.  On  the  4th  and  5th  the  main  army 
boldly  struck  the  river,  Jackson's  corps  in  advance.  Paus 
ing  in  the  midst  of  the  stream,  the  Rebel  leader  took  off  his 
cap  and  stood,  while  his  troops  and  regimental  bands  united 
in  the  beautiful  Rebel  song,  My  Maryland.  The  rocks  echoed 
and  the  waters  carried  afar  the  exulting  strain: 

"  She  is  not  dead,  nor  deaf,  nor  dumb  ! 
Huzza!  she  spurns  the  northern  scum  F 
She  breathes!  she  burns  !  she'll  come  !  she'll  come  1 
My  Maryland!  My  Maryland !" 

The  army  of  Lee  was  bent  on  turning  the  tide  of  war 
from  the  south  to  the  north,  and  in  saving  Virginia  soil  from 
future  battles.  In  spite,  however,  of  its  proud  resolution,  its 
patience  and  deathless  courage,  it  presented  a  mean  and 
poverty-stricken  aspect.  Hesitating  Marylanders  hung  their 
heads  or  turned  their  backs  when  they  perceived  the  hungry 
jaws,  the  grey  rags,  the  dirt,  lice  and  odor  of  the  southern 
heroes.  The  young  men  who  had  come  forward  with  the  in 
tention  of  volunteering,  slunk  to  their  homes.  Maryland 
turned  the  cold  shoulder  to  the  Rebel  army.  She  was  deaf 
and  dumb. 

The  new  theatre  of  action  extended  from  the  Monocacy 
on  the  east,  beyond  the  Antietam  on  the  west,  embracing 
the  three  mountain  ranges  of  the  Catoctin,  the  South,  and 
the  Elk.  The  Catoctin  is  a  low  and  lovely  ridge,  branching 
south-east  from  South  Mountain  and  terminating  on  the  Po 
tomac  in  Point-of- Rocks.  South  Mountain,  longer,  higher, 
and  ruggeder,  is  severed  from  the  Blue  Ridge  by  the  Poto 
mac.  Elk  Ridge  is  divided  by  the  same  impetuous  river,  its 
rifted  rock  forming  the  lofty  heights  of  Maryland  and  Lou- 
don.  The  chief  towns  in  this  region  are  Frederick,  a  little. 


THE  NEW  THEATRE  OF  ACTION.  23 

though  beautiful  and  wealthy  city;  Middletown,  a  pretty, 
pastoral  village,  in  the  Catoctin  valley,  twelve  miles  west 
of  Frederick;  Hagerstown,  thirteen  miles  northwest  of  Mid 
dletown,  in  the  Chambersburg  valley,  which  is  a  continua 
tion  of  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah;  and  Harper's  Ferry, 
on  the  Potomac.  Beside  these  towns,  the  events  of  the 
campaign  brought  into  notice  the  hitherto  insignificant  vil 
lages,  Boonsboro'  and  Sharpsburg,  the  former  situated  at  the 
western  foot  of  South  Mountain,  the  latter  south-west,  near 
the  Potomac  and  on  Antietam  creek. 

The  old  National  road,  leaving  Frederick,  runs  to  Hagers 
town,  crossing  the  Catoctin  mountains  and  Catoctin  valley, 
and  passing  through  Boonsboro'  Gap,  a  noble  gateway  in 
South  Mountain,  between  peaks  a  thousand  feet  high.  On 
the  eastern  side  of  South  Mountain  the  old  Sharpsburg  road 
branches  out  of  the  turnpike  to  the  left,  and  climbing  the 
crest,  bends  off  further  to  the  left.  From  the  same  point 
the  old  Hagerstown  road  branches  to  the  right,  and  passing 
up  a  ravine  about  a  mile  from  the  turnpike  turns  and  rejoins 
it  near  the  summit  of  the  pass.  The  Antietam  flows  almost 
the  whole  breadth  of  Maryland  and  unites  with  the  Potomac 
at  the  western  base  of  Elk  Ridge.  It  is  a  clear,  deep,  and 
crooked  stream.  "  Poor  Antietam  creek !  I've  crossed  it 
many  a  time!"  sighed  one  who  had  lived  long  in  the  West, 
when  she  heard  of  the  battle  of  Antietam;  and  the  tears 
stood  in  her  eyes,  as  with  a  sort  of  waywardness  she  pitied 
the  innocent,  rippling  waters  and  the  fair  landscape  familiar 
to  her  youth. 

The  whole  region  was  as  fair  as  the   garden  of  the   Lord 

o  o 

to  the  eyes  of  the  famished  Rebel  horde.  Full  granaries, 
loaded  orchards,  undisturbed  acres  of  com,  sweet  fields  of 
clover,  smooth  lawns,  unbroken  fences,  haystacks,  and  bee 
hives  made  a  picture  of  comfort  to  which  Southern  soldiers 
had  long  been  strangers. 

Over  all  was  an  air  of  thrift  and  cleanliness  unknown  to 
lower  slave  regions;  and  an  antiqueness  and  isolation  arising 
from  the  picturesque  costume  of  Dutch  Mennonites  and 
Dunkers, — patriarchs  with  long  hair  and  beard, 

"Matrons  and  maidens  in  snow-white  caps  and  in  kirtles." 


24  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

At  Frederick  General  Lee  published  a  proclamation,  in 
which  he  urged  the  people  of  Maryland  to  cast  off  the  for 
eign  yoke  of  the  United  States,  and  promised  them  assist 
ance  in  their  efforts  to  gain  and  enjoy  the  inalienable  rights 
of  freemen. 

On  the  10th  his  forward  march  was  resumed.  His  plan 
was  to  proceed  to  Hagerstown  in  order  to  threaten  Pennsyl 
vania  through  the  Cumberland  valley,  and  when  he  had 
drawn  the  Union  army  so  far  toward  the  Susquehannah 
as  to  uncover  Baltimore  and  Washington,  to  spring  upon 
one  or  other  of  those  cities.  It  was  necessary,  however,  to 
open  communication  with  Richmond  through  the  Shenan- 
doah  valley,  and  for  that  purpose  to  dislodge  the  force  at 
Harper's  Ferry.  Jackson,  therefore,  moved  in  advance, 
turned  to  the  left  after  passing  through  Boonsboro'  Gap, 
crossed  the  Potomac  beyond  Sharpsburg,  and  driving  in  the 
outposts  approached  Bolivar  Heights,  in  order  to  invest  Har 
per's  Ferry  on  the  south-west.  McLaws  and  Anderson 
moved  by  way  of  Middlctown,  on  the  direct  route  to  the 
Ferry,  to  gain  possession  of  Maryland  Heights,  the  northern 
portion  of  Elk  Ridge.  Walker  crossed  the  Potomac  below 
to  take  Loudon  Heights,  the  southern  portion  of  the  same 
ridge.  These  points  gained,  Harper's  Ferry  would  have  no 
choice,  as  it  lay  in  a  basin  formed  by  the  three  heights,  Boli 
var,  Loudon  and  Maryland.  Indeed,  the  acquisition  of 
Maryland  Heights  alone  would  render  a  defence  impossible. 
Lee  went  on  to  Hagerstown  with  Longstreet's  corps.  D. 
H.  Hill  and  Howell  Cobb  held  the  mountain  gates,  Boons 
boro'  Gap,  and  Crampton  Pass. 

On  the  5th  of  September  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  left 
Washington  on  five  parallel  roads.  It  had  gathered  strength 
from  the  earth  on  which  it  had  been  thrown,  and  marched 
nobly  and  gaily,  its  back  upon  a  defeated  past,  its  face  turned 
toward  a  future  blooming  with  promise. 

The  right  wing,  consisting  of  Hooker's  and  Reno's  corps, 
under  the  command  of  Burnside,  reached  to  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  railroad.  The  left  wing  and  rear,  formed  of  Frank 
lin's  corps,  rested  on  the  Potomac.  The  centre,  Sumner's 
and  Mansfield's  corps,  were  under  the  command  of  Sumuer. 


SKIRMISH  NEAR  POOLESVILLE.  25 

Pleasonton's  cavalry  scoured  the  country  in  advance.  The 
Seventh  and  Nineteenth  Indiana  regiments  were  in  Hook 
er's  corps,  King's  division,  the  Seventh  in  Doubleday's 
brigade,  which  had  been  reduced  by  the  late  battles  to  one 
thousand  men,  the  Nineteenth  in  Gibbon's  brigade.  The 
Twenty-Seventh  Indiana  was  in  Mansfield's  corps,  Williams' 
division,  Gordon's  brigade.  The  Fourteenth  was  in  Sum- 
ncr's  corps,  French's  division,  Kimball's  brigade.  The  Third 
Indiana  cavaly  was  assigned  to  the  division  of  Pleasonton. 
It  was  at  this  time  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Buchanan,  Colonel  Carter  having  been,  with  an  injus 
tice  he  keenly  felt,  and  without  any  assigned  cause,  placed 
under  arrest  by  General  Pleasonton.  The  Sixteenth  battery 
of  artillery  was  also  in  the  pursuing  army. 

The  Twentieth,  with  the  division  to  which  it  belonged,  had 
been  almost  decimated  by  the  late  battles,  and  was  left  on 
Arlington  Heights,  for  the  defence  of  Washington.  Sigel, 
with  his  Indiana  body-guard,  was  at  Chain  bridge. 

On  the  8th  as  General  Pleasonton  approached  Poolesville, 
a  piece  of  Rebel  artillery  in  position  on  a  hill  to  the  north  of 
the  village,  and  supported  by  the  main  body  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  opened  on  him.  Major  Chapman,  with  a  squadron 
of  the  Third  Indiana,  advanced  to  capture  the  piece,  but  the 
enemy,  taking  the  alarm,  began  a  hasty  retreat.  Chapman 
followed  rapidly,  and  in  about  three  miles  overtook  the  rear 
guard,  and  engaged  in  a  sharp  skirmish.  Compelled  again 
to  betake  themselves  to  flight  the  Rebels  carried  off  such  of 
their  fallen  as  they  could  remove,  but  they  left  seven  dead 
and  mortally  wounded  on  the  field.  The  Third  cavalry  lost 
one  killed  and  eleven  wounded,  including  in  the  latter  Lieu 
tenants  Lalme  and  Davis. 

The  next  day  Pleasonton  drove  the  Rebel  cavalry  from 
Barnesville.  On  the  12th  after  a  seven  days  march  he 
entered  Frederick,  which  is  distant  from  Washington  forty 
miles,  in  advance  of  the  right  wing  of  the  army. 

Along  the  route,  flags  on  the  housetops  and  handkerchiefs 
at  doors  and  windows  and  gates,  scattered  flowers,  refresh 
ments  pressed  into  the  hands  of  dusty  soldiers  evinced  the 
general  joy.  The  delight  of  the  citizens  was  unrestrained. 


26  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  welcome  given  to  the  troops  in  Frederick  alone  was  said 
to  be  worth  a  thousand  men  to  the  army. 

On  the  13th  the  confidential  orders  of  General  Lee  to  his 
corps  and  division  commanders,  detailing  his  plan,  was  found 
by  Corporal  B.  W.  Mitchell  of  company  F,  Twenty- Seventh 
Indiana,  and  was  immediately  placed  in  the  hands  of  Gen 
eral  McClellan.  Accordingly  the  army  made  a  definite 
movement  to  strike  the  enemy  while  he  was  divided. 

Colonel  Miles,  who  was  in  command  of  nearly  thirteen 
thousand  troops  at  Harper's  Ferry,  was  ordered  to  hold  out 
to  the  last,  not  only  in  order  to  save  a  vast  quantity  of  guns 
and  munitions  of  war  which  were  there  stored,  but  to  pre 
vent  the  immediate  return  to  the  main  Rebel  army  of  the 
detached  forces  of  Jackson,  McLaws  and  Walker.  Burn- 
side  meantime  was  to  march  aloncr  the  National  road  and 

O 

take  Boonsboro'  Gap.  Franklin  was  to  turn  to  the  left  and 
taking  Grampian's  pass,  to  enter  Pleasant  valley,  gain  the 
rear  of  Maryland  Heights,  and  cut  off,  destroy  or  capture 
McLaws.  The  pursuers  pressed  swiftly  on,  their  hearts  light 
with  the  conviction  that  the  cunning  Lee  was  entrapped  in 
the  only  bold  move  he  had  ever  made. 

Pleasonton,  continuing  in  advance  of  the  right,  found  the 
enemy  holding  the  road  over  the  Catoctin  mountains  with 
cavalry  and  artillery,  and  after  much  skirmishing  and  a  good 
deal  of  climbing,  the  Third  Indiana  still  foremost,  cleared 
the  mountains. 

Entering  the  valley,  Pleasonton  with  the  main  force  con 
tinued  along  the  main  road,  while  Captain  McClure  with  a 
squadron  of  the  Third  hastened  to  intercept  a  wagon  train 
on  a  road  some  miles  south  of  Middle  town.  McClure  was 
attacked  by  a  superior  number  and  lost  fifteen  in  killed, 
wounded  and  captured. 

Before  Pleasonton  the  Rebels  fell  back  fighting  from  a 
strong  position  at  Middletown  to  the  western  hills,  disap 
pearing  in  the  woods  and  gorges.  The  cavalry  bivouacked 
undisturbed.  In  the  morning  not  a  hostile  battalion  was 
visible.  The  wide  and  winding  road  through  the  pass,  the 
corn  and  wheat  fields,  which  spread  over  the  lower  half  of 
South  Mountain,  the  woods  and  rocky  ledges,  which  cover  the 


BATTLE  OF  SOUTH  MOUNTAIN.  27 

steeps  from  the  middle  to  the  summit,  lay  silent  in  the  sun. 
The  storming  of  the  treacherous  heights  was  work  mainly 
for  infantry  and  General  Reno,  now  took  the  advance,  turn 
ing  to  the  left,  where  the  Sharpsburg  road  branches  off.  He 
placed  batteries  at  different  elevations  in  ravines  and  high 
up  in  the  woods  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  the  concealed 
foe.  The  play  of  his  artillery  was  at  first  unanswered.  At 
length  puffs  of  smoke,  curling  up  over  the  trees,  made  the 
desired  disclosure  and  showed  that  the  enemy  was  touched. 
Infantry  now  advanced.  It  met  infantry,  and  the  battle  be 
gan.  Reinforcements  pressed  in  on  both  sides.  Longstreet, 
already  marching  back  from  Hagerstown,  quickened  his  steps, 
and  Hooker  moved  up  from  Catoctin  creek. 

At  the  foot  of  the  mountain  Hooker's  corps,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  Gibbon's  brigade,  turned  into  the  old  Hagerstown 
road,  Ricketts  remaining  in  reserve  until  forced  to  send  a 
brigade  to  Meade's  assistance ;  Meade  marching  up  the  ra 
vine  to  the  right;  Hatch,  with  King's  division,  moving  to 
take  a  crest  on  the  left  of  the  wood.  Cautiously,  with  mus 
kets  ready,  now  crouching,  now  listening,  now  running  and 
leaping,  Hatch's  skirmishers  explored  the  ground,  at  length 
discovering  the  enemy  strongly  posted  behind  a  fence  and  a 
thick  wood.  A  spirited  attack  followed,  and  was  met  by  a 
vigorous  defence.  At  dusk  Doubleday's  brigade  was  in  ad 
vance  of  the  division  and  within  forty  paces  of  the  enemy. 
After  a  long  struggle,  it  ceased  firing  and  fell  to  the  ground, 
as  if  weary  and  discouraged ;  but  rose  again  with  redoubled 
fire  to  meet  the  encouraged  enemy  and  pressed  him  back  in 
sudden  discomfiture. 

After  a  short  pause  Longstreet,  who  had  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  Rebel  left  on  his  arrival  on  the  ground,  made  a 
desperate  effort  to  flank  Doubleday's  left.  Repulsed  by  the 
Seventy-Fifth  New  York  and  the  Seventh  Indiana,  under 
Major  Grover,  he  threatened,  expostulated,  and  coaxed,  but 
he  could  not  induce  his  troops  to  continue  the  struggle.  At 
nine  o'clock  Ricketts  relieved  Doubleday,  and  found  no  force 
in  his  front. 

Meantime  Gibbon  was  not  idle.  As  soon  as  the  move 
ments  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  old  Hagerstown  road  were 


28  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

well  under  weigh,  he  advanced  his  artillery  up  the  turnpike, 
and  a  regiment  on  each  side  of  the  road,  preceded  by  skir 
mishers  and  followed  by  two  other  regiments,  in  double  col 
umn,  toward  the  enemy's  centre.  The  Nineteenth  Indiana 
was  on  the  left,  and  was  supported  by  the  Second  Wiscon 
sin.  The  enemy,  behind  trees  and  stone  walls  in  the  gorge, 
opened  on  the  brigade  as  soon  as  it  was  within  range,  but  it 
pressed  on,  driving,  in  hasty  flight,  every  opposing  squad. 

Well  up  toward  the  top  of  the  pass,  the  Nineteenth  came 
within  the  fire  of  a  strong  force,  which  was  behind  a  stone 
wall.  Captain  Clark,  moving  his  company  to  the  left, 
gained  its  flank,  forced  it  to  run,  and  took  eleven  prisoners, 
while  the  rest  of  the  regiment  and  the  Second  Wisconsin 
continued  their  fire  from  the  front. 

On  the  right  of  the  road  another  stone  wall  sheltered 
another  strong  fprce,  which  also  successfully  resisted  the 
direct  advance  of  Gibbon's  right  regiments,  but  which  fled 
before  an  enfilading  fire  from  the  Second  Wisconsin  and  the 
Seventh  Indiana.  The  brigade  suffered  severely,  and  ex 
pended  all  its  ammunition,  including  the  cartridges  of  the 
dead  and  wounded,  but  it  held  its  ground  until,  at  midnight, 
it  was  relieved  by  a  brigade  from  Simmer's  corps. 

While  Hooker's  corps  gained  the  pass  and  the  heights  on 
the  right,  Reno's  was  no  less  successful  on  the  left,  taking 
possession  of  the  crests  and  silencing  the  enemy  by  eight 
o'clock.  During  the  night  the  Union  army  prepared  for  a 
general  attack,  while  the  Rebel  army  silently  and  hastily 
retreated,  leaving  its  dead  and  wounded. 

In  the  engagement  at  Boonsboro'  Gap,  in  South  Moun 
tain,  the  Rebels  lost  three  thousand,  and  the  Federals  lost 
eighteen  hundred.  General  Reno  was  wounded  and  died 
before  the  day  was  ended. 

The  defeat  of  General  Hill,  who  was  the  Rebel  com 
mander  on  the  field,  by  a  force  of  which  General  Burnside 
was  the  superior  officer,  and  in  which  the  Seventh  and  Nine 
teenth  Indiana  were  particularly  efficient,  may  be  called  a 
special  act  of  retribution,  or  of  poetical  justice,  as  Indianians 
were  his  particular  aversion.  He  was  the  author  of  an 
Algebra  into  which  he  boldly  introduced  the  "live  issues"  of 


SURRENDER  OF  HARPER'S  FERRY.  29 

politics.  Among  others  of  like  character  occurs  the  following 
problem : 

"  The  field  of  Buena  Vista  is  six  and  a  half  miles  from 
Saltillo.  Two  Indiana  volunteers  ran  away  from  the  field 
of  battle  at  the  same  time;  one  ran  half  a  mile  per  hour 
faster  than  the  other,  and  reached  Saltillo  five  minutes  and 
fifty-four  and  six  eleventh  seconds  sooner  than  the  other. 
Required  their  respective  rates  of  travel." 

Like  Stonewall  Jackson,  Hill  betrayed  the  sacred  trust  of 
teacher  to  sow  the  seeds  of  prejudice  and  spite,  gaining  thus 
the  warm  approbation  of  his  coadjutor,  who  pronounced  his 
Algebra  the  best  within  his  knowledge. 

The  struggle  for  Boonsboro'  Gap  was  but  the  right  of  a 
widely  extended  battle,  the  centre  of  which  was  in  Cramp- 
ton's  Pass,  and  the  left  at  Harper's  Ferry.  After  beating  the 
enemy,  Franklin  drove  him  through  Crampton's  Pass  and 
bivouacked  in  Pleasant  Valley,  under  the  sound  of  distant 
guns  on  his  right  and  left.  The  roar  died  away,  and  at 
dawn  recommenced  only  on  the  left,  where,  also,  it  ceased  at 
eight  o'clock,  indicating  the  fall  of  Harper's  Ferry. 

Maryland  Heights  was  bravely  defended  on  the  12th  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  but  was  abandoned  in  the  after 
noon  of  the  latter  day.  Loudon  Heights  was  evacuated  the 
same  day,  the  troops  from  both  points  concentrating  on  Bol 
ivar  Heights  and  in  the  village.  On  the  15th  they  were  sur 
rendered,  and  the  enemy  took  possession  of  Harper's  Ferry. 

The  misfortune  was  due  to  the  imbecility  of  Colonel  Ford, 
who  had  been  posted  on  Maryland  Heights,  and  of  Colonel 
Miles,  who  was  in  chief  command.  The  latter,  after  having 
given  the  former  verbal  permission  to  abandon  his  position, 
sent  him  a  written  order  in  the  following  insane  language: 

"  You  will  hold  on,  and  you  can  hold  on,  till  the  cows'  tails 
drop  off." 

The  suggestion  of  so  curious  an  occurrence  seems  to  have 
hastened  the  catastrophe,  as  Colonel  Ford  immediately 
abandoned  his  post. 

The  prisoners,  about  eleven  hundred  in  number,  (the  cav 
alry  had  escaped  the  preceding  night),  were  paroled. 


30  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  only  representatives  of  Indiana  in  the  affair  were  two 
batteries,  the  Fifteenth  and  the  Twenty-Sixth. 

The  Fifteenth,  with  John  C.  H.  Von  Sehlen  as  Captain, 
after  having  remained  six  weeks  in  Baltimore,  arrived  at 
Harper's  Ferry  only  in  time  to  add  its  guns  to  the  enemy's 
gains. 

The  Twenty- Sixth  was  a  much  older  organization.  It 
was  recruited  in  May,  1861,  for  a  light  artillery  company,  but 
not  being  accepted  as  such,  it  joined  the  Seventeenth  regi 
ment,  forming  company  A.  At  Elk  water  it  was  detached 
as  an  artillery  company  under  the  command  of  Captain  Rig- 
by.  It  was  active  in  the  Cheat  Mountain  campaign ;  was 
engaged  with  MUroy  at  McDowell  in  1862,  was  in  Fremont's 
chase  of  Stonewall  Jackson  and  in  the  battle  of  Cross  Keys. 
After  Fremont's  campaign  the  battery  went  to  Winchester, 
where  it  remained  in  garrison,  the  men  doing  picket  and 
scouting  duty,  until,  on  the  approach  of  Lee,  the  troops  in 
that  vicinity  were  concentrated  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Here  the 
first  chapter  of  its  active  career  closed. 

September  15th  the  western  slopes  of  South  mountain 
were  alive  with  the  two  armies,  pouring  down  and  onward 
like  rivers  to  the  sea, — the  disappointed  Southern  host  in 
sullen  silence,  and  in  a  constantly  lessening  stream,  the 
Northern  army,  clamorous  with  story  and  jest  and  laughter, 
singing  the  siren  song  which  had  led  the  Rebels  over  the 
Potomac  and,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  its  first  acknowledged 
victory,  in  the  pride  of  its  first  pursuit  of  a  defeated  foe, 
seeing  the  mountain  tops  sunlit  with  coming  peace. 

Every  hope  was  confirmed  by  jaded,  melancholy  Rebel 
stragglers,  who  wandering  to  out  of  the  way  places,  hiding 
in  barns,  or  under  haystacks,  allowed  themselves  to  be  cap 
tured.  It  is  perhaps  true  that  not  a  soldier  in  all  the  pursu 
ing  multitude  had  a  fear  of  the  future,  or  a  doubt  that  the 
end  was  at  hand. 

Traversing  the  upper  end  of  Pleasant  valley,  Lee  reached 
the  Antietam  early  in  the  day,  crossed  it  on  its  four  stone 
bridges,  drew  up  his  lines  and  turned  at  bay,  with  the  Antietam 
in  his  front  and  the  Potomac,  which  here  makes  a  sharp  curve, 
on  his  rear  and  on  both  flanks.  His  position  could  scarcely 


ON  THE  ANTIETAM.  31 

have  been  stronger,  but  as  the  troops  which  invested  Harper's 
Ferry  had  not  yet  rejoined  him,  and  his  losses  by  straggling 
had  been  great,  his  force  was  small.  If  the  army  of  the 
Potomac  had  dashed  against  him  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
15th,  or  even  the  morning  of  the  16th,  it  would  have  swept 
him  away.  But  the  army  of  the  Potomac  was  no  torrent 
to  move  according  to  its  own  will.  It  drew  up  at  the  bid 
ding  of  General  McClellan  on  the  east  bank  of  Antictam 

o 

creek,  and  with  great  deliberation  made  observation,  exami 
nation  and  preparation  for  battle. 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  Hooker,  followed  by  Sunnier 
and  Mansfield,  moved  toward  the  first  bridge;  Porter  posted 
his  corps  on  the  left  of  the  Boonsboro'  road,  opposite  the  sec 
ond  bridge,  and  Burnside,  with  the  Ninth  corps,  moved  to 
ward  the  third  bridge,  three  miles  north  of  the  Boonsboro' 
and  Sharpsburg  road.  No  attempt  was  made  to  approach 
the  fourth,  which,  being  near  the  mouth  of  the  Antietam,  and 
close  to  the  foot  of  Elk  Ridge,  could  be  defended  by  a  hand 
ful  of  men.  Artillery,  consisting  of  six  batteries,  was  placed 
on  Porter's  front,  between  the  second  and  third  bridges. 

Meantime  Jackson,  with  two  divisions,  rejoined  the  Rebel 
army,  and  General  Lee  carefully  and  skilfully  arranged  his 
lines  and  prepared  his  defences.  Hood,  with  two  brigades,  he 
placed  on  the  left;  Jackson  in  reserve  near  the  left;  D.  H. 
Hill  in  the  centre,  and  Longstreet  on  the  right. 

About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  Hooker  crossed  the 
Antietam,  pushed  rebel  pickets  near  the  stream  back  through 
cornfields,  struck  General  Hood  in  a  strip  of  woods,  and 
during  a  sharp  engagement  placed  a  battery  in  an  advanced 
and  commanding  position.  About  dark  Hood's  first  line 
retreated,  unpursued,  and  Hooker  threw  out  a  strong  picket 
force,  which  included  the  Seventh  Indiana.  No  other  move 
ment  was  made  during  the  night,  except  that  Mansfield 
crossed  the  stream. 

A  little,  white  brick  Dunker  church,  was  called  by  Hooker 
the  key  of  the  enemy's  position.  It  may  serve  as  a  stand 
point  from  which  to  view  the  chief  features  of  the  battle 
field  of  Antietam.  It  is  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  Sharps- 
burg,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Hagerstown  pike  and  in  the 


32  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

western  edge  of  an  opening  which  is  bounded  by  woods. 
In  the  opening  and  on  the  east  of  the  Hagerstown  road  are 
Poffenberger's  and  Miller's  farms  north  of  the  church,  Mu- 
ma's  and  Rulet's  east,  and  Piper's  south.  Running  north-east 
from  the  church  is  a  road  to  Hoffman's  farm.  It  was  over 
this  road  that  Hooker  moved  on  the  afternoon  of  the  16th.  In 
a  south-east  direction,  and  passing  Muma's  and  Rulet's  is  a 
narrow  road,  which  is  worn  by  wagons  and  beaten  down  by 
rains,  four  or  five  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  fields.  This 
sunken  road,  with  the  apple  orchard,  the  corn  fields,  and  the 
knolls  which  rise  on  each  side  of  it,  became  the  bloodiest  part 
of  the  battle  ground.  Oak  woods  and  lime  stone  ledges,  waist 
high,  form  natural  defences  in  the  rear  of  the  church.  From 
one  to  three  miles  in  its  front  is  the  Antietam,  out  of  sight 
between  its  steep,  high  banks.  The  Potomac,  not  quite  so 
far  in  its  rear,  is  also  hidden  by  the  slope  of  the  ground. 
Three  miles  to  the  south-east  is  the  northern  point  of  Elk 
Ridge.  Twelve  miles  north  is  Hagerstown.  In  front  of 
Lee's  line  the  ground  consisted  of  undulations  gradually 
rising  from  the  creek. 

Jackson's  division  reached  from  the  church  almost  to  the 
Potomac,  forming,  on  the  17th,  Lee's  left  wing,  Hood  having 
been  withdrawn,  and  joining  D.  H.  Hill's  division,  which 
was  on  Muma's  farm.  Longstreet  occupied  Rulet's  and 
Piper's  farms,  Sharpsburg  and  the  hills  south  of  the  town. 
Lee's  artillery  was  posted  on  all  favorable  points,  and  his 
reserves  hidden  by  the  hills,  could  manoeuvre  unobserved,  and 
owing  to  the  shortness  of  his  line  could  rapidly  reinforce  any 
point. 

Before  dawn  of  Wednesday,  September  17th,  every  man 
of  Lee's  army,  and  of  Hooker's  corps,  was  at  his  post,  with 
out  call  of  bugle.  At  break  of  day  the  six  batteries  on  the 
hills  east  of  the  Antietam  opened,  and  enfiladed  Jackson's 
lines.  Jackson's  artillery  was  quickly  in  play.  The  first 
Rebel  shell  burst  in  the  right  of  Gibbon's  brigade.  Hooker's 
five  batteries,  in  the  edge  of  the  woods  west  of  Hoffman's 
and  east  of  Poffenberger's,  took  up  the  defence  of  the  right. 
Hooker's  infantry  advanced, — Meade  in  the  centre  of  his  line, 
Doubleday  on  the  right  and  supporting  the  artillery,  and 


DEATH  OF  LIEUTENANT  COLONEL  BACHMAN.  33 

Ricketts  on  the  left.  Mansfield  massed  his  corps  behind 
Ricketts,  in  close  column  by  divisions,  which  would  enable 
him  to  render  assistance  in  any  quarter.  The  Rebel  skir 
mishers  fell  back  slowly,  and  after  hard  fighting,  Ewcll,  who 
had  Jackson's  first  line,  withdrew  from  the  eastern  strip  of 
woods  and  in  disorder  retreated  across  the  open  fields. 
Meade,  in  pursuit,  had  almost  reached  the  Hagcrstown 
road,  when  he  received  a  sudden  check  by  the  rapid  advance 
of  Jackson's  second  line.  He  began  a  hurried  retreat,  which 
was  saved  from  becoming  a  route  only  by  the  quick  interpo 
sition  of  one  of  Ricketts'  brigades,  and  by  the  resolution 
with  which  Patrick  and  Gibbon  held  a  knoll  commanding 
the  turnpike.  Jackson,  in  his  turn,  began  to  fall  back,  and 
with  terrible  loss,  almost  half  his  men  and  more  than  half 
his  officers  remaining  on  the  field. 

Gibbon's  left,  the  Seventh  Wisconsin  and  Nineteenth 
Indiana,  in  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bachman, 
pressed  after  him  under  the  sweeping  fire  of  two  Rebel  guns 
which,  from  a  hillock,  covered  the  withdrawal  of  a  portion 
of  Jackson's  troops,  and  which  were  supported  by  a  large 
infantry  force.  The  Seventh  and  Nineteenth  rushed  impet 
uously  across  the  road  and  began  the  ascent  of  the  hillock, 
their  ranks  thinning  fearfully  at  every  step.  Colonel  Bach- 
man's  horse  fell  dead  under  him,  his  right  arm  was  shattered, 
but,  apparently  unconscious  of  hurt,  he  shouted  to  his  men 
to  stand  firm,  and  to  press  on.  He  pressed  on,  and  fell,  at 
the  very  mouths  of  the  Rebel  guns,  pierced  through  by  three 
grape-shot.  Captain  Dudley  assumed  command,  and  led 
the  bleeding  remnant  from  the  field.  General  Patrick  moved 
up  before  the  Rebels  had  time  to  reclaim  it,  and  held  the 
ground  which  had  been  won  at  such  costly  price. 

Hooker's  right  now  reached  across  the  turnpike,  and  was 
protected  by  batteries,  wheeled  into  position  on  the  knol 
north-east  of  Poffenberger's.  His  left,  hotly  engaged  with 
Hill's  division,  had  yet  gained  little  advantage,  when  about 
eight  o'clock  Mansfield  deployed  his  troops  and  entered  the 
battle. 

Gordon  moved  his  brigade  through  a  corn  field  south  of 
3 


34  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Poffenberger's  house,  through  a  thin  strip  of  oak  trees,  and 
halted  with  his  right  in  an  orchard  on  the  Hagerstown  road, 
and  his  left,  the  Twenty-Seventh  Indiana,  closing  up  with 
Crawford's  brigade,  and  in  an  open  pasture.  The  Rebels, 
behind  the  fence  of  a  corn  field  in  front  of  the  Twenty- Sev 
enth,  poured  volley  after  volley  into  the  regiment.  But  as 
fast  as  the  men  were  shot  down  the  ranks  closed  up.  They 
were  bound  to  win,  who  could  stand  the  hardest  knocking. 

Every  heart  leaped  as  an  officer,  bearing  the  insignia  of  a 
Major  General,  mounted  on  a  superb  white  horse,  wholly 
unattended,  and  looking  as  if  victory  was  within  his  grasp, 
rode  hither  and  thither,  and  gave  the  word  "Forward!" 
Mansfield's  corps  moved  through  corn  and  apple  trees, 
gained  the  church  and  the  woods  on  its  west.  Its  right  was 
within  three  hundred  feet  of  the  strongly  posted  Rebel  lines, 
when  Hood's  fresh  brigades  relieved  Jackson's  exhausted 
command,  and  there  was  a  bloody  check.  Already  the  grey 
headed  leader  of  the  corps,  the  honored  Mansfield,  had  given 
his  last  command  and  gone  forever  from  this  earthly  strife, 
Now  General  Hooker,  the  noble  rider,  who  had  been  the 
cynosure  of  all  eyes,  received  an  agonizing  wound.  He  was 
carried  fainting  from  the  field.  On  recovering  consciousness 
he  exclaimed :  "  I  would  gladly  have  compromised  with  the 
enemy  by  receiving  a  mortal  wound  at  night,  could  I  have 
remained  at  the  head  of  my  troops  until  the  sun  went  down." 

Even  General  McClellan  was  animated  to  heroic  warmth. 
"This  is  our  golden  opportunity,"  he  cried.  "If  we  cannot 
whip  the  Rebels  here  we  may  as  well  all  die  on  the  field! "  But 
a  second  victory  was  not  decreed  to  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac.  Hookers  corps  and  Mansfield's  corps  were  beaten 
back.  Our  Twenty-Seventh,  withdrawing  swiftly,  had  still 
leisure  to  see  the  horrors  of  the  field  over  which  it  had  ad 
vanced.  Corn  was  trampled  to  shreds ;  broken  guns  and 
swords,  dismounted  cannon,  dead  and  wounded  men,  dead 
horses,  and  wounded  horses,  with  pieces  of  harness  hanging 
to  them,  and  maddened  with  terror  and  pain,  made  it  the 
hideous  spectacle  which  none  but  the  retreating  or  the  con 
quering  soldier  ever  sees. 

Mansfield's  troops  rallied  east  of  the  pike,  and  stood  silent 


KIMBALL  STANDS  LIKE  GIBRALTER.  35 

under  fire  until  the  long  lines  of  the  enemy  were  within  a 
hundred  yards,  when  with  one  crushing  volley  they  cleared 
their  front. 

Surnner  was  now  on  the  field,  Sedgwick  reaching  it  first 
and  on  the  right,  French  in  the  centre  and  Richardson  on  the 
left.  Sedgwick  gained  and  held  for  a  time  the  point  for 
which  Hooker  had  striven,  and  which  Mansfield's  corps  had 
reached,  but  had  not  been  able  to  maintain.  But  he  was 
assailed  by  fresh  troops  under  McLaws  and  Walker  from 
Harper's  Ferry ;  his  front  was  slowly  pressed  back ;  his  left 
Hank  was  enveloped,  and  he  was  pushed  out  of  the  western 
line  of  woods,  across  the  roads,  over  the  open  fields  into  the 
eastern  woods, 

French,  moving  up  in  three  lines,  in  the  face  of  artillery, 
encountered  skirmishers,  drove  them  before  him,  and  pressed 
into  a  group  of  houses  on  Rulef  s  farm.  Coming  upon  the 
enemy  in  force,  posted  in  an  orchard  and  a  cornfield,  in 
ditches  and  on  hillsides,  he  was  subjected  to  a  terrible  fire. 
Conflagration  added  its  roar  and  smoke  to  the  din  of  battle. 
A  barn  was  set  on  fire  by  shells.  A  dwelling  house  was 
kindled  by  Rebel  sharpshooters.  French's  second  line  was 
thrown  into  confusion  by  the  advance  of  a  heavy  column 
toward  its  left.  At  this  moment  a  command  from  Sumner 
to  press  the  enemy  with  all  his  force,  in  order  to  relieve 
Sedgwick,  compelled  French  to  order  his  third  line  round  to 
his  left.  Kimball,  whose  brigade  formed  the  third  line,  led 
the  Fourteenth  Indiana  forward  and  planted  it  on  his  right, 
while  his  staff  brought  up  and  posted  the  remaining  regi 
ments,  one  of  which  (the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Second 
Pensylvania,  consisting  of  nine  months'  men,)  had  never  had 
a  dress  parade  and  had  never  been  under  fire.  But  one  in 
dividual  in  the  regiment  had  previously  been  in  battle,  and 
he  was  so  well  satisfied  with  his  experience  as  anxiously  to 
desire  to  withdraw  from  the  present  field.  To  this  raw  regi 
ment  Kimball  especially  devoted  himself.  Throughout  the 
battle  he  remained  on  his  horse  in  front.  His  men  (though 
-as  the  balls  fell  thick  around  him,  they  exhorted  him  to  go 
back,  shouting:  "You  ain't  wanted  here!"  "You'll  get 
hurt!"  "Stay  back,  General,  we'll  stay  here!")  were  en- 


36  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

couraged  by  his  presence  to  submit  to  almost  intolerable  fire. 
Moreover,  had  he  sought  shelter  in  the  rear,  curses  would 
have  followed  him  from  those  who  now  sincerely  begged 
him  to  take  care  of  himself. 

When  French's  progress  was  checked  he  still  maintained 
his  ground,  under  orders  from  the  Commander-in-Chief  to 
hold  his  position  to  the  last  extremity.  But  at  length  his  right, 
entirely  exposed  by  its  separation  from  Sedgwick,  \vas  forced 
back.  His  left  stoutly  maintained  its  ground,  under  a  mur 
derous  fire  from  D.  H.  Hill's  command,  which  lay  compara 
tively  sheltered  in  the  sunken  road  and  in  the  large  cornfield 
behind  it.  During  two  hours  Kimball  was  unsupported  on 
either  flank.  His  ammunition  failed,  but  his  men  stripped  sup 
plies  from  their  dead  and  wounded  comrades.  The  enemy 
advanced  on  his  left  with  three  regiments.  He  instantly  ex 
tended  his  left  wing  and  gave  the  flanking  force  a  sharp  re 
pulse.  He  repulsed  with  great  slaughter  a  heavy  assault  on 
his  centre.  He  then  ordered  a  charge,  which  drove  the  enemy 
out  of  his  ditches  and  to  the  middle  of  his  cornfield,  \vith  the 
loss  of  three  hundred  prisoners  and  several  stands  of  colors. 
Again  Hill's  command  returned,  gaining  a  cornfield  on  Kim- 
ball's  right.  Again  it  was  effectually  met,  the  Fourteenth 
Indiana  and  the  Seventh  Ohio  rapidly  changing  front. 
Wielding  his  force  as  if  it  were  a  mallet,  Hill  threw  it  for 
ward  once  more.  Happily  Franklin,  just  arrived  from  Cramp- 
ton's  Pass,  encountered  it  and  hurled  it  back  to  its  starting- 
point  and  beyond  to  the  Dunker  church.  Franklin  halted 
and  formed  his  force  in  column  of  assault,  but  as  he  was 
moving  out  to  attack  the  heavy  line  behind  the  church  he 
received  orders  to  risk  no  further  movement,  simply  to  hold 
his  position. 

From  eleven  to  one  the  battle  on  the  right  and  centre  was 
little  more  than  an  artillery  duel  in  which  nearly  two  hun 
dred  guns  were  engaged.  From  one  to  three  there  was 
almost  a  cessation  of  firing,  over  the  whole  field.  About 
four  in  the  afternoon  Jackson  moved  toward  the  ridge  near 
Poffenberger's  under  cover  of  artillery,  but  he  found  Federal 
batteries  so  strongly  posted  and  so  well  advanced  toward 
the  Potomac,  that  he  withdrew. 


McCLELLAN'S  REFLECTION  AND  IRRESOLUTION.  37 

General  McClellan's  plan  of  battle  was  to  attack  the  ene 
my's  right  only  when  matters  on  our  right  looked  favorable, 
consequently  it  was  not  until  Hooker's  corps  had  ceased 
fighting  and  Mansfield  and  Sumner  were  engaged,  that  Burn- 
side  received  orders  to  advance.  The  bridge  behind  which 
he  lay  was  twelve  feet  wide,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long, 
and  is  commanded  by  an  almost  precipitous  bank  one  hun 
dred  feet  high.  Sharpshooters  were  hidden  among  the  wil 
lows  on  the  edge  of  the  stream,  half  way  up  the  bank  in  the 
excavations  of  a  limestone  quarry,  and  behind  a  stone  wall 
on  the  top  of  the  bank,  where  were  also  four  cannon.  A 
semi-circle  of  batteries  swept  the  space  from  the  Sharp sburg 
heights  to  the  bluff's  of  the  Antietam. 

After  repeated  trials,  in  which  his  troops  seemed  to  melt 
away  like  snow,  Burn  side  gained  the  bridge.  He  formed 
under  fire  and  advanced  against  the  heights,  carried  the 
Sharpsburg  ridge  and  gained  a  battery,  though,  as  the  strug 
gle  continued,  and  the  enemy  was  reinforced,  only  to  lose 
both.  Repeatedly  he  sent  for  reinforcements,  but  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  could  not  summon  resolution  to  order  his 
reserves  to  the  front.  Burn  side  at  last  fell  back  to  the  bridge 
where  he  fought  until  night.  The  troops  slept  on  their  arms 
in  line  of  battle,  gunners  beside  their  guns,  officers  with  their 
swords  buckled  on,  and  cavalrymen  with  their  horses  sad 
dled  and  ready  for  instant  use. 

Night  brought  reflection  and  irresolution  to  General  Mc- 
Clellan.  In  vain  Burnside  assured  him  that  with  five  thou 
sand  fresh  troops  he  was  willing  to  commence  the  attack  iri 
the  morning,  and  Franklin  pointed  out  a  position  near  the 
Dunker  church,  which  could  readily  be  gained,  and  which,  if 
merely  held,  without  any  advance,  would  uncover  the  whole 
ieft  of  the  enemy  and  drive  hirn  from  the  wood.  In  vain  they 
urged  that  the  ground  was  now  well  understood,  and  a  sec 
ond  day's  fight  could  scarcely  result  otherwise  than  in  a  vic 
tory,  McClellan  was  palsied  by  the  weight  of  responsibility. 
He  was  the  bulwark  of  Washington,  Baltimore  and  Phila 
delphia.  If  he  were  beaten  all  was  lost. 

General  Lee,  as  might  be  imagined,  was  not  tormented  by 
vacillation.  With  one  fifth  of  his  men  barefoot,  one  half  in 


38  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

rags,  and  all  of  them  half  famished,  with  no  supplies  and 
no  reinforcements;  with  two  Brigadier  Generals  killed,  one 
Major  General  and  six  Brigadiers  wounded,  with  his  dead 
soldiers  lying  in  rows  and  heaps  on  his  centre,  his  right  and 
his  left;  with  the  uncertain  Potomac  in  his  rear,  and  a  great 
and  increasing  army  in  his  front,  speedy  escape  could  be  his 
only  thought. 

Thursday  before  the  sun  rose  all  was  ready  in  the  Union 
army  for  battle.  Hour  after  hour  passed.  Noon  came  and 
went.  The  sun  set.  At  dusk  orders  were  given  to  be  ready 
for  battle  in  the  morning.  McClellan  had  received  reinforce 
ments  to  the  number  of  about  fourteen  thousand,  and  he 
felt  strong  enough  to  make  an  attack. 

Friday — unlucky  day — it  became  known  that  Lee  had 
safely  crossed  the  river.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was 
overwhelmed  with  disappointment.  No  man  was  so  dull  as 
not  to  see  the  consequences  of  Lee's  escape ;  long  days  of 
marching,  long  nights  on  the  ground  and  in  the  saddle,  skir 
mishing,  indecisive  battles,  prison  for  some  and  death  for 
some,  the  joys  of  home,  the  sweets  of  peace,  three  days  ago 
so  near,  put  off  indefinitely. 

The  losses  in  the  Union  army  in  the  battle  of  Antietam 
made  an  aggregate  of  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  men. 
The  Confederate  loss  is  not  definitely  known.  The  Federal 
officers  who  rode  over  the  field  the  day  after  the  battle 
thought  it  greatly  outnumbered  the  Union  loss.  Captain 
Noyes,  an  officer  on  Doubleday's  staff,  asserts  as  the  result 
of  his  own  observation,  and  of  that  of  old,  experienced  offi 
cers,  that  "  our  late  foes  seemed  to  outnumber  our  dead  four 
to  one."  John  McVey,  of  the  Third  Indiana  cavalry,  writes 
in  a  private  letter:  "I  have  been  over  the  battlefield,  and  I 
never  want  to  see  another.  Their  loss  in  killed  is  three  times 
as  much  as  ours."  McClellan  reports:  "About  twenty- 
seven  hundred  of  the  enemy's  dead  were  counted  and  buried 
on  the  field  of  Antietam.  A  portion  of  their  dead  had  pre 
viously  been  buried  by  the  enemy."  Taking  McClelkm's 
statement  as  a  basis,  and  reckoning  the  usual  proportion  of 
five  wounded  to  one  killed,  the  Confederate  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  amounts  to  over  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred* 


RELATIVE  STRENGTH  OF  THE  TWO  ARMIES.  39 

Uncertainty  also  prevails  in  regard  to  the  numbers  en 
gaged.  McClellan  had  eighty-seven  thousand  on  the  field. 
Lee  had  between  forty  and  ninety  thousand ;  probably,  as  he 
had  lost  greatly  by  straggling,  he  had  not  many  more  than 
the  lower  number.  His  position,  taken  in  connection  with 
McClellan's  mode  of  attack,  gave  him  a  vast  advantage  in 
the  conflict.  Both  armies  fought  with  unsurpassed  courage, 
one  impelled  by  desperation,  the  other  inspired  by  hope. 

Kimball's  brigade,  which  had  never  yet  been  in  a  defeat, 
did  its  most  glorious  work  on  the  field  of  Antietam,  and 
well  earned  the  proud  appellation  bestowed  by  General 
Sumner,  "Gibralter  Brigade."  In  four  hours  of  desperate 
fighting,  not  a  man  faltered  nor  left  the  ranks.  Even  the 
bearers  of  wounded,  sent  to  the  rear,  quickly  returned  to 
their  places  in  line.  General  French,  in  his  report,  says: 
"  With  an  unsurpassed  ardor  this  gallant  brigade,  sweeping 
over  all  obstacles,  crowned  the  crest  of  the  hills  on  our  left 
and  right.  General  Kimball  fought  the  enemy  on  the  front 
and  either  flank  with  such  desperate  courage  and  determina 
tion  as  to  permit  the  arrival  of  reinforcements,  which  reached 
the  field  three  hours  after  my  division  had  sustained  the 
conflict."  Of  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty-six  men  who  went 
upon  the  field  in  Kimball's  command,  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  were  killed  and  wounded. 

The  Fourteenth  Indiana,  under  Colonel  Harrow,  went 
into  the  fight  with  three  hundred  and  twenty  men,  and  came 
out  \vith  one  hundred  and  forty.  Lieutenants  Lundy  and 
Bostwick  were  killed;  Lieutenant  Ballenger  was  mortally 
wounded;  Captain  Coons,  acting  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and 
Captain  Gavins,  acting  Major,  were  also  wounded. 

The  Nineteenth  Indiana  was  equally  distinguished.  It 
suffered  even  more.  It  lost  one  hundred  and  six  out  cf  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  officers  and  men.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Bachman  was  an  officer  of  rare  ability  and  excellence.  He 
was  only  twenty-two  years  old.  But  "that  life  is  long  which 
answers  life's  great  ends." 

The  following  passage,  from  a  letter  written  by  General 
McClellan  to  Governor  Morton,  bears  unasked  testimony  to 
the  efficiency  of  the  Nineteenth:  "  Glorious  as  has  been  the 


40  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

record  of  Indiana  in  this  war,  you  will  pardon  me  for  saying 
that  the  career  of  the  Nineteenth  Indiana  has  been  such  as 
to  add  still  higher  lustre  to  the  reputation  of  your  State.  I 
have  watched  this  regiment,  with  its  Wisconsin  comrades, 
in  the  hottest  fire  and  in  the  most  dangerous  positions,  and 
I  am  glad  to  say  there  is  no  better  regiment  in  this  nor  in 
any  other  army." 

The  Twenty-Seventh  Indiana  lost  two  hundred  and  nine 
out  of  about  four  hundred.  Among  its  killed  was  Lieuten 
ant  Vanorsdall.  Among  its  wounded  were  Captains  Wil- 
coxen  and  Kop,  Lieutenants  Lee,  Gilmore,  Balsley,  and 
McKahin.  Kop,  Gilmore,  and  Lee  died  of  their  wounds. 
Colonel  Colgrove  was  slightly  wounded,  but  he  remained  on 
the  field  in  command  of  the  brigade. 

The  Third  Cavalry,  with  Pleasonton's  division,  held  the 
centre  of  the  line  of  battle  in  support  of  three  batteries  of 
horse  artillery,  and  remained  in  this  position  during  the  day, 
exposed  to  heavy  artillery  fire,  but  not  brought  to  close 
quarters  with  the  enemy. 

Somewhat  later,  but  in  reference  to  its  action  in  the  Mary 
land  campaign,  as  well  as  subsequently,  General  Pleasonton 
wrote  to  Governor  Morton,  in  regard  to  the  Third,  in  the 
following  language:  "I  have  the  honor  to  call  your  atten 
tion  to  the  excellent  service  performed  by  the  Third  Indiana 
cavalry.  Indiana  should  be  proud  of  its  Third  regiment  of 
cavalry,  for  the  services  it  has  rendered  have  been  most 
arduous,  constant  and  important." 

The  Seventh  was  not  called  into  action  until  Jackson's 
attempt,  in  the  afternoon,  to  take  the  ridge  on  Hookers 
right,  and  was  not  then  under  musketry  fire.  Its  loss  was 
entirely  in  wounded,  four  in  number;  nevertheless,  it  was 
in  so  exhausted  a  condition  as  to  excite  inquiry.  Dr.  New, 
the  Surgeon,  made  the  following  explanation  to  the  Medical 
Director:  "I  think  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that  our  reg 
iment  has  done  more  labor  and  more  marching,  and  has  un 
dergone  more  privation  and  exposure  than  any  regiment  now 
in  this  division.  For  more  than  seventeen  months  many  of 
the  men  have  been  on  almost  constant  duty,  frequently  for 
several  days  at  a  time,  and  living  almost  exclusively  on  what 


THE  DEAD  AND  DYING.  41 

they  could  gather  from  the  country  through  which  they 
passed.  During  the  first  quarter  of  this  year — in  January, 
February,  and  March — the  regiment  was  without  tents 
thirty-five  days.  Twelve  days  at  one  time  in  February,  the 
coldest  weather  of  the  winter,  we  were  on  the  mountain 
tops  of  Virginia,  without  tents,  or  proper  food,  or  clothing. 
During  the  month  of  June  we  marched  nearly  four  hundred 
miles,  on  short  rations  and  with  many  of  our  men  barefoot." 

Frank  Good,  a  private  in  the  Seventh,  in  a  letter  of  the 
same  date  to  his  father,  writes:  "I  was  about  marched  to 
death.  We  have  but  few  of  our  old  boys  with  us  at  present. 
They  are  about  all  played  out.  Company  F  has  but  one 
commissioned  officer  and  but  one  or  two  non-commissioned. 
Other  companies  are  the  same  way." 

Several  days  were  spent  in  burying  the  dead,  which, 
strangely  swollen  and  discolored,  made  Antietam  a  most 
horrible  battle  ground.  In  five  hundred  feet  of  the  lane, 
which  was  carried  by  French  and  Richardson,  more  than 
two  hundred  Rebel  dead  lay.  At  the  point  first  occupied  by 
Kimball,  the  bodies  were  so  numerous  that  they  seemed  to 
have  fallen  in  line  of  battle.  In  the  corn  field  into  which 
Kirnball  charged,  and  round  the  little  church  where  Mans 
field's  corps  fought,  the  ground  was  black  with  corpses. 

Many  thousand  wounded  occupied  barns,  sheds,  farm 
houses,  churches  and  shelter  tents,  from  the  Potomac  up  to 
Hagerstown,  and  over  South  mountain  to  Frederick;  while 
hundreds  of  ambulances  daily  bore  northward  their  "precious 
freight  of  patriotic  pain."  Whether  a  wounded  soldier  was 
in  blue  or  gray,  (Lee  left  nearly  all  his  wounded,)  he  received 
an  equal  surgical  aid,  an  equal  kindness.  Pain  and  pity 
leveled  distinctions.  In  some  of  the  grave  yards  near  the 
little  hospitals,  rebels  and  patriots  were  laid  side  by  side. 
They  whose  blood  had  been  so  hot,  whose  hearts  had  beaten 
so  high,  who  had  fought  so  bravely  and  so  bitterly,  were 
wrapped  together  in  the  terrible  hush  and  chill  of  death. 

In  the  main  hospital  grave  yard  of  Antietam  a  monument 
has  been  erected,  bearing  the  following  inscription  :  "  THE 

LAND  THAT  IS  NOT  WORTH  OUR  DEATH  13  NOT  WORTH  LIV- 


42  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ON  THE  POTOMAC,  AND  ONWARD  TO  THE  RAPPAHANXOCK. 

I  turned  my  eye,  and  as  I  turned  surveyed 

A  mournful  vison  1  The  Sisypliian  shade ; 

V/ith  many  a  weary  step,  and  many  a  groan, 

Up  the  high  hill  he  heaves  a  huge  round  stone; 

The  huge  round  stone,  resulting  with  a  bound, 

Thunders  impetuous  down,  and  smokes  along  the  ground. 

— Pope's    Odyssey. 

After  the  battle  of  Antietam  the  influx  of  recruits  was  so 
great,  and  supplies  were  brought  in  so  rapidly,  by  means  of 
the  railroad,  that  greatest  engine  of  modern  warfare,  as  it  is 
aptly  termed,  that  before  the  lapse  of  a  month  the  army  of 
the  Potomac  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand 
strong,  had  risen  again  from  overwhelming  disappointment, 
and  was  in  all  respects  fitted  for  renewed  action.  Neverthe 
less,  influenced  by  a  dread  that  Lee's  army  outnumbered  his 
own,  and  that  it  was  being  reinforced  from  Richmond  and 
probably  from  Kentucky,  McClellan  determined  to  make  no 
general  movement  unless  the  enemy  should  attempt  to  cross 
the  river  into  Maryland,  or  should  commit  some  other  egre 
gious  error. 

As  might  be  supposed  this  determination,  rather  the  inac 
tion  which  it  occasioned,  was  regarded  with  exceeding  and 
general  disfavor ;  and  served  to  depress  and  discourage,  rather 
than  to  rest  and  refresh  the  army.  The  latter  had  been  so 
near  a  victory,  Lee's  retreat  was  so  plainly  a  bare  escape, 
that  every  soldier  was  impatient  to  finish  the  work.  Roads 
were  smooth  and  dry,  streams  were  low,  the  days  were  mild, 
the  nights  were  clear,  and  altogether  it  was  the  finest  inarch 
ing  weather  of  the  year.  Moreover  the  mountains,  in  the 
gorgeous  glories  of  autumn,  foretold  the  approach  of  winter. 
The  experience  of  the  veteran,  equally  with  the  enthusiasm 


"ALL  QUIET  ON  THE  POTOMAC."  43 

of  the  recruit,  urged  to  immediate  and  rapid  action.  The 
sight  of  pickets  in  gray  along  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Poto 
mac  was  tantalizing.  The  renewal  of  the  bulletin:  "All 
quiet  on  the  Potomac,"  was  exasperating.  The  troops  could 
enjoy  nothing,  and  could  look  forward  to  nothing  but  instruc 
tions  to  move.  They  slept  each  night  in  expectation  of 
being  aroused  to  march.  They  rose  each  morning  in  the 
hope  of  an  advance,  and  sat  around  all  day  awaiting  orders. 
In  the  restless  state  of  mind  which  the  eager  desire  for  an 
onward  movement  produced,  athletic  games  afforded  no  pleas 
ure,  and  study  offered  no  charm.  As  newspapers,  except  the 
New  York  Herald,  did  not  find  their  way  to  the  army,  and 
entertaining  books  were  not  at  hand,  thousands  of  good 
soldiers  wiled  away  both  time  and  morals  at  a  stone  or  a 
stump,  which  served  as  a  gambling  table. 

Citizens  were  not  less  disquieted.  The  resurrection  of 
McClcllan  had  been  patiently  witnessed;  the  victory  of  South 
Mountain  had  been  delightedly  applauded;  midnight  bells 
had  triumphantly  announced  the  battle  of  Antietam;  but 
submission,  and  satisfaction,  and  hope,  were  all  clouded  and 
shrouded  by  the  escape  of  Lee,  and  the  prospect  of  winter 
quarters  again  on  the  Potomac.  The  Cabinet  advised  action. 
The  President  remonstrated,  entreated,  and  at  last,  although 
not  until  many  weeks  had  passed,  issued  peremptory  orders. 
He  visited  summary  judgment  on  a  member  of  McClellan's 
staff,  an  Indianian,  for  indicating  a  sinister  purpose  in  delay: 

"EXECUTIVE   MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  I 
September  26,  1862.      J 
u  Major  John  J.  Key:— 

"Sin: — I  am  informed  that  in  answer  to  the  question, 
'Why  was  not  the  Rebel  army  bagged  immediately  after 
the  battle  near  S&arpsburg ? '  propounded  to  you  by  Major 
Levi  C.  Turner,  Judge  Advocate,  &c.,  you  answered:  'That 
is  not  the  game.  The  object  is,  that  neither  army  shall  get 
much  advantage  of  the  other;  that  both  shall  be  kept  in  the 
field  till  they  are  exhausted,  when  we  will  make  a  compro 
mise  and  save  slavery.'  I  shall  be  very  happy  if  you  will, 
within  twenty-four  hours  from  the  date  of  this,  prove  to  me, 


44  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

by  Major  Turner,  that  you  did  not,  either  literally  or  in  sub 
stance,  make  the  answer  stated. 

"Yours,  A.  LINCOLN." 

The  letter  was  followed  by  an  interview,  in  which  Major 
Turner  said:  "I  asked  the  question,  *  Why  we  did  not  bag 
them  after  the  battle  of  Sharpsburg?'  Major  Key's  reply 
was :  i  That  was  not  the  game ;  that  we  should  tire  the 
Rebels  out  and  ourselves;  that  that  was  the  only  way  the 
Union  could  be  preserved,  we  come  together  fraternally  and 
slavery  be  saved.'"  Major  Key  did  not  attempt  to  controvert 
the  statement  of  Major  Turner,  but  claimed  to  be  in  favor 
of  the  Union.  The  President  remarked  that  if  there  was  a 
"game,"  even  among  Union  men,  to  have  our  army  not  take 
an  advantage  of  the  enemy  when  it  could,  it  was  his  object 
to  break  up  that  game.  He  endorsed  the  following  on  an 
account  of  the  examination: 

"  In  my  view  it  is  wholly  inadmissible  for  any  gentleman 
holding  a  military  commission  from  the  United  States  to 
utter  such  sentiments  as  Major  Key  is  within  proved  to  have 
done.  Therefore,  let  Major  John  J.  Key  be  forthwith  dis 
missed  from  the  military  service  of  the  United  States. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

During  all  this  goading  forward  on  the  one  hand,  and 
holding  back  on  the  other,  foreign  diplomatists  speculated 
and  philosophized  on  the  weakness  of  republics,  though  one 
more  keen-sighted  than  most  Europeans,  laid  the  blame 
where  it  belonged,  saying:  "No  living  being  so  ardently 
prays  for  rain  as  does  McClellan." 

September  22d  President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation 
declaring  that  "  On  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  all  persons 
held  as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  any  designated  part  of  a 
State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against 
the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  and  thenceforward,  and 
forever  free." 

It  was  the  directing  of  the  surgeon's  knife  to  the  sore  spot. 
The  tainted  flesh  quivered.  The  surging  currents  in  the 
body  politic  grew  hot  and  cold.  There  were  men  who  be 
lieved  that  the  removal  of  an  ulcer,  whose  roots  were  so 


LINCOLN  VISITS  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC.  45 

strong,  and  penetrating,  and  poisonous,  would  destroy  life ; 
and  there  were  men  who  regarded  the  evil  as  a  virtue,  or  at 
least  as  an  ornament.  The  disloyalty  of  these  was  embold 
ened;  the  loyalty  of  those  was  chilled. 

McClellan  gave  the  President  a  haughty  and  unwilling 
obedience,  and,  by  insinuations  of  general  dissatisfaction  and 
danger  of  mutiny,  fanned  the  fires  of  discontent. 

On  the  first  of  October  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  the  army, 
going  through  the  different  encampments,  reviewing  the 
troops,  and  passing  over  the  battle  fields.  The  genial  smile, 
the  kindly  manner,  the  "little  story,"  were  ready  as  of  old; 
yet  the  cloud  of  care,  which  for  a  few  days  had  lifted,  was 
again  on  his  worn  face.  He  was  the  gravest,  saddest  man 
of  the  hundred  thousand  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac. 

It  was  the  day  after  his  return  to  Washington  that  he 
exerted  his  authority  as  Commander-in- Chief,  and  issued  a 
peremptory  order  for  immediate  advance,  either  to  battle  or 
in  pursuit.  However,  he  softened  the  abruptness,  and  per 
haps  weakened  the  force  of  the  order,  by  a  letter  of  explana 
tion  and  remonstrance.  He  wrote: 

"  I  say  try !  If  we  never  try,  we  never  shall  succeed.  If 
he  (the  enemy)  make  a  stand  at  Winchester,  moving  neither 
north  nor  south,  I  would  fight  him  there,  on  the  idea  that  if 
we  cannot  beat  him  when  he  bears  the  wastage  of  commu 
nication  to  us,  we  never  can  when  we  bear  the  wastage  of 
going  to  him.  This  proposition  is  a  simple  truth,  and  is  too 
important  to  be  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment.  As  we  must 
beat  him  somewhere,  or  fail  finally,  we  can  do  it,  if  at  all, 
easier  near  us  than  far  away.  If  we  cannot  beat  the  enemy 
where  he  now  is,  we  never  can — he  again  being  within  the 
intrenchments  of  Richmond." 

A  few  days  later  the  President  reiterated  his  order,  warmly 
expressing  his  regret  that  all  the  good  weather  should  be 
wasted  in  inactivity.  Still  McClellan  dawdled.  When  one 
corps  of  infantry  was  shod,  another  was  barefoot.  By  the 
time  he  had  a  cavalry  troop  booted  and  spurred  and  ready 
to  ride,  its  horses  were  dying  with  distemper.  Absolute 
necessity  for  delay  always  existed. 

Within  certain  limits  the  army  was  not  inactive.    A  strict 


46  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

watch  was  kept  along  the  Potomac;  scouting  parties  were 
frequently  engaged  in  skirmishes;  and  it  was  sometimes 
necessary  to  send  considerable  bodies  after  raiding  forces  of 
the  enemy. 

On  the  evening  of  the  17th  of  September,  and  on  the 
20th,  27th  and  29th  of  the  same  month,  the  cavalry  made 
unsuccessful  efforts  to  cross  the  river  at  the  Shepherdstown 
ford.  On  the  morning  of  October  1st,  Pleasonton,  with 
seven  hundred  men,  the  Third  Indiana,  under  Major  Chap 
man,  included,  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river  and  in  driving 
the  enemy's  pickets  and  cavalry  through  Shepherdstown 
toward  the  south.  Cavalry  and  artillery,  drawn  up  in  the 
centre  of  Martinsburg,  checked  his  progress,  but  soon  fled. 
He  entered  the  town  over  two  bridges,  which  the  Rebels  had 
partially  destroyed,  but  which,  it  is  said,  the  Martinsburg 
ladies  repaired  when  they  heard  of  the  approach  of  Union 
troops, 

Pleasonton.  remained  in  Martinsburg  from  half  past  two 
until  five,  when,  having  seen  nothing  more  of  the  enemy,  he 
set  out  to  return.  At  this  the  Rebels  reappeared,  started  in 
pursuit  in  a  headlong  gallop,  and,  in  spite  of  a  section  of 
artillery  which  guarded  the  rear  of  the  Union  cavalry,  fol 
lowed  within  five  miles  of  Shepherdstown.  Here,  in  a 
severe  skirmish,  Pleasonton  took  nine  prisoners.  He  brought 
off  from  Martinsburg,  at  their  request,  twenty-four  Union 
citizens  and  nine  young  Marylanders  who  had  been  im 
pressed  in  Lee's  army. 

On  the  same  day  General  Kimball,  with  his  brigade,  the 
Sixth  United  States  cavalry,  and  a  small  force  of  artillery, 
went  to  Leesburg.  He  captured  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  prisoners  and  returned  to  Harper's  Ferry. 

October  llth,  Pleasonton's  cavalry  left  Sharpsburg,  and 
Robinson's  brigade  of  infantry  left  Arlington  Heights — the 
one  to  intercept,  the  other  to  pursue  General  Stuart,  who, 
with  a  cavalry  force  of  eighteen  hundred  men  and  four  guns, 
had  crossed  the  Potomac,  on  the  10th,  between  Williamsport 
and  Hancock,  and  was  hastening  round  the  rear  of  the 
Union  army. 

This  raid,  or  rather  the  pursuit,  was  mockingly  described 


REBEL  IRONICAL  DISPATCHES.  47 

in  a  series  of  pretended  telegrams  published  in  the  Rich 
mond  Enquirer,  and  purporting  to  be  from  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac: 

"  OCTOBER  10th,  8  A.  M. 
"Honorable  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War: 

"In  the  execution  of  a  long  conceived  plan,  I  have  de 
coyed  the  pestiferous  Rebel  Stuart  across  the  Potomac  for 
the  purpose  of  capturing  him.  The  meshes  of  my  net  have 
been  admirably  laid.  We  have  him  now,  and  there  will  be 
no  more  Bull  Runs. 

"Respectfully,  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN." 

"SECOND  DISPATCH. 

"10:30  A.  M.,  OCTOBER  10th,  1862. 

"  Stuart  is  taking  up  hundreds  of  my  stragglers.  They 
will  cumber  his  march.  We  have  him  now. 

"G.  B.    McCLELLAN." 

"THIRD  DISPATCH. 

"12  M.,  OCTOBER  10th,  1862. 

"Stuart  is  robbing  the  Dutch  farmers  of  their  horses  and 
giving  them  orders  for  payment  upon  me.  He  cannot  travel 
with  led  horses.  We  are  drawing  the  meshes  round  him. 

"G.  B.   McCLELLAN.'' 

"FOURTH  DISPATCH. 

"Stuart  has  entered  Chambersburg  and  captured  the 
Dutch  burgesses.  They  are  too  fat  to  ride.  Have  a  special 
train  to  take  him  on  to  Washington. 

"G.  B.   McCLELLAN." 

"FIFTH  DISPATCH. 

"6:15  A.  M.,  OCTOBER  llth,  1862. 

"  Stuart  is  off  from  Chambersburg,  so  heavily  laden  with 
blankets,  overcoats,  shoes  and  boots  that  he  can  hardly  travel. 
Have  the  train  waiting  at  the  Relay  House. 

"G.  B.   McCLELLAN." 


48  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"SIXTH  DISPATCH. 

"  Stuart  is  making  for  Frederick,  just  as  I  had  planned. 
I  am  tightening  the  net.  All  right.  He  is  bagged. 

"G.  B.   McCLELLAN." 

"SEVENTH  DISPATCH. 

"8  A.  M.,  OCTOBER  llth,  1862. 

"According  to  my  original  plan,  Stuart  has  disappeared. 
Route  unknown.  G.  B.  Me." 

"EIGHTH  DISPATCH. 

"4  P.  M.,  OCTOBER  llth,  1862. 

"Just  as  I  wished,  Stuart  has  gone  to  the  east  of  Frede 
rick.  All  the  better;  Pleasonton  will  pounce  upon  him  at 
the  fords,  when  his  horses  are  well  blown,  and  bag  the  entire 
gang  of  marauders.  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN." 

"NINTH  DISPATCH. 

"2  P.  M.,  OCTOBER  12th,  1862. 

"  Stuart  has  been  driven  across  the  Potomac — Dutch  bur 
gesses,  stolen  blankets,  overcoats,  shoes,  boots  and  all. 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  are  safe.  I  may  safely  claim  a 
victory.  General  Pleasonton,  my  chief  of  cavalry,  accom 
plished  this  daring  feat  without  losing  a  man.  This  was 
mainly  owing  to  his  great  prudence  in  not  engaging  the 
enemy.  According  to  my  original  plan,  Stuart  was  allowed 
to  cross  back  without  molestation.  And  so  this  dangerous 
raid  has  been  suppressed  without  bloodshed. 

"  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

"GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN." 

The  tone  of  triumph  evident  in  these  ironical  dispatches 
was  justifiable.  Stuart  crossed  and  recrossed  Maryland, 
entered  Pennsylvania,  burned  the  government  stores  at 
Chambersburg,  took  all  he  wanted  from  the  country  people, 
and  outran,  avoided  and  evaded  all  his  pursuers.  In  short, 
he  met  with  a  success  which,  to  use  his  own  language, 
"beggars  description." 


IN  PURSUIT  OF  STUART.  49 

Although  Pleasonton's  cavalry  and  Robinson's  infantry 
gained  nothing,  they  suffered  not  a  little  in  the  pursuit. 
Robinson's  brigade  started  at  daylight,  after  having  been 
kept  all  night  in  readiness  to  move.  At  dark  it  bivouacked 
at  Rockville.  At  four  the  next  morning  it  was  again  on  the 
march.  It  was  forced  to  move  so  rapidly,  and  with  so  little 
rest,  that  during  the  day  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  fell  ex 
hausted  by  the  roadside  and  two  died  from  fatigue.  New 
regiments  suffered  the  most,  but  even  our  old  Twentieth 
found  the  march  almost  intolerable.  The  brigade  passed 
through  Poolesville  at  dark,  moved  four  miles  farther  in  rain 
and  mud,  and  reached  Conrad's  Ford  at  midnight — three 
hours  after  the  raiders  had  crossed. 

Pleasonton  passed  through  Hagerstown  the  first  day  and 
bivouacked  at  Mechanicstown,  where  he  arrived  several 
hours  after  dark.  He  resumed  the  march  after  a  short  halt, 
and  proceeding  much  of  the  way  on  the  double-quick,  passed 
through  Frederick  at  daylight,  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Monocacy  early  in  the  forenoon.  Receiving  the  support  of 
a  small  portion  of  Stoneman's  command,  the  advance 
reached  the  Potomac  close  on  Stuart's  trail,  and  began  firing 
on  the  only  visible  portion  of  the  enemy.  The  fire  was 
briskly  returned  and  an  engagement  ensued,  which,  resulting 
in  no  loss  to  either  side,  enabled  Stuart's  main  force  to  cross 
the  river  at  another  point.  The  Rebel  rear-guard  then 
decamped. 

A  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile,  and  Pleasonton's  cavalry, 
after  this  fruitless  march  of  seventy-eight  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  returned  fatigued  and  disconsolate  to  camp. 

On  the  17th  the  Third  Indiana  cavalry  took  part  in  a  re- 
connoissance,  under  the  command  of  General  Hancock,  to 
Charlestown.  The  Rebels  opened  fire  on  the  Union  force 
when  it  was  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Charlestown.  Han 
cock's  artillery  replied,  and  after  an  engagement  of  two 
hours,  drove  the  Rebels  to  the  hills  beyond  the  town. 

On  the  26th  of  October,  1862,  McClellan  began  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Potomac,  and  with  the  obstruction  of  heavy 
rains  and  deep  mud,  accomplished  it  by  the  2d  of  Novem- 
4 


50  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

ber.  General  Lee  immediately,  although  with  no  appear 
ance  of  haste,  retired  from  Winchester,  where  he  had  held 
his  army  concentrated,  wagoning  his  supplies  over  eighty 
miles  of  bad  roads. 

General  Slocum,  to  whom  General  Mansfield's  corps  had 
fallen,  remained  on  the  line  of  the  Potomac.  The  Twenty- 
Seventh  Indiana  was  stationed  at  Dam  No.  4,  with  about 
five  miles  of  guard  duty.  It  occupied  cabins,  which  had 
been  built  the  preceding  winter  by  the  Twelfth.  The  right 
wing  of  the  army  took  up  its  line  of  movement  along  the 
base  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  Pleasonton's  cavalry  in  advance, 
exchanging  shots  from  morning  until  night  with  Stuart,  who 
covered  the  Rebel  rear,  and  Kimball's  brigade  forming  the 
extreme  right  of  the  infantry.  The  left  wing  moved  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  valley,  along  the  Catoctin  and  the  Bull 
Run  Mountains.  Nearly  all  the  teams  were  used  for  the 
transportation  of  provisions,  and  the  men  had  nothing  with 
them  but  what  they  carried  on  their  backs.  Unable  to  sleep, 
on  account  of  the  cold,  they  sat  around  huge  fires  half  the 
night. 

At  every  pass  in  the  Blue  Ridge  a  skirmish  occurred,  but 
in  the  end  all  the  passes  were  seized  by  Pleasonton,  or  by 
Pleasonton  and  infantry  forces  which  came  to  his  support, 
and  they  were  held  as  long  as  their  abandonment  would 
have  enabled  the  enemy  to  trouble  McClellan's  communica 
tions  with  the  Potomac. 

November  1st,  Pleasonton  had  a  sharp  skirmish  at  Phila- 
mont — Doubleday's  old  brigade,  now  Hoffman's,  supported 
him.  November  2d,  he  had  another  sharp  skirmish  at  Union, 
supported  by  the  same  infantry  force.  The  Seventh  Indiana 
lost  four  killed  and  six  wounded.  On  the  same  day  the 
Fourteenth  Indiana  gained  Rockford  Pass,  and  held  it 
twenty-four  hours,  in  spite  of  several  efforts  of  the  enemy  to 
retake  it.  On  the  3d,  Pleasonton  had  a  severe  fight  at  Up- 
persville,  and  on  the  4th  at  Ashby's  Gap.  In  the  latter  en 
gagement,  Hoffman's  brigade  again  took  part. 

At  Barber's  cross-roads  Stuart  made  a  stubborn  stand. 
He  barricaded  the  road  behind  a  hill  with  plows  and  harrows, 
and  placed  guns  on  both  sides,  so  that  if  Pleasonton,  gal- 


McCLELLAN  RELIEVED  FROM  COMMAND.  51 

loping  down  the  pike,  should  bring  up  against  the  barricade, 
he  would  be  demolished  with  a  cross-fire  from  the  artillery. 
However,  the  Union  cavalry  discovered  the  barricade,  aban 
doned  the  main  road,  and  charged  from  right  and  left  with 
such  impetuosity  that  Stuart  was  glad  to  escape  with  the 
loss  of  twenty-two  men.  In  all  the  cavalry  engagements 
the  Third  Indiana  bore  an  active  and  honorable  part. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  November  6th,  the  Third 
was  roused  to  move  in  advance  and  take  possession  of  Wa 
terloo,  a  little  place  on  the  Hagaman  river,  a  branch  of  the 
Rappahannock,  and  a  narrow  but  deep  stream.  It  had 
marched  until  nine  of  the  preceding  evening,  up  and  down 
the  mountains,  but  it  now  moved  briskly  forward.  Waterloo 
was  deserted,  but  the  bridge  was  burning,  having  been  kin 
dled  by  Stuart's  rear  guard,  which  was  seen  around  a  fire 
beyond  the  river.  Firing  commenced  at  daylight  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  continued  until  Pleasonton, 
in  the  afternoon,  appeared  in  the  Rebel  rear. 

Lieutenant  Deming,  with  the  Sixteenth  Indiana  battery, 
which  had  been  at  Washington  since  the  battle  of  Antietam, 
and  did  not  arrive  at  Harper's  Ferry  in  time  to  join  its  corps, 
followed  the  army  at  a  long  distance.  At  Snicker's  Gap  he 
was  attacked  by  three  hundred  Rebel  cavalry.  Having  no 
gunners,  Deming  retreated,  fighting  to  the  best  of  his  ability 
over  twenty-eight  miles,  and  losing  seven  men,  four  of  them 
killed.  He  crossed  the  Potomac  at  Berlin  with  all  his  guns. 

Sigel's  corps  broke  up  its  encampment  at  Germantown 
the  same  time  that  the  main  body  of  the  army  crossed  the 
river,  and  also  took  up  the  line  of  march.  The  pioneers  of 
the  corps  gathered  up  the  bones  of  the  dead,  in  the  woods 
and  roads  near  Bull  Run,  and  hid  them  from  the  passers  by. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  1862,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  once  more  encamped  on  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock. 
That  night  a  messenger  from  Washington  delivered  to  the 
Co  mmander-in- Chief  orders  to  report  immediately  to  the 
President.  General  McClellan  devoted  the  next  day — a 
cloudy,  snowy  day — to  the  transfer  of  the  command,  and  to 
a  final  parting  with  his  officers.  The  following  day  he  vis 
ited  the  various  camps,  reviewed  the  troops,  and  parted  with 


52  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  men.  On  the  third  he  commenced  his  journey.  It  was 
a  short  journey,  but  it  occupied  no  little  time,  as  he  stopped 
at  every  station  to  receive  the  salute  of  troops  drawn  up  in 
line. 

There  may  have  been  an  effort  at  dramatic  effect  in  this 
prolonged  parting;  but  the  inference  is  not  necessary.  It 
was  a  natural  expression  of  reluctance  to  separate  with  the 
tried  comrades  of  camp  and  field,  and  to  relinquish  a  posi 
tion  of  honor  and  authority  second  to  but  one.  McClellan 
had  always  been  careful  of  the  lives  and  thoughtful  for  the 
comfort  of  his  men.  He  loved  the  splendid  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  He  appreciated  the  sweets  of  power.  No  doubt 
he  had  chill  forebodings  of  insignificance  and  obscurity.  He 
keenly  felt  the  triumph  of  his  opponents.  And  their  satis 
faction  was  undisguised.  "  Great  and  glorious  day!  McClel 
lan  gone  overboard!"  wrote  honest,  growling  Gurowski,  one 
for  all.  It  was  a  human  weakness  to  fumble  on  the  cup 
and  put  off  the  hateful  draught  the  few  hours  of  possible 
delay. 


THE  NEW  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.  53 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BURNSIDE  AND  FREDERICKSBURG. 

The  flowers  of  the  forest,  that  fought  aye  the  foremost, 
The  prime  of  our  land,  are  cauld  in  the  clay. 

—Scotch  ballad. 

The  Thirteenth  of  December, — a  memorable  day  to  the  historian  of  the 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  American  Republic! — London  Times. 

The  same  hour  that  McClellan  was  withdrawn,  General 
Ambrose  Everett  Burnside  was  advanced  to  the  head  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Burnside  was  of  Scotch  origin,  of 
Indiana  birth,  and  of  West  Point  education.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  to  volunteer  in  1861,  and  his  regiment  was 
among  the  first  to  reach  Washington.  In  the  tumult  and 
disorder  of  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  he  was  self-possessed. 
In  the  reorganization  of  the  army  in  the  following  autumn, 
he  was  efficient.  In  the  Burnside  expedition  to  the  South, 
he  captured  Roanoke  Island,  Newbern,  Beaufort  and  Fort 
Macon  by  hard  and  well  directed  fighting.  When  ordered 
from  North  Carolina  to  the  James  to  reinforce  McClellan, 
and  from  the  James  to  the  Rappahannock  to  reinforce  Pope, 
he  moved  without  the  delay  of  an  hour.  He  fought  the 
battle  of  South  Mountain.  He  gave  and  received  hard  and 
bloody  blows  at  Antietam. 

He  was  as  firm,  and  frank,  and  modest,  as  he  was  prompt 
and  brave.  He  had  also  that  zeal  which  magnetizes  other 
generous  minds,  and  brings  them  into  accordance,  if  not  to 
subjection.  His  soldiers,  honoring  him  much,  but  loving  him 
more,  regarded  him  with  a  pleasant  familiarity.  As  soldiers 
always  do  to  favorite  commanders,  they  gave  him  a  nick 
name,  talking  of  him  in  camp  as  "  Old  Burny."  He  came 
out  of  his  tent  and  mounted  his  horse  one  day,  in  a  new 
blouse — the  old  one,  with  which  every  man  in  his  corps  was 
acquainted,  having  been  discarded.  "  Hurrah  for  Old  Burny's 


54  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

new  blouse!"  shouted  a  soldier.  The  cry  was  echoed  and 
re-echoed  by  thousands  of  voices  as  regiment  after  regiment, 
drawn  up  in  line,  caught  its  meaning.  The  General  looked 
around  bewildered,  but  in  a  moment  raised  his  hat  with  a 
smile. 

By  the  rank  and  file  Burnside  was  received  with  open 
arms.  Probably  no  other  man,  except  Hooker,  whose  con 
duct  at  Antietam  had  given  him  great  popularity,  would 
have  met  an  equally  warm  welcome.  But  many  of  the 
officers,  especially  in  the  highest  positions,  were  so  devoted 
to  McClellan,  and  so  unjust  and  insubordinate,  as  to  feel  and 
express  dislike  to  his  successor.  Burnside  himself  demurred. 
He  even  entreated  the  President  to  reconsider  the  appoint 
ment.  But  his  modest  protestations  were  unheeded,  as 
Lincoln  could  not  afford  to  put  in  the  position  any  but  a 
successful  man,  and  a  man  whom  circumstances  had  pre 
viously  made  prominent. 

Lee's  forces,  at  the  time  of  the  removal  of  McClellan,. 
were  concentrated  before  Gordonsville,  with  the  exception 
of  Jackson's  division,  which  still  kept  a  hold  on  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley.  It  was  the  expectation  of  General  Hallcck 
that  within  a  few  days  a  severe,  if  not  decisive,  battle  would 
be  fought  on  the  Gordonsville  route  to  Richmond.  Such  an 
expectation  may  have  been  in  the  mind  of  McClellan;  but 
Burnside  had  scarcely  accepted  the  authority  imposed  on 
him,  when  he  determined  to  relinquish  all  attempts  to  reach 
the  Confederate  Capital  on  the  present  route.  He  was  con 
vinced  that  even  if  successful  in  gaining  Gordonsville,  he 
would  be  forced  to  fall  back  from  that  point  for  supplies, 
while  a  movement  on  Fredericksburg,  with  more  promise,  as 
it  might  be  made  almost  without  attracting  the  notice  of 
Lee,  would  secure  an  easy  line  of  communication.  He  cal 
culated,  also,  that  Lee,  hastening  to  confront  him  on  the  new 
route,  would  be  forced  to  fight  without  the  aid  of  Jackson's 
division,  or  delaying  to  be  reinforced,  would  either  be  beaten 
in  the  race  to  Richmond,  or  so  closely  followed  as  to  be 
unable  to  build  fortifications  after  his  arrival.  Burnside's 
opinions  were  indorsed  by  General  Sumner,  who,  uniting,  as 
he  did,  the  ardor  of  youth  to  the  wisdom  of  age,  seems  to 


A  BOLD  RECONtfOISSANCE.  55 

have  stood  higher  in  the  confidence  of  his  superior  than  any 
other  officer. 

The  proposition  for  the  change  was  sent  to  Washington, 
accompanied  bjr  the  request  that  if  it  was  approved  that 
barges,  filled  with  provisions  and  forage,  be  floated  to  Aquia 
creek;  that  materials  be  collected  for  the  construction  of 
wharves  there;  that  all  the  wagons  in  Washington  filled 
with  hard  bread  and  small  commissary  stores,  a  pontoon 
train  long  enough  to  span  the  Rappahannock  twice,  and  a 
large  number  of  cattle,  be  started  down  to  Fredericksburg. 

The  project  was  not  regarded  with  favor  by  the  President 
and  his  advisers;  but  after  a  personal  interview  of  some  of 
the  latter  with  Burnside,  cordial  co-operation  was  promised. 

Under  the  direction  of  General  Sigel  a  bold  reconnois- 
sance  was  made  to  Fredericksburg  to  ascertain  the  strength 
of  the  enemy  at  that  point.  A  hundred  Ohio  horsemen  and 
sixty  Indianians  from  Sigel's  bodyguard,  with  the  young 
hero,  Ulric  Dahlgren,  at  their  head,  formed  the  reconnoit 
ring  party.  The  sixty  started  from  Gainesville  on  the  morn 
ing  of  Saturday,  November  8th.  Lookers-on,  who  conjec 
tured  the  enterprise,  shook  their  heads  and  predicted  that  the 
gallant  band  never  would  return ;  but  the  troopers,  proud  to 
do  the  dangerous  duty,  rode  off  gaily. 

The  additional  one  hundred  fell  in  at  Catlett's  Station. 
As  the  expedition  required  secrecy,  the  march  was  through 
by-ways,  where  mud  clogged  the  horses'  steps,  and  ar5  it 
equally  required  haste,  it  was  continued  all  day  and  all  the 
following  night,  with  the  allowance  of  an  hour's  rest.  Nev 
ertheless  it  was  dawn  of  the  9th  when  the  untiring  troopers 
reached  the  Rappahannock.  The  water  was  high,  and  they 
hid  in  the  woods  while  scouts  searched  for  means  to  effect  a 
crossing.  A  ferryman  was  found,  but  his  boat  could  carry 
only  small  detachments.  At  length  a  ford  was  discovered. 
It  was  narrow  and  rocky,  with  holes  in  it  from  six  to  eight 
feet  deep,  but  man  by  man  the  Indianians  picked  their  way 
across. 

Rebel  troops  were  gathering  in  the  streets  of  Fredericks 
burg,  and  Dahlgren  did  not  wait  for  the  Ohio  cavalry. 
Leaving  orders  that  it  should  guard  the  crossing,  he  moved 


56  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

in  a  slow  trot  toward  the  town.  The  enemy  approached 
him  in  detachments,  and  he  quickened  his  pace.  Lieutenant 
Carr,  with  a  small  number  in  advance,  drove  back  one  de 
tachment  and  another  until  the  edge  of  the  town  was 
reached.  Then  the  whole  band,  led  by  Captain  Sharra, 
dashed  forward  against  a  barricade  of  Rebel  cavalry  and 
engaged  in  a  close  fight  with  clubbed  carbines  and  drawn 
sabres.  Lieutenant  Carr  ran  his  sabre  through  an  officer. 

o 

Orderly  Fitler,  in  a  hand  to  hand  struggle,  struck  down  his 
opponent,  and  captured  horse,  carbine  and  sabre.  The  Rebels 
fled  before  a  Union  man  fell;  but  after  the  streets  were 
cleared  Robert  Gapen,  of  Terre  Haute,  who  had  followed 
the  company  as  a  volunteer,  was  shot  from  a  window.  He 
had  cut  a  Rebel  flag  from  its  staff,  and  when  he  fell  was 
winding  it  around  his  body. 

After  learning  the  strength  of  the  Rebel  force — eight  com 
panies  of  Virginia  troops — Dahlgren  recrossed  the  river. 
Gapen  was  buried  on  the  northern  bank.  Four  others  were 
missing,  probably  captured.  With  twelve  men,  Dahlgren 
made  a  further  reconnoissance  to  Aquia  creek.  He  then 
returned  to  Sigel,  with  twenty-nine  prisoners  and  two  wagon 
loads  of  gray  cloth. 

On  the  9th  a  reconnoissance  was  made,  by  the  Eighth 
Illinois  and  the  Third  Indiana  cavalry,  to  Little  Washing 
ton.  Some  skirmishing  with  a  brigade  of  Rebel  cavalry 
took  place. 

On  the  llth  two  companies — A  and  B — of  the  Third 
Indiana,  under  command  of  Captain  Patton,  were  sent  on 
out-post  duty  to  Jefferson,  where  they  remained  until  the 
15th,  skirmishing  more  or  less  each  day. 

No  body  of  men  in  the  army  did  more  faithful  and  efficient 
service  during  the  campaign  than  the  battalion  of  the  Third 
Indiana.  No  regiment,  except  perhaps  the  Eighth  Illinois, 
was  as  well  mounted,  and,  consequently,  able  to  stand  the 
wear  and  tear  of  the  campaign  with  as  little  wastage  by 
reason  of  dismounted  men. 

November  15th,  Burnside  began  his  movement  on  Frede- 
ricksburg,  sending,  at  the  same  time,  a  force  toward  Gor- 
donsville  to  distract  the  attention  of  Lee.  The  Second  and 


ADVANCE  ON  FREDEIUCKSBURG.  57 

Ninth  corps,  forming,  under  Sumner,  what  was  called  the 
Right  Grand  Division,  marched  fifty  miles  in  two  and  a  half 
days,  though  encumbered  with  a  heavy  baggage  train,  and 
reached  Falmouth  on  the  17th.  A  battery  of  artillery  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  opened  on  the  advance.  Sumner 
promptly  answered  the  salutation,  and  within  fifteen  minutes 
forced  the  Rebel  artillery  to  run.  His  orders  were  to  remain 
in  Falmouth,  but  the  temptation  to  take  the  guns  the  enemy 
had  left  on  the  field  was  so  strong,  and  there  was  so  little  to 
oppose  him — the  river  being  fordable  in  several  places,  and 
the  whole  Rebel  force  in  Fredericksburg  less  than  a  thou 
sand  men — that  he  actually  gave  directions  for  crossing  on 
the  following  day.  At  night,  however,  he  held  a  council  of 
his  general  officers  to  consider  the  propriety  of  the  step. 
After  hearing  the  opinion  of  several,  he  turned  to  Kimball 
and  said:  "  Well,  Kimball,  what's  your  opinion?"  "When 
I  get  your  orders,  General,"  was  the  reply,  "  I'll  give  my 
opinion  by  obeying  them ! "  "  That's  what  we  all  ought  to 
do,  gentlemen,"  said  Sumner,  and  broke  up  the  council.  He 
revoked  the  order  the  same  night;  and  sent  a  request  to 
Burnside,  who  was  eight  miles  distant,  to  be  allowed  to 
make  the  movement.  The  Commander-in- Chief  replied  that 
it  was  not  advisable  to  occupy  Fredericksburg  until  his  com 
munications  were  established.  The  older  General  recalled 
his  experience  on  the  Peninsula  of  the  consequence  of  get 
ting  astride  a  river,  and  not  only  acquiesced  but  approved.* 

Fredericksburg  proved  to  be  a  Flodden  field,  and  in  the 
light  of  the  result,  Burnside's  delay  stands  beside  the  for 
bearance  of  the  unfortunate  James,  who  waited  for  his  ene 
mies  to  marshal  themselves  fairly  on  good  ground,  set  fire 
to  his  tents,  and  descended  a  hill  which  gave  him  all  the  ad 
vantages  of  a  fortress,  in  order  that  the  terms  of  combat 
might  be  equal. 

The  First  and  Sixth  corps  forming,  under  Franklin,  the 
Left  Grand  Division;  and  the  Third  and  Fifth  the  Centre, 
under  Hooker,  encamped  near  Falmouth  on  the  18th  and 


*  General  Leo  asserts  iu  his  official  report  that  "Sumnci'  attempted  to 
cross  the  Rappahannock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  17th,  but  was  driven  back." 


58  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIAJMA. 

19th.  Here  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  waited  twenty-two 
days  for  the  pontoons,  and  for  the  establishment  of  commu 
nications,  impatiently  looking  on  while  Lee  concentrated  his 
forces  on  the  Heights  of  Fredericksburg,  dug  long  lines  of 
intrenchments,  and  threw  up  earthworks  for  the  protection 
of  batteries. 

Every  hour  of  waiting  was  paid  for  in  blood. 

Fredericksburg  is  situated  in  a  little  valley  formed  by 
Stafford  Heights  and  Marye's  Hills.  The  plain  is  six  miles 
long  and  from  one  to  three  in  breadth.  It  is  full  of  inequal 
ities  and  gradually  rises  from  the  Rappahannock,  which  lies 
at  the  foot  of  Stafford  Heights  to  the  southern  line  of  hills. 

As  soon  as  his  pontoons  were  at  hand,  Burnside  attempted 
to  make  the  passage  at  Skinker's  Neck,  twelve  miles  below 
Falmouth,  in  order,  by  turning  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy, 
to  avoid  the  formidable  array  on  the  heights  in  the  rear  of 
the  town.  On  finding  himself  expected  at  that  point,  he 
hastened  to  effect  a  direct  crossing  while  Lee's  attention  was 
divided.  On  the  10th  of  December  he  concentrated  his 
army  in  the  rear  of  Stafford  Heights. 

Since  the  failure  of  the  pontoons  to  arrive  at  the  proper 
time,  an  understanding  had  prevailed  throughout  the  army 
that  further  attempts  at  progress  were  postponed  until  spring 
weather  and  spring  roads  should  give  better  promise  of  suc 
cess.  Nevertheless,  the  troops  surmised  the  meaning  of  the 
present  movement.  Oft  repeated  experience  had  worn  out 
the  wild  enthusiasm  of  earlier  days,  and  it  was  with  manly 
solemnity  that  they  made  preparations  for  the  battle.  Quiet 
settled  early  over  the  crowded  encampments  on  the  night  of 
the  10th.  They  sank  in  restful  sleep  who  felt  that  their  next 
night  might  be  dreamless.  The  rumbling  of  artillery  alone 
broke  the  stillness,  until,  before  the  first  streaks  of  day,  the 
bugle  roused  the  army. 

Four  bridges  opposite  the  city  and  two  bridges  two  miles 
below  were  immediately  commenced.  A  long  line  of  gun 
ners,  on  the  heights,  where  one  hundred  and  forty-three  guns 
were  in  position,  stood  ready  to  open  fire. 

Under  cover  of  a  heavy  fog  engineers  floated  the  boats 
out  in  the  river.  Swiftly  and  silently  they  made  fast  boat 


CROSSING  THE  RAPPAHAJSNOCK.  59 

after  boat,  and  laid  plank  after  plank.  More  than  half  the 
bridge  was  laid,  when  a  double  report  of  a  signal  gun  rang 
from  the  Confederate  hills;  and  Rebel  sharpshooters,  flying 
to  their  places,  poured  a  deadly  fire  from  the  stone  walls  of 
the  river  street  of  Fredericksburg  on  the  workmen  of  the 
four  upper  bridges.  The  workmen  fled.  After  a  half  hour's 
quiet  they  returned,  but  only  to  fly  to  the  hills  a  second  time 
before  a  storm  which  riddled  planks  and  boats.  Again  they 
set  to  work.  A  third  time  they  were  driven  off.  It  was  not 
possible  to  continue  the  task,  while  those  sharp-eyed  marks 
men  held  Fredericksburg,  and  the  guns  on  Stafford  Heights 
endeavored  to  clear  the  city.  Each  gun  fired  fifty  rounds. 
Hundreds  of  tons  of  iron  were  hurled  across  the  river.  Con 
tinued  roars,  louder  than  the  loudest  thunder,  shook  the  hills. 
Flames  shot  up  through  fog  and  mist. 

Colonel  Chapman's  horsemen,  who,  with  other  cavalry, 
were  moving  from  a  distant  picket  line  toward  Falmouth, 
put  spurs  to  their  horses,  hoping  to  reach  the  ground  in  time 
to  be  called  into  the  conflict  of  a  battle  apparently  too  terri 
ble  to  last  many  hours. 

The  firing  ceased,  and  the  smoke  slowly  cleared  away. 
The  further  side  of  the  city  was  battered,  and  isolated  houses 
were  in  flames,  but  the  street  which  sheltered  the  sharp 
shooters  was  too  close  under  Stafford  Heights  to  be  reached 
by  the  artillerists,  and  it  was  almost  untouched.  In  conse 
quence  the  workmen  were  in  no  way  relieved. 

At  length  volunteers — a  forlorn  hope — seizing  pontoon 
boats,  rowed  themselves,  in  the  face  of  the  fire,  and,  with 
smaller  numbers  at  every  stroke  of  the  oar,  to  the  further 
bank,  and  chased  the  Rebels  from  cellars,  walls  and  rifle-pits. 
Deafening  cheers  rose  from  the  army,  which,  until  this  mo 
ment,  had  stood  in  absorbed  and  silent  attention. 

Franklin,  who  directed  the  construction  of  the  bridges  two 
miles  below  Fredericksburg,  met  with  little  opposition,  as 
the  sharpshooters  at  that  point  had  no  other  protection  than 
rifle-trenches.  Howard's  division  of  Couch's  corps  crossed 
on  the  upper  bridges,  and  bivouacked  the  night  of  the  llth 
in  Fredericksburg.  The  next  day  the  remainder  of  the  right 
wing  of  the  army  and  all  of  the  left  wing  moved  over  the 


60  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

river.  Included  in  Franklin's  force  were  the  old  divisions  of 
Hooker  and  Kearney,  now  under  Sickles  and  Birney. 
Hooker  parted  with  them  reluctantly,  on  the  peremptory 
order  of  Burnside,  who  desired  that  Franklin,  being  in  front 
of  the  Rebel  line,  should'  make  the  main  assault,  and  with 
sufficient  force  to  insure  its  success.  Birney  remained  on 
the  northern  bank  at  the  head  of  the  lower  bridges,  with 
orders  to  cross  early  on  the  13th. 

The  12th  was  consumed  by  the  Union  general  in  crossing 
the  river  and  reconnoitring  the  enemy's  position.  It  was 
spent  by  the  Rebel  commander-in-chief,  in  drawing  together 
detached  portions  of  his  army,  and  in  adding  with  needless 
caution  to  the  strength  of  his  intrenchments. 

Longstreet  formed  the  Rebel  left  and  centre,  and  extended 
along  the  bold,  bare  bluffs  above  the  city,  into  the  oak  and 
pine-clad  heights  in  its  rear  and  below  it.  His  advance  line 
was  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  one  brigade,  the  next  day  two 
brigades,  in  a  sunken  country  road  behind  a  stout  stone  wall, 
five  or  six  hundred  yards  long.  His  batteries  could  sweep 
the  city  and  the  narrow  strip  of  plain  in  its  rear,  by  a  direct 
and  converging  fire.  Jackson's  corps  lay  on  Longstreet's 
right,  on  the  same  ridge  of  semi-circular  hills,  and  stretched 
to  the  eastward  into  the  valley  toward  the  river.  Stuart, 
with  two  brigades  of  cavalry  and  with  a  force  of  horse  artil 
lery,  had  the  extreme  right,  reaching  to  Massaponax  creek. 
In  front  of  Jackson,  the  ground  was  comparatively  low  and 
unbroken,  and  the  plain  stretched  to  a  width  of  two  miles. 
In  front  of  Longstreet,  it  was  a  succession  of  hillocks,  ditches, 
fences  and  muddy  fields.  Close  in  the'  rear  of  the  city  was 
a  canal,  which  might  be  called  his  first  line  of  defense. 

An  ominous  silence  prevailed  throughout  the  12th.  Stern 
and  grave  expectation  rested  on  the  army,  not  unnaturally 
relieved  here  and  there  by  frolicsome  gaiety.  A  soldier,  with 
a  white  beaver  or  a  wig  on  his  head,  a  fine  dress  falling  about 
his  shoulders,  a  doll  in  his  arms,  excited  roars  of  laughter. 
But  the  good  provost  marshal,  General  Patrick,  had  no  more 
leniency  for  one  kind  of  robbery  than  for  another,  and  was 
also  cautious  about  inflaming  Southern  feeling;  he,  there 
fore,  shortly  put  an  end  to  these  capricious  capers. 


BATTLE  OF  FREDERICKSBTTEG.  61 

Saturday  the  13th  broke  still  and  warm,  like  a  lingering 
touch  of  Indian  summer  in  mid- winter.  Fog  hung  heavily 
on  river,  hill  and  plain.  After  ten,  the  fog  slowly  lifted. 

Franklin's  force  comprised  about  sixty  thousand  men,  and 
extended  from  the  outskirts  of  Fredericksburg,  three  miles 
along  a  broad,  well-shaped  road,  the  old  Richmond  road, 
parallel  to  the  river,  nearly  to  Massaponax  creek.  In  its 
front,  the  wide,  unobstructed  plain  afforded  room  for  the 
deployment  of  troops  out  of  hostile  range.  Franklin  was 
ordered  to  gain  a  point  which  would  enable  him  immediately 
to  place  his  forces  in  rear  of  the  enemy's  extreme  right,  and, 
by  a  new  road  connecting  the  wings  of  the  rebel  army,  give 
him  free  access  to  the  open  ground  in  the  rear  of  the  line  of 
heights.  Not  until  the  position  was  taken,  were  the  heights 
back  of  the  town  to  be  assailed;  but  immediately  on  the 
announcement  of  Franklin's  success,  Sumner  was  to  advance 
to  the  assault.  Between  nine  and  ten,  Meade's  division  of 
Franklin's  troops  swept  over  the  open  ground  toward  the 
crest  on  which  the  enemy  was  posted,  and  in  the  woods  of 
which  he  was  concealed.  Gibbon's  division,  which  should 
have  been  close  at  hand  on  its  right,  moved  on  the  right  of 
its  rear,  and  Doubleday's  division  had  the  left  of  its  rear. 
Just  as  the  advance  began,  Birney's  division  of  Hooker's 
corps  arrived  from  the  other  side  of  the  river  and  took  its 
station  in  and  near  the  old  Richmond  road,  to  move  forward 
when  called  upon.  No  Indiana  regiments  were  in  Meade's 
division,  and  none  in  Gibbon's.  In  Doubleday's  were  the 
Nineteenth,  included  in  Meredith's  brigade,  and  the  Seventh, 
under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Cheek,  Colonel  Gavin  being  in 
command  of  the  brigade.  In  Birney's  division  was  the 
Twentieth  regiment  in  Robinson's  brigade.  Meade  was 
apparently  unobserved  until  he  was  within  range  of  the 
Rebel  batteries,  which  were  entirely  hidden  from  him.  The 
fire  did  not  check  him ;  it  gave  him  fresh  impetus.  Rushing 
forward  with  vigor  and  suddenness,  he  broke  through  the 
enemy's  lines,  drove  him  from  his  advanced  works,  captured 
several  flags  and  several  hundred  prisoners,  passed  rows  of 
muskets  stacked,  the  Rebels  not  having  had  time  to  take 
them  up,  and  penetrating  to  Jackson's  reserve,  reached  the 


62  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

road,  which  Burnside  considered  the  key  of  the  enemy's 
position.  But  he  outran  the  tardy  Gibbon,  and  when  as 
sailed  on  both  flanks  by  Jackson's  reserves,  he  was  compelled 
to  give  way.  Gibbon  advancing  slowly,  met  with  a  moment 
ary  success,  but  he  was  assaulted  impetuously  bv  a  fresh 
Rebel  force,  and  he  fell  back  in  disorder.  Birney  moved  up 
on  Meade's  ground  and  met  the  tide  of  pursuit.  He  checked 
it,  and  Robinson's  brigade,  with  a  furious  bayonet  charge 
which  the  Rebels  fled  before,  wrested  from  their  grasp  two 
of  Meade's  batteries,  but  being  without  support  on  right  or 
left,  or  rear,  Birney  could  not  follow  up  his  advantage. 
Doubleday,  at  the  beginning  of  Meade's  advance,  was  turned 
square  off  to  the  left,  to  meet  a  strong  Rebel  force  which 
threatened  to  gain  his  flank  and  rear.  He  drove  the  enemy 
before  him  more  than  a  mile.  His  further  progress  was  re 
strained  only  by  the  failure  of  the  assault  on  his  right. 

About  noon,  when  Meade  gave  every  promise  of  success, 
Sumner  began  to  storm  the  centre  of  the  Rebel  line.  He 
selected  French  and  Hancock  for  the  work,  because  these 
generals  were  "two  of  the  most  gallant  officers  in  the  army, 
and  their  troops  had  never  turned  their  backs  to  the  enemy." 
Their  behavior  this  day  justified  his  choice.  "They  did  all 
that  men  could  do."  General  Kimball's  brigade  was  placed 
in  front.  Kimball's  skirmishers  drove  back  the  enemy  s 
skirmishers  and  established  a  line  of  battle  on  a  little  rise  of 
ground  in  the  face  of  the  lower  range  of  Rebel  breastworks, 
and  almost  beneath  the  upper  range  of  guns.  The  Four 
teenth  Indiana,  Major  Gavins,  on  the  left,  the  Seventh  Vir 
ginia  and  two  New  Jersey  regiments  forming  the  remainder 
of  Kimball's  brigade,  supported  the  skirmishers.  Tier  upon 
tier  the  enemy's  fortifications  rose  before  them.  In  the  shel 
ter  of  the  slight  elevation  gained  by  his  skirmishers,  Frencli 
deployed  his  troops  in  column  of  attack,  brigade  front,  with 
intervals  of  two  hundred  paces.  Hancock's  division  followed, 
and  forming  in  the  same  manner,  joined  the  advance  of 
French. 

The  fascination  with  which  the  spectators  on  Stafford 
Heights  watched  the  amphitheatre  before  and  beneath  them, 
seemed  for  a  few  moments  to  be  shared  by  the  opposing 


THE  IMPREGNABLE  WALL.  63 

heights.  The  batteries  ceased  and  the  hills  were  still.  But 
it  was  no  charm  which  held  the  mouths  of  Rebel  guns;  no 
admiration  for  that  steady  line  of  noblest  Americans  which 
restrained  the  hands  of  Rebel  gunners.  When  the  artil 
lery  north  of  the  river  was  forced  to  withhold  a  fire  which 
streamed  indiscriminately  on  friendly  and  hostile  lines,  the 
Rebels  joyfully  poured  down  cross  storms  of  shot  and  shell. 
French's  column  was  the  focus  of  a  semi-circle  of  batteries. 
It  quivered.  Gaps  \vere  visible  at  the  distance  of  a  mile. 
But  the  ranks  closed  up  and  marched  on,  inspired  by  an 
awful  courage  and  the  delusive  hope  that  when  once  within 
the  shelter  of  the  first  hill  the  most  terrible  part  of  their  duty 
would  be  done.  They  were  but  sixty  paces  from  the  base 
of  the  hill,  when  suddenly  the  stone  wall  was  alive  and 
burning  with  musketry.  Every  foot  of  the  wall  securely 
sheltered  a  sharpshooter.  The  muskets  of  the  assailants 
were  impotent.  Their  artillery  played  harmlessly  on  the 
stones.  They  melted  away,  falling  dead  or  wounded,  flying 
to  the  rear,  or  throwing  themselves  to  the  ground  in  the  hol 
lows  of  the  plain. 

Hancock's  division,  each  brave  Irishman  in  its  front  gaily 
adorned  with  a  sprig  of  evergreen  in  tribute  to  his  native 
isle,  was  dashed  back  by  the  same  terrific  fire. 

Howard,  Sturgis  and  Getty  advanced  to  the  support  of 
French  and  Hancock,  only  to  be  in  turn  driven  from  the 
ground.  Kimball,  wounded  in  the  thigh,  was  early  carried 
from  the  field,  but  his  brigade,  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Mason  of  the  Fourth  Ohio,  and  his  staff,  by  his  direct  order, 
remained  until  sundown,  sheltered  by  a  slight  depression  in 
the  ground. 

When  three  assaults  had  failed,  Burnside  sent  Hooker, 
with  his  two  remaining  divisions,  to  take  a  hand  in  the 
dreadful  game.  Hooker  reconnoitered  the  position,  con 
sulted  the  officers  who  had  been  engaged,  and  sent  word  to 
his  commander  that  the  point  was  impregnable.  Burnside 
reiterated  the  order.  Hooker  hastened  back  in  person  to 
Stafford  Heights  and  urged  his  opinion.  Burnside  was  as 
impregnable  as  the  wall  at  the  foot  of  Marye's  Heights. 
He  who  had  weathered  the  storms  of  Hatteras,  hopeful  and 


64  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

dauntless  when  all  around  were  faltering  or  in  despair,  was 
undaunted  now.  Hooker  unwillingly  returned.  He  beat 
the  wall  with  batteries,  then  threw  forward  his  column  of 
assault  It  was  hurled  back  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes. 

It  was  now  dark.  Burnside's  advanced  line  occupied  the 
side  of  a  hillock,  which  was  within  sound  of  the  piteous 
cries  of  the  wounded.  Attempts  made  to  remove  or  relieve 
the  sufferers  were  only  successful  in  provoking  the  Confede 
rate  fire. 

At  four  the  next  morning,  Sunday,  Burnside  sent  the  fol 
lowing  dispatch  to  the  President:  "Our  troops  are  all  over 
the  river,  and  hold  the  first  ridge  outside  the  town  and  three 
miles  below.  We  hope  to  carry  the  crest  to-day.  Our  loss 
heavy,  say  five  thousand." 

The  crest  was  not  carried  on  the  14th.  It  was  not  as 
saulted.  In  the  words  of  Abram  J.  Buckles,  a  private  in 
the  Nineteenth,  "  Everything  this  day  seemed  as  if  hushed, 
and  mourning  over  the  slaughter  of  the  day  before."  Ex 
pecting  with  each  hour  an  order  to  advance,  the  army  stood 
in  battle  array  from  sunrise  until  sunset.  The  Third  Indiana 
and  other  cavalry,  which  on  the  12th  had  taken  position  on 
Stafford  Heights,  and  held  themselves  ready  for  an  emer 
gency,  still  waited.  The  forces  on  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  amphitheatre  were  equally  inactive. 

Monday,  the  long  lines  of  battle  continued  unbroken. 
The  dead  were  buried.  The  wounded  were  carried  off. 
Supply  wagons  were  withdrawn.  Every  preparation  was 
made  apparently  for  a  bloody  day's  work  on  the  morrow. 

The  line  of  pickets  ran  from  the  Rappahannock,  three 
miles  below  the  lowest  bridge,  nearly  westward  to  the  vicin 
ity  of  Fredericksburg,  when  it  bent  toward  the  north.  The 
pickets  lay  flat,  in  the  rear  of  the  city,  as  the  Rebels  could 
depress  their  artillery  sufficiently  to  rake  everything  two  feet 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  In  many  places,  hostile 
sentinels  were  close  enough  for  the  exchange  of  words. 

Monday  night,  the  Nineteenth  Indiana  guarded  the  ex 
treme  left,  It  was  a  wild  night.  In  the  darkest  hour,  while 
each  ear  and  each  eye  was  intent  lest  the  din  of  the  elements 
and  the  depth  of  the  darkness  should  cover  a  movement  of 


BURNSIDE  RELUCTANTLY  WITHDRAWS  HIS  ARMY.          65 

the  enemy,  to  the  shivering  pickets  came  a  whispered  order 
to  fall  back.  They  withdrew  noiselessly.  In  their  rear  was 
not  a  gun,  nor  a  caisson,  nor  a  man  of  the  vast  army  they 
had  supposed  wrapt  in  sleep.  The  very  intrenching  tools 
were  all  gone.  At  daybreak,  pressed  by  the  enemy,  they 
reached  the  river.  At  the  head  of  the  only  remaining  bridge 
stood  engineers  waiting  to  take  up  the  planks.  Two  regi 
ments  from  other  parts  of  the  picket  line  were  about  cross 
ing.  But  it  was  necessary  to  check  the  pursuers  of  the 
Nineteenth,  and  the  three  regiments  forming  into  line  turned 
a  bold  face  toward  the  foe,  who  fired  but  one  round.  The 
passage  was  now  effected,  the  planks  were  taken  up,  and  the 
pontoons  were  floated  to  the  other  side. 

The  out-posts  of  the  Nineteenth,  far  in  the  front  when 
orders  reached  them,  arrived  at  the  \vater's  edge  to  find  the 
unbridged  river  between  them  and  the  army.  But  skiffs 
close  at  hand  dispelled  their  momentary  dismay  and  carried 
them  quickly  to  the  further  shore. 

It  was  not  without  a  severe  struggle  with  himself  that 
Burn  side  gave  up  Fredericksburg.  During  the  assaults  on 
Saturday  afternoon  he  walked  up  and  down  on  the  bank  of 
the  Rappahannock  and  exclaimed  vehemently:  "That  crest 
must  be  carried!"  He  compelled  Hooker,  against  the  wishes 
and  judgment  of  the  latter,  to  make  the  last  essay.  Satur 
day  night  he  went  over  the  whole  field  on  the  right,  inquiring 
into  the  condition  and  feeling  of  both  officers  and  men. 
Although  he  found  disappointment  and  despondency  almost 
everywhere,  he  prepared  to  lead  in  person  the  Ninth  corps  in 
an  assault  at  an  early  hour  the  next  day.  He  gave  up  the 
attempt  only  on  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Sumner.  Then 
with  deep  reluctance,  and  feeling  in  his  heart  that  he  could 
yet  succeed  if  he  were  but  rightly  seconded,  he  determined 
on  a  withdrawal. 

Losses  summed  up  were :  To  the  Rebels,  five  thousand, 
to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  twelve  thousand  three  hundred 
and  twenty-one. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  paint  the  grief  and  con 
sternation  produced  by  the  publication  of  the  result.     On 
5 


66  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  removal  of  McClellan  and  the  appointment  of  a  fighting 
General,  hopes  of  uninterrupted  success  had  animated  all 
lovers  of  their  country.  The  disaster  was  the  more  appall 
ing  and  the  more  exasperating.  With  patient  sorrow  Burn- 
side  bared  his  head  to  the  shame  and  blame  which  popular 
feeling,  fired  by  party  spite,  hastened  to  heap  on  him.  Say 
ing  not  a  word  of  the  failure  in  Washington  to  send  forward 
the  pontoons,  and  not  a  word  of  the  failure  of  Franklin,  with 
more  than  half  the  army  and  a  good  position,  to  turn  the 
right  wing  of  the  enemy,  he  wrote  to  Halleck:  "For  the 
failure  in  the  attack  I  am  responsible,  as  the  extreme  gal 
lantry,  courage  and  endurance  shown  by  the  officers  and 
soldiers  were  never  excelled,  and  would  have  carried  the 
point  if  possible.  *  *  *  The  fact  that  I  decided  to  move 
from  Warrenton  to  this  line  rather  against  the  opinion  of  the 
President,  Secretary  of  War  and  yourself,  and  that  you  have 
left  the  whole  movement  in  my  hands,  without  giving  me 
orders,  makes  me  the  more  responsible." 

The  people  and  the  President  responded  nobly.  And  well 
they  might.  Others  could,  and,  as  time  wore  on,  did  con 
quer  the  enemy.  Burnside  alone,  of  all  the  commanders-in- 
chief,  showed  that  he  had  conquered  himself. 

Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  to  the  army:  "Although  you  were  not 
successful,  the  attempt  was  not  an  error,  nor  the  failure  other 
than  an  accident.  The  courage  with  which  you,  on  an  open 
field,  maintained  the  contest  against  an  intrenched  foe,  and 
the  consummate  skill  and  success  with  which  you  crossed 
and  recrossed  the  river  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  show  that 
you  possess  all  the  qualities  which  will  yet  give  victory  to 
the  cause  of  the- country  and  of  popular  government," 

The  comments  of  the  enemy  on  the  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg  are  in  the  customary  arrogant  strain  of  the  South. 
Pollard  says:  "In  this  part  of  the  field,"  i.  e.  the  rear  of 
Fredericksburg,  where  was  KimbalPs  brigade,  "the  enemy 
displayed  a  devotion  that  is  remarkable  in  history.  This 
display  does  not  adorn  the  Yankees.  To  the  Irish  division 
was  principally  committed  the  desperate  task." 

Again :  "  The  victory  had  been  purchased  by  us  with 
lives,  though  comparatively  small  in  number,  yet  infinitely 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS  OF  THE  BATTLE.  67 

more  precious  than  those  of  the  mercenary  hordes  arrayed 
against  us." 

The  correspondent  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  says:  "  The 
"  railroad  gap  at  one  time  was  filled  with  Yankees,  when  a 
well-directed  shot  from  the  battery  exploded  in  their  midst, 
killing  about  fifty  of  the  hirelings." 

The  Indiana  troops  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg  were 
few  in  number,  but  were  not  called  to  the  performance  of 
insignificant  duties.  In  the  main  fighting,  the  Fourteenth 
led  the  advance.  The  Nineteenth  covered  the  retreat  of  the 
whole  army.  Captain  Kalley  of  the  Fourteenth  was  killed. 
Lieutenant  Gibson,  of  the  same  regiment,  died  of  wounds 
received. 

In  Couch's  official  report,  the  following  paragraph  occurs: 
"  KimbalPs  brigade  was  in  front.  By  its  subsequent  conduct, 
it  showed  itself  worthy  to  lead,"  Sumner,  during  an  exam 
ination  before  a  Congressional  committee  which  was  ap 
pointed  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the  repulse,  twice  as 
serted  that  his  troops,  foremost  of  which  was  KimbalPs  bri 
gade,  "did  all  that  men  could  do." 

Colonel  Cutter,  who,  in  the  absence  of  Meredith,  com 
manded  the  brigade  of  the  latter,  says  in  his  official  report: 

"  I  sent  an  order  to  Colonel  Williams,  of  the  Nineteenth 
Indiana,  to  call  in  his  pickets  at  half-past  four  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  to  follow  his  brigade  in  silence  to  a  new  position, 
up  the  river,  without  intimating  that  they  were  to  cross  the 
river.  He  obeyed  the  order  to  the  letter,  and  when  day 
dawned,  found  himself  and  his  regiment  following  the  army 
across  the  Rappahannock.  He  had  at  least  three  miles  to 
march  and  reach  the  bridge,  and  was  the  last  of  that  vast 
army  to  cross.  I  am  under  great  obligation  to  all  the  officers 
and  men  for  their  cordial  co-operation  during  the  brief  period 
I  was  in  command,  but  especially  to  Colonel  Williams  for 
the  coolness  and  good  judgment  which  he  exercised  in  obey 
ing  my  orders,  and  which  resulted  in  saving  one  of  the  beet 
regiments  in  the  service." 

The  battle  of  Fredericksburg  cost  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  the  only  general  who  in  actual  contest  had  shown 
himself  able  to  cope  with  Stonewall  Jackson.  General 


68  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Kimball,  seriously  wounded,  was  carried  from  the  field  about 
two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  13th.  The  next  day, 
Mr.  Holloway,  an  agent  of  Governor  Morton  in  the  work  of 
relieving  Indiana  wounded,  saw  him  on  his  way  to  Wash 
ington,  lying  in  a  freight  car,  and  unable  to  move  without 
assistance.  He  was  attended  by  an  orderly.  Another  gen 
eral,  slightly  wounded,  and  sitting  in  the  same  car,  was  at 
tended  by  three  orderlies.  Holloway's  pride  was  a  little 
touched  by  the  comparatively  neglected  state  of  Kimball, 
and  he  asked,  "Where  are  the  members  of  your  staff?" 
"On  the  field,"  replied  the  Indiana  general,  "their  services 
were  needed." 

Wounds  were  principally  from  shell.  In  consequence, 
flesh  was  lacerated  and  bones  were  crushed  to  an  unusual 
degree.  Agents  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  were  on  the 
ground,  immediately  after  the  battle,  with  abundant  sup 
plies,  and  greatly  relieved  the  suffering  which  rose  from  the 
removal  of  the  wounded  from  the  comfortable  houses  of 
Fredericksburg  to  the  damp  ground  of  hospital  tents. 

Two  agents,  who  had  been  sent  by  Governor  Morton  to 
attend  to  the  wants  of  Indianians,  were  very  efficient.  Mr. 
Richardson,  the  well-known  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
Tribune,  under  date  of  December  18,  alluded  to  the  care 
which  had  commissioned  them,  in  the  following  manner: 

"The  peculiar  and  constant  attention  to  the  troops  his 
State  has  sent  out  so  promptly,  is  the  prominent  feature  of 
Governor  Morton's  most  admirable  administration.  In  all 
our  armies,  from  Kansas  to  the  Potomac,  everywhere  I  have 
met  Indiana  troops  I  have  encountered  some  officer  of  Gov 
ernor  Morton  going  about  among  them,  inquiring  especially 
as  to  their  needs  both  in  camp  and  hospital,  and  performing 
those  thousand  offices  the  soldier  so  often  requires.  Would 
that  the  same  tender  care  could  be  extended  to  every  man, 
from  whatever  state,  who  is  fighting  the  battles  of  the  re 
public." 

Among  the  most  efficient  of  the  regimental  chaplains  was 
E.  H.  Sabin  of  the  Fourteenth,  of  whom  Major  Gavins 
wrote :  "  He  was  complimented  by  the  surgeons  and  com 
manders  of  the  regiments  of  Kimball's  brigade,  for  his  skill, 


DYING  ALONE  AND  DYING  AT  HOME.  69 

energy  and  valuable  services.  He  greatly  endeared  himself 
to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  whole  brigade,  by  his  un 
tiring  attention  to  their  wants." 

As  rapidly  as  the  wounded  were  put  in  condition  for  safe 
transportation,  they  were  removed  to  the  general  hospitals  in 
Washington  and  Point  Lookout.  The  last  man  was  taken 
away  on  Christmas. 

The  care  of  the  sick  during  the  changes  of  this  campaign, 
was  peculiarly  hard.  When  the  army,  preparatory  to  the 
attack,  concentrated  on  Stafford  Heights,  the  occupants  of 
camp  hospitals,  which  were  comfortable  log  huts,  were  trans 
ferred  to  division  hospitals.  The  change  was  made  hastily 
and  confusedly,  in  the  night  and  in  the  rain.  As  every  man 
who  could  carry  a  gun  had  been  marched  off  with  his  regi 
ment,  the  patients  were  forced  to  rely  on  their  own  wasted 
strength.  Frequently  they  could  not  find  the  division  hos 
pitals.  Exertion  and  exposure  confirmed  the  hold  and  hast 
ened  the  work  of  disease. 

Sad  hearts,  of  a  young  but  already  long-orphaned  family, 
recall  one  who  lay  languishing  when  his  comrades  left  him, 
and  was  no  more  when  they  returned.  How  he  died,  or 
when,  or  where,  none  knew.  No  tears  fell,  and  no  heart 
ached,  as  dust  was  given  to  dust.  Why  should  his  fate  be 
told?  He  was  but  one  of  thousands,  and  the  sisters  who 
grieved  for  the  quenching  of  his  young  and  noble  life,  are 
lost  in  the  multitude  of  mourners. 

Wesley  Kemper,  whose  letters  were  quoted  in  the  chapter 
on  the  Twentieth  Indiana,  received  here  his  finishing  stroke. 
From  the  time  of  the  seven  days'  battles,  weakness  and  wear 
iness  had  preyed  on  him,  yet  on  the  muddy  banks  of  the 
James,  in  the  march  across  the  peninsula,  standing  picket  on 
the  Rappahannock  as  Pope  fell  back,  he  did  a  soldier's  duty. 
He  dragged  himself  after  his  regiment  toward  Bull  Run,  but 
only  reached  it  to  watch  beside  the  lifeless  body  of  Colonel 
Brown.  Not  until  he  was  hopeless,  did  he  apply  for  a  dis 
charge,  and  not  until  he  had  followed  his  comrades  to  Fred- 
ericksburg,  and  was  dying,  did  he  receive  his  discharge.  He 
reached  Indianapolis  on  the  last  day  of  1862.  When  he 
saw  his  home,  he  said  with  the  satisfaction  of  a  tired  child, 


70  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"On  the  old  stamping  ground  at  last!"  He  died  on  New 
Year's  day,  after  all  his  wanderings,  in  the  house  where  he 
was  born,  and  after  all  his  sufferings,  in  his  mother's  arms. 

A  letter  from  Samuel  List,- of  the  Seventh,  shows  how 
little  vindictiveness  or  bitterness  existed  in  the  hearts  of  the 
privates : 

"  OPPOSITE   FREDERICKSBURG,  ) 
December,  1862.       j 

"For  two  days  previous  to  the  retreat  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  but  little  went  on  in  the  way  of  fighting.  Every 
thing  seemed  to  indicate  that  our  army  was  waiting  for 
something,  no  one  knew  what,  Monday  two  flags  of  truce 
were  sent  out  by  our  men,  in  front  of  where  we  lay,  to  get 
our  dead  and  wounded.  Hundreds  from  both  sides  flocked 
out  to  see  each  other.  The  Rebels  came  pouring  out  of  the 
woods  by  scores  without  any  guns.  So  did  our  men.  They 
met  half  way,  shook  hands,  talked,  traded  coffee  for  tobacco, 
etc.  The  Rebel  privates  seemed  very  anxious  for  the  war  to 
close.  They  said :  "  If  it  were  not  for  the  officers  the  war 
would  have  ended  long  ago."  I  believe  if  we  had  remained 
there  a  month,  and  the  officers  had  not  interfered,  the  two 
armies  would  have  been  in  the  same  camp.  I  tell  you  the 
Rebel  officers  had  to  watch  their  men  close  to  keep  them 
from  coming  over  to  our  side.  In  fact  I  saw  seven  throw 
away  their  guns,  hold  up  a  white  cloth,  and  come  over.  I 
must  confess  it  was  the  most  impressive  sight  I  ever  saw. 
It  made  me  feel  that  they  were  our  friends,  even  if  they 
were  fiffhthiff  us. 

o  o 

"Monday  night  just  after  dark  we  relieved  our  pickets,  as 
usual,  and  lay  down  on  our  arms  to  sleep.  At  ten  we  were 
called  up.  Everything  was  got  ready  to  move.  Not  a  word 
was  spoken,  except  by  the  officers,  and  that  was  done  in  a 
whisper.  We  supposed  we  must  be  going  to  steal  some 
position  on  the  Rebels  in  the  darkness,  but  we  were  marched 
off  in  silence  to  the  river,  and  in  a  few  minutes  were  on  the 
other  side.  We  were  nearly  in  the  rear  of  the  left  grand 
division,  and  consequently  were  among  the  last.  It  was  just 
midnight.  The  night  favored  us.  It  was  dark,  and  the 


NEITHER  EAGLE  NOR  SERPENT.  71 

wind  blew  from  the  Rebels.  The  artillerymen  muffled  their 
cannon  wheels  with  rags,  and  took  them  off  the  field  by 
hand,  almost  out  of  the  teeth  of  the  enemy.  To-morrow,  it 
is  said,  we  move  back  to  Brooks'  Station.  Why,  I  know 
not.  I  have  quit  inquiring  into  our  movements.  I  go  when 
they  tell  me,  and  stop  when  they  tell  me,  and  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  ways  of  war  are  mysterious." 

"  Only  the  eagle  or  the  serpent,"  it  is  said,  "reaches  the  top 
of  the  loftiest  mountains."  Burnside's  career,  as  the  head 
of  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  confirms  the  reflection.  That 
career  was  short.  It  could  not  be  otherwise.  With  all  the 
fearlessness  and  daring,  he  had  little  of  the  soaring  ambition 
of  the  monarch  of  the  air;  and  he  wholly  lacked  the  wind 
ing  wisdom  of  its  earthly  rival.  His  expressions  of  diffi 
dence  when  he  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  took  right  hold  of  the  heart  of  the  people, 
and  his  frank  assumption  of  the  responsibility  of  the  Frede- 
ricksburg  battle,  melted  away,  seemingly,  every  vestige  of 
distrust.  That  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Eastern 
army  should,  above  everything  else,  be  honest,  was  a  subject 
of  almost  devout  joy.  Yet  in  the  army  there  were  from 
the  beginning  exceptions  to  the  general  admiration  and 
attachment,  officers  who  resented  the  promotion  of  the  un 
pretending  General  of  the-  Ninth  corps,  or  who  sincerely 
regarded  him  as  unequal  to  the  vast  responsibilities  of  his 
new  position.  Burnside's  expressed  self-distrust,  and  his 
acknowledgment  of  mistake,  were  ready  weapons  for  ungen 
erous  hands,  and  were  slyly  and  ruthlessly  turned  against 
him. 

To  a  candid  observer  the  army  seemed  to  have  suffered  no 
demoralization  by  the  battle  of  Fredcricksburg.  Lieutenant 
Lewis  Wilson,  correspondent  of  the  Indianapolis  Journal, 
and  a  member  of  the  Third  cavalry,  writes  at  this  period: 

"  The  greatest  present  fear  of  the  army  is  that  the  anathe 
mas  of  the  nation  will  be  showered  upon  the  head  of  their 
glorious  leader,  who  is  still  deserving  of  their  highest  confi 
dence.  Burnside  has  not  lost  the  faith  and  kind  wishes  of 
the  army.  The  strategy  which  required  months  to  develop 
itself,  and  which  the  people  learned  heartily  to  despise, 


72  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

formed  no  part  of  the  military  education  of  Burn  side.  He 
crossed  the  Rappahannock  and  made  a  costly  experiment, 
but  now  we  know  the  position  and  strength  of  the  Rebel 
army,  the  troops  will  be  better  nerved  for  the  struggle  that 
will  not  long  be  delayed." 

Richardson,  correspondent  of  the  Neiv  York  Tribune,  De 
cember  21,  writes:  "The  general  tone  of  the  army  is  good, 
far  better  than  could  be  expected.  I  find  little  discourage 
ment,  and  no  demoralization."  At  a  later  period,  he  asserts: 
"  Every  private  soldier  knew  that  the  battle  of  Fredericks- 
burg  was  a  costly  and  bloody  mistake,  and  yet,  I  think,  on 
the  day  or  the  week  following  it,  the  soldiers  would  have 
gone  into  battle  just  as  cheerfully  and  sturdily  as  before. 
The  more  I  saw  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  more  I 
wondered  at  its  invincible  spirit."  Captain  Noyes,  who  was 
on  Doubleday's  staff,  testifies  to  the  same  purpose:  "If  I 
may  judge  from  my  own  observation  and  the  opinion  of 
brigade  commanders,  the  men  were  never  in  better  spirits, 
never  more  ready  to  do  their  whole  duty." 

Slocum's  corps  left  Harper's  Ferry  on  the  10th  of  Decem 
ber,  to  assist  in  the  assault  on  Fredericksburg.  The  ground 
was  covered  with  snow,  and  it  was  difficult  for  the  men  to 
make  themselves  comfortable,  but  they  endured  discomforts 
cheerfully,  often  going  into  camp  singing  as  if  they  were 
just  commencing  a  march.  When  ten  miles  south  of  Fairfax 
Court  House,  the  corps  was  ordered  to  turn  back  to  Fairfax, 
the  assault  and  repulse  having  been  made  and  received. 

General  Burnside  was  not  inclined  to  procrastinate.  The 
army  was  scarcely  in  camp  again,  when  he  commenced 
sending  out  reconnoitring  parties,  and  making  roads  prepar 
atory  to  crossing  the  river  six  or  seven  miles  below  Freder 
icksburg.  He  intended  to  make  a  feint,  which  could  be 
turned  into  a  positive  assault  above  the  town,  if  he  should 
be  discovered  below.  In  connection  with  the  movement,  he 
made  arrangements  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  enemy 
by  a  cavalry  expedition.  All  went  on  smoothly  and  swiftly. 
The  cavalry,  twenty-five  hundred  in  number,  had  already 
started  and  was  crossing  the  Rappahannock  at  Kelly's  Ford, 
one  thousand  picked  men  of  the  force  to  cut  Lee's  com- 


"RAINY  MARCHING  IN  THE  PAINFUL  FIELD."  73 

munications  with  Richmond,  to  destroy  the  Richmond  roads 
around  the  Southern  capital,  and  after  joining  General  Peck 
at  Suffolk,  return  to  Aquia  creek  by  water,  a  portion  of  the 
remainder  to  go  to  Warrenton,  a  portion  to  Culpepper,  and 
a  portion  to  accompany  the  thousand  picked  men  to  the 
Rapidan,  when  President  Lincoln,  by  direct  interposition, 
stopped  the  expedition  and  overthrew  the  entire  plan. 

Burnside  was  disappointed;  and  when  inquiry  disclosed 
the  insubordinate  feeling  of  many  of  his  subordinates,  and 
the  fact  that  complaints  and  misrepresentations  had  been 
made  by  them  to  the  President,  he  was  perplexed.  More 
than  ever  he  was  thrown  on  his  own  resources  and  responsi 
bility.  Not  General  Halleck,  nor  even  Abraham  Lincoln 
held  up  his  hands.  Still  he  was  of  good  courage,  and  he 
prepared  for  one  more  attempt.  Determining  to  cross  the 
river  with  the  main  army  at  several  fords  above  the  city,  he 
employed  detachments  from  different  brigades  in  making  a 
number  of  roads.  On  Tuesday,  January  20,  the  grand  di 
visions  of  Hooker  and  Franklin  went  up  the  river  by  parallel 
roads,  and  at  night  encamped  in  the  woods  near  the  ford. 
Couch  marched  seven  miles  below  Fredericksburg,  to  make 
demonstrations  at  the  point  selected  for  crossing  in  the  pre 
vious  abortive  movement.  Si  gel,  with  the  reserve  corps, 
guarded  the  line  of  the  river,  with  the  communications. 
The  men  were  in  fine  spirits,  well  knowing  that  another  at 
tack  on  Fredericksburg  was  to  be  made,  and  ready  to  make 
it  heartily. 

Weather  and  roads  had  been  good  for  many  weeks,  but 
during  the  evening  of  the  20th  a  cold,  driving  rain  set  in. 
It  increased  in  violence  and  continued  through  the  night, 
blowing  away  tents  and  drenching  the  sleeping  soldiers  as 
well  as  the  details  which  hauled  artillery  and  pontoons  into 
position.  By  daylight,  the  guns  were  on  the  heights  and 
covered  the  crossings;  but  only  boats  enough  for  one  bridge 
had  been  dragged  to  the  water's  edge,  while  five  bridges  were 
necessary. 

Whoever  remembers  Indiana  roads  twenty-five  years  ago, 
when  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  stage-coach  traveller 
to  walk  nineteen  miles  out  of  twenty,  carrying  a  rail  on  his 


74  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

shoulder  for  uncorduroyed  abysses,  can  imagine  the  scene  on 
the  Rappanannock  on  the  morning  of  the  21st.  A  sea  of 
mud  unfathomable  stretched  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
Rain  still  poured  down.  Burnside  harnessed  double  and 
triple  teams  of  horses  and  mules  to  each  boat,  and  when 
these  failed  he  added  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  each 
team.  Toiling,  staggering,  floundering,  never  advancing, 
the  patient  troops  held  on  to  the  ropes  through  the  day. 
The  tired  muscles  of  the  Indiana  Twentieth  were  stretched 
to  the  utmost.  But  the  mire  clutched  the  feet  of  men  no 
less  tenaciously  than  the  hoofs  of  horses.  Human  might 
and  brute  force  were  nothing.  After  a  most  laborious  day 
not  the  slightest  progress  was  made.  The  Rebels,  by  this 
time  awake  to  what  was  going  on,  gathered  on  the  opposite 
heights  and  shouted  derisively,  ''We'll  come  over  to-morrow 
and  help  you  build  the  bridges,"  displaying,  at  the  same  time, 
a  board  with  the  words,  painted  large  and  black,  " BURNSIDE 

STUCK    IN    THE    MUD." 

On  Friday  the  storm  abated,  but  the  last  spark  in  Burn- 
side's  hopeful  breast  was  quenched.  He  relinquished  the 
struggle  and  led  the  army  back  to  its  old  quarters. 

Slocum's  corps,  which  marched  out  from  Fairfax  to  Burn- 
side's  assistance,  and  reached  Stafford  Court  House,  ten 
miles  from  Fredericksburg,  went  into  camp  at  Stafford. 

Private  Humphreys,  of  the  Nineteenth,  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  gives  his  experience  in  the  "Mud  Campaign:" 

"After  the  disastrous  battle  at  Fredericksburg,  we  moved 
to  our  present  encampment  and  erected  comfortable  winter 
huts,  and  for  several  weeks  enjoyed  ourselves  quite  well  for 
soldiers.  But  al?s  for  our  hopes  of  spending  the  winter  in 
them!  On  the  19th  we  received  orders  to  march.  Accord 
ingly  we  prepared  three  days  rations,  and  at  noon  of  the 
20th  started  in  the  direction  of  Fredericksburg  again,  with 
the  intention  of  trying  to  cross  the  Rappahannock.  The 
afternoon  was  cloudy,  with  strong  indications  of  rain.  We 
went  ten  miles  and  encamped  for  the  night  near  Falmouth. 
At  dark  it  began  to  rain.  The  teams  did  not  arrive,  conse 
quently  I  had  no  tent.  I  made  a  lire,  seated  myself  on  a 
log,  threw  the  cape  of  my  overcoat  over  my  head,  and  in 


BURNSIDE  RESIGNS  HIS  POSITION.  75 

that  manner  passed  the  night.  The  rain  poured  down  in 
torrents  and  the  air  was  very  cold.  God  alone  knows  how 
much  I  suffered.  But  the  longest  night  will  have  an  end, 
and  when  day  dawned  a  more  miserable  looking  wretch  than 
myself  never  was  permitted  to  move  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  After  breakfast  we  started  again,,  and  floundered 
through  mud  and  water  for  five  miles,  when  we  halted  and 
"put  up"  in  a  pine  forest.  The  pontoon  and  artillery  trains 
could  not  get  through  the  mud,  consequently  the  intention 
to  cross  the  river  was  abandoned,  and  on  the  fourth  clay  we 
started  back  to  our  old  camp  and  comfortable  cabins,  where 
we  arrived  about  sundown." 

Three  times  now,  and  by  three  powers,  Burnside  had  been 
vanquished — by  the  enemy,  by  friends,  and  by  the  elements. 
Before  making  any  further  movements  against  the  first  he 
determined  to  be  rid  of  the  machinations  of  the  second. 
Accordingly  he  issued  an  order,  subject,  of  course,  to  the 
President's  approval,  dismissing  from  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  or  relieving  from  their  command  in  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  several  officers  high  in  rank.  Included  in 
the  obnoxious  list  were  men  of  undoubted  loyalty  and 
bravery,  whose  whole  offense  consisted  in  an  unsoldierly 
freedom  of  criticism. 

The  President  could  not  approve  so  sweeping  an  order, 
and  Burnside  resigned  his  position. 


76  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

"Let  not  him  that  girdeth  on  his  harness  boast  himself  as  he  that  putteth 
it  off." — First  Kings,  xx:  11. 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  published  on  the 
first  of  January,  1863,  but  until  the  army  was  settled  down 
in  winter  quarters,  it  excited  no  especial  interest.  Probably 
it  would  then  have  occasioned  no  disquiet,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  insinuations  of  disaffected  officers,  and  the  machina 
tions  of  disloyal  civilians  who  prostituted  the  mail,  the  chief 
source  of  the  soldier's  enjoyment,  to  effect  his  ruin,  filling  it 
with  letters  which  secretly  exalted  disloyalty,  and  newspapers 
which  boldly  advocated  peace  at  any  price,  and  who  loaded 
the  express  with  citizen's  clothing,  that  the  moment  of  weak 
ness  which  sometimes  comes  to  even  brave  and  good  hearts, 
should  not  be  lost  for  want  of  means  to  put  dark  and  das 
tardly  suggestions  into  execution. 

The  soldier,  far  from  the  gentle  influences  of  home  and 
society,  often  turning  with  the  heaviest  heart  from  the  letter- 
carrier  who  brought  nothing,  or  only  a  wicked  message  to 
him,  was  a  ready  prey  to  despondency  in  the  depressing  lulls 
of  the  war,  and  especially  after  a  series  of  defeats.  This 
was  peculiarly  the  case  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which 
was  perhaps  never  so  generous  as  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
and  was  embittered  by  many  disappointments.  Evil  insin 
uations  worked  through  the  mass  like  yeast.  Deserters  were 
counted  by  hundreds. 

General  Hooker,  who  was  Burnside's  successor,  understood 
the  field  to  which  he  was  called,  and  set  himself  with  tact 
and  spirit  at  the  work  of  reform.  Providing  rations  of  better 
quality  than  they  had  ever  before  had,  and  in  every  way  at 
tending  to  their  comfort,  he  soon  restored  the  men  to  visfor- 

o  '  o 


EXORCISM.  77 

ous  health.  He  exercised  a  due  severity,  recalling  absentees, 
dismissing  disloyal  officers,  and  insisting  that  the  law  should 
have  its  course  with  deserters.  But  chiefly  he  exorcised  the 
devil  of  discontent  by  an  all-prevailing  activity.  He  en 
gaged  in  the  practice  of  field  movements  all  troops  who 
were  not  employed  in  expeditions  to  attack  hostile  pickets 
and  outposts,  and  to  gather  supplies  from  the  country  in  the 
enemy's  possession.  He  encouraged  the  spirit  of  emulation, 
bestowing  badges  on  different  corps,  thus  carrying  out  an 
idea  of  General  Kearney,  who  at  Fair  Oaks  ordered  the 
soldiers  of  his  division  to  sew  a  piece  of  red  flannel  on  their 
caps,  so  that  he  could  recognize  them  in  battle. 

The  President  and  Cabinet,  and  the  civil  governments 
generally,  co-operated  with  Hooker,  granting  him  sympathy, 
encouragement  and  assistance.  Among  others,  Governor 
Morton,  who  always  gave  to  Indiana  soldiers  the  considera 
tion  of  a  parent  to  children  in  trying  and  dangerous  circum 
stances,  visited  the  army.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  overrate 
the  value  of  his  attentions.  To  be  assured  that  they  were 
appreciated,  it  is  only  necessary  to  hear  the  soldiers  them 
selves  speak: 

"One  evening,"  says  Samnel  List,  "we  had  just  returned 
from  dress-parade,  when  the  drums  beat,  "  Fall  in ! "  We 
formed  on  the  parade  ground,  and  waited  the  arrival  of  the 
"  Soldier's  Friend."  In  a  few  minutes,  he  made  his  appear 
ance,  accompanied  by  Meredith  and  Cutler,  our  brigade 
generals.  The  Governor  made  a  short  speech,  reviewing  the 
history  of  the  Seventh,  and  praising  us  very  much  for  our 
gallant  conduct.  He  then  rode  off  amidst  deafening  cheers. 
Sunday  night,  we  serenaded  him,  and  he  made  us  a  short 
speech.  Then  Meredith  made  a  speech,  saying  in  the  course 
of  it,  that  an  officer  on  Sigel's  staff  had  told  him  that  he 
never  saw  any  body  of  troops,  not  excepting  the  veterans  of 
Europe,  fight  with  such  gallantry  as  the  old  Seventh  at  Port 
Republic.  He  called  us  the  flower  of  the  army.  We  gave 
three  rousing  cheers  for  Morton,  three  for  Meredith,  for 
Hooker,  for  Old  Abe,  for  the  Union  and  for  Indiana.  I  tell 
you,  we  made  the  clear  night  ring  for  miles." 
.  In  those  cheers  vanished  many  a  sullen  murmur.  How- 


78  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

ever,  a  powerful  current  of  right  feeling  had  already  set  in, 
or  rather  had  never  ceased  to  flow,  as  is  evident  from  the 
reliable  source  of  private  letters. 

Samuel  List  writes,  February  3d,  from  Matthias  Point: 
"  I  confess  things  are  beginning  to  look  a  little  dark.  A  few 
evenings  since  Captain  Jeffrey  received  a  copy  of  some  reso 
lutions  that  were  passed  by  the  infamous  traitors  of  Johnson 
county  and  published  in  the  Sentinel.  They  are  more  trea 
sonable  than  anything  I  ever  saw  come  from  the  heart  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  I  tell  you  they  caused  immense  ex 
citement  in  the  company.  A  meeting  was  immediately 
called,  and  speeches  were  made  denouncing  the  resolutions." 

Again  he  writes,  February  8th :  "Almost  all  the  letters  and 
papers  that  come  to  us  from  Indiana  are  filled  with  the 
doings  of  the  infernal  copperhead  traitors  of  that  State. 
Don't  be  astonished  at  me  for  calling  them  such  names. 
They  deserve  the  death  of  traitors,  and  I  do  hope  if  it  ever 
becomes  necessary  for  Governor  Morton  to  call  on  a  military 
force  to  put  such  fellows  down,  it  will  be  the  lot  of  the  old 
Seventh  to  perform  the  work.  They  need  not  think  they 
will  find  sympathy.  I  should  rather  meet  the  strongest 
secesh  of  the  South  to-day  than  one  of  those  vipers  of  the 
North.  There  is  more  honor  in  Southern  traitors,  because 
they  come  out  boldly  like  men  and  advocate  their  cause.  It 
is  an  old  saying,  that  '  Every  dog  has  his  day.'  I  hope  these 
fellows  will  soon  meet  with  their  deserts.  I  see  from  some 
of  the  Southern  papers  that  they  are  trying  to  get  up  a  divi 
sion  between  the  East  and  the  West.  For  this  object,  too, 
the  copperheads  of  the  North  are  working.  I  want  you  and 
all  my  friends  to  pay  no  attention  to  them.  Tell  them  if 
they  influence  Governor  Morton  to  call  the  Indiana  troops 
home,  it  will  be  a  sorry  time  for  them  when  we  come." 

Frank  Good,  of  the  same  regiment,  under  date  of  March 
2d,  writes :  "  You  say  you  want  this  abominable  rebellion 
put  down,  nigger  or  no  nigger.  My  sentiments  exactly.  I 
was  decidedly  opposed  to  the  proclamation  at  first,  but  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  a  great  blow  on  the 
South.  It  forces  a  large  portion  of  their  soldiers  to  leave 
the  army  and  go  home  to  provide  for  their  families.  For 


"FIRE  IN  THE  REAR."  79 

my  part  I  think  the  tide  has  turned.  Just  after  the  election 
things  looked  rather  dull.  Every  secesh,  both  North  and 
South,  was  in  high  glee.  We  heard  the  villains  at  home 
shouting  for  Jeff.  Davis  in  public,  and  all  such  discouraging 
things,  and  also  the  proceedings  of  the  Indiana  Legislature. 
We  heard  that  they  had  refused  to  furnish  any  more  money 
and  men  for  the  war,  or,  in  other  words,  for  the  support  of 
the  Government.  Now,  let  me  tell  you  that  such  things  are 
calculated  to  discourage,  any  soldier.  I  am  sorry  to  say  there 
is  a  man  in  our  company  who  is  getting  to  be  an  open 
secesh,  but  I  am  thinking  his  doom  is  about  spoken.  He 
gets  out  of  every  battle,  and  has  a  good  deal  of  his  pay 
taken  off  on  that  account.  I  think  he  is  tired  of  the  war 
and  is  making  himself  miserable.  I  was  opposed  to  General 
Hooker's  having  command  of  the  army  at  first,  but  I  find  he 
is  all  right  in  camp,  and  only  hope  he  will  be  so  in  the  field. 
He  is  very  strict,  but  I  have  never  come  across  an  officer  that 
was  too  strict.  I  learn  the  Democrats  held  a  mass  meeting 
in  Franklin  on  the  21st  of  last  month,  in  which  they  hoisted 
a  flag  of  their  own  stripe.  Is  that  so?  Are  they  getting  so 
bold?  Why  don't  you  shoot  about  half  of  them,  and  dry  up 
this  nonsense?" 

"  March  28.  How  are  the  secesh  sympathizers  getting 
along?  Are  they  as  bad  as  ever,  or  are  they  cooling  down  a 
little?  I  heard  they  were  arming  themselves  in  some  parts 
of  the  State,  to  resist  the  draft  If  they  go  at  that,  I  think 
they  will  get  their  fill  of  it,  by  the  time  the  army  marches 
through  Indiana,  as  it  has  through  Virginia." 

On  the  26th  of  February  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
in  the  midst  of  a  severe  rain,  Pleasonton's  cavalry  was  aroused 
by  orders  to  get  ready  to  march  immediately  in  pursuit  of  a 
column  of  cavalry  under  Hampton  and  Fitzhugh  Lee,  which 
had  crossed  to  the  north  side  of  the  Rappahannock,  on  a  raid. 
The  Third  Indiana,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chapman  com 
manding,  moved  in  advance  of  its  brigade,  which  was  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Davis,  at  four.  Early  in  the  day, 
the  rain  changed  to  snow,  and  the  mud  so  clogged  the  horses' 
feet  that  marching  was  exceedingly  difficult  as  well  as  disa 
greeable.  Pushing  on,  however,  the  command  reached  Mor- 


80  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

risville,  distant  from  the  starting  point  twenty  miles,  late  in 
the  evening,  and  bivouacked  in  mud  and  water.  The  next 
day,  learning  that  the  enemy's  cavalry  had  returned,  the  di 
vision  started  back.  The  roads  had  become  even  worse  than 
on  the  previous  day;  in  many  places,  as  Colonel  Chapman 
writes,  "the  bottom  seemingly  had  fallen  out;"  so  night 
found  Davis'  brigade  still  nine  miles  from  Stafford  Court 
House.  It  bivouacked  and  returned  to  camp  the  following 
day.  The  march  was  the  hardest  the  Third  had  made,  and 
it  was  one  of  the  most  trying  in  which  it  participated  during 
its  term  of  service. 

Lee's  army  held  a  line  about  twenty  miles  in  extent,  run 
ning  from  north-west  to  south-east  along  the  heights  south 

o  o  o 

of  the  Rappahannock,  from  Banks'  ford  to  Port  Royal.  It 
was  so  disposed  that  it  could  be  readily  concentrated;  so 
fortified  by  continuous  intrenchments,  by  battery  epaule- 
ments,  abatis  and  impassable  swamps,  that  it  had  few  as 
sailable  points;  and  was  so  guarded  by  means  of  an  elabor 
ate  spy-system,  that  it  was  secure  against  surprise.  Its  only 
apparent  weakness  consisted  in  its  two  lines  of  communica 
tion — the  railroad  from  Fredericksburg  to  Richmond,  and  the 
turnpike  from  the  same  place  to  Gordonsville. 

To  these  lines,  Hooker  directed  his  regards.  To  turn  his 
antagonist's  right  would  require  a  move  of  pontoon  trains 
and  artillery  more  than  twenty  miles,  over  a  broken  and 
wooded  country  with  clayey  soil,  which,  by  the  slightest 
overflow  of  the  interlacing  branches  of  the  Potomac  and 
Rappahannock,  is  converted  into  bottomless  mud;  and  would 
also  necessitate  one  thousand  feet  of  bridging  at  the  first 
available  point  on  the  river,  and  of  course  an  increased 
quantity  at  every  point  below.  A  foothold  on  the  southern 
hills  near  Banks'  ford,  would  give  command  of  his  adversary's 
left;  but  the  position  was  guarded  according  to  its  import 
ance.  Three  lines  of  earth  parapets  were  so  situated  as  to 
enable  musketry  to  sweep  every  crossing  place  and  practica 
ble  slope.  Banks'  ford  moreover  was  but  three  miles  over  a 
good  plank  road  from  Fredericksburg,  while  it  was  six  miles 
through  a  forest  from  the  shore  opposite.  The  United  States 
Mine  ford,  about  seven  miles  of  very  difficult  country  above 


STONEMAN  BRAVELY  DOES  NOTHING.  81 

Banks'  ford,  was  also  fortified  and  defended  by  an  ample 
force.  At  both  these  points,  the  river  is  fordable  only  in  dry 
weather. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  Doubleday  with  the  greater  part  of 
his  division  went  down  the  Rappahannock  twenty  miles,  put 
up  Quaker  guns,  and  lighted  fires  over  a  large  district  in 
order  to  detach  Jackson  from  Lee.  At  the  same  time, 
Stoneman  went  up  the  river — to  cross  it  above  its  junction 
with  the  Rapidan,  to  capture  Gordonsville,  destroy  the  Fred- 
ericksburg  and  Richmond  Railroad,  cut  telegraphs,  burn 
bridges  and  fight  on  every  occasion.  "  Let  your  watchword 
be  fight,"  was  Hooker's  command.  And  let  your  orders  be, 
"Fight,  fight,  fight."  The  force  consisted  of  thirteen  thou 
sand  cavalry.  On  the  loth,  Davis'  brigade  crossed  the 
Rappahannock  at  Freeman's  ford,  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy 
fall  of  rain,  which  continued  during  the  day.  Turning  to 
the  left,  the  brigade  moved  down  the  river  for  the  purpose  of 
uncovering  Beverly  ford,  which  was  guarded  by  a  Rebel 
cavalry  picket;  so  that  the  main  body  of  Stoneman's  force 
could  effect  a  crossing  at  that  point.  On  the  Hazel,  a  tribut 
ary  of  the  Rappahannock,  it  surprised  and  captured  a  Rebel 
picket,  and  crossing  without  delay,  moved  to  Beverly  ford, 
from  which  the  guard  retreated.  But,  as  the  river  was  barely 
fordable  now,  and  was  still  rising  under  the  influence  of  a 
steady  and  heavy  rain,  Stoneman  was  afraid  to  venture.  He 
accordingly  ordered  Colonel  Davis  to  recross  his  command 
to  the  north  side.  The  crossing  was  effected  under  the  ene 
my's  fire,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  rear  guard,  Lieutenant 
Shannon  and  nineteen  men  belonging  to  Captain  Moffitt's 
squadron  of  the  Third  Cavalry.  They  were  all  captured. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April  Hooker  discovered  that  Long- 
street  was  detached  from  Lee  to  operate  against  General 
Peck,  below  the  James;  and  he  seized  the  opportunity  to 
make  a  rapid,  secret,  and  extended  flank  movement.  Within 
three  days — from  Monday  27th  to  Wednesday"29th — his 
whole  army,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men,  in  ex 
cellent  condition,  came  out  of  winter  quarters,  and  dividing, 


g2  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

moved  in  opposite  directions  behind  hills  and  woods  along 
the  river. 

It  consisted  of  seven  corps — the  First,  Reynolds';  the 
Second,  Couch's;  the  Third,  Sickles';  the  Fifth,  Meade's; 
the  Sixth,  Sedgwick's;  the  Eleventh,  Howard's,  formerly 
SigePs;  and  the  Twelfth,  Slocum's.  The  Twentieth  Indiana, 
tinder  Colonel  Wheeler,  who  had  been  promoted  in  March, 
was  in  Ward's  brigade,  Birney's  division,  Sickles'  corps. 
The  Fourteenth,  under  Colonel  Coons,  promoted  in  January, 
was  in  Carroll's  brigade,  French's  division,  Couch's  corps. 
The  Nineteenth,  Colonel  Williams,  who  had  been  promoted 
in  October,  1862,  on  the  advancement  of  Meredith,  in  Mer 
edith's  brigade ;  and  the  Seventh,  Colonel  Grover,  in  Cutler's 
brigade,  were  in  Wadsworth's  division,  Reynolds'  corps. 
The  Twenty-Seventh,  Colonel  Colgrove,  wras  in  Ruger's 
brigade,  Williams'  division,  Slocum's  corps.  The  Third 
cavalry,  and  the  first  squadron  of  the  First  cavalry,  How 
ard's  body-guard,  complete  the  list  of  Indiana  troops.  There 
were,  indeed,  Indianians  in  other  than  State  organizations — 
several  were  officers  in  the  Eleventh  United  States  Regulars, 
which  was  in  Syke's  division,  Meade's  corps. 

Tuesday  night  Sedgwick  and  Reynolds,  followed  by 
Sickles,  marched  two  or  three  miles  below  Fredericksburg. 
The  night  was  dark  and  rainy,  and  the  roads  were  muddy ; 
nevertheless,  pontoons,  each  one  weighing  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  pounds,  were  carried  to  the  bank,  a  distance  of  one 
or  two  miles,  on  the  shoulders  of  the  men ;  bridges  were 
laid,  and  Sedgwick's  corps  crossed  the  river  and  gained  the 
enemy's  rifle-pits  before  daylight.  Reynolds  was  delayed  by 
the  difficulty  of  carrying  the  boats,  and  was  obliged  to  move 
after  day  dawned  and  under  the  enemy's  fire.  His  advance, 
Meredith's  brigade,  succeeded  in  forcing  a  passage  and  in 
capturing  nearly  two  hundred  Rebels  in  their  rifle-pits. 

Meantime  Slocum,  Howard  and  Meade  moved  up  the 
river  by  circuitous  and  obscure  routes.  The  van  reaching 
Kelley's  Ford  at  midnight  of  Wednesday,  the  29th,  sur 
prised  and  captured  the  guard.  Pontoon  bridges  were  im 
mediately  thrown  over. 

Thursday   Stoneman's   cavalry,  supported   by  Williams' 


WADING  THE  RAPID  AN.  83 

division,  crossed  to  the  peninsula  between  the  Rappahannock 
and  the  Rapidan,  hurried  forward  a  couple  of  miles  and 
bivouacked,  Williams  pressed  on  eight  miles  and  reached 
Germanna  Ford  of  the  Rapidan  after  night,  Ruger's  brigade 
forcing  back  a  Rebel  guard  and  taking  more  than  a  hundred 
prisoners.  The  night  was  very  dark ;  the  stream  was  high — 
waist  deep  to  the  tallest — turbid  and  swift;  but  huge  fires 
were  kindled;  cavalry  were  posted  in  the  current  to  catch 
men  who  might  be  swept  from  their  feet,  and  our  Twenty- 
Seventh,  with  clothes  and  cartridge-boxes  hoisted  on  bayo 
nets,  plunged  boldly  in,  followed  by  other  regiments,  and 
waded  to  the  opposite  shore,  A  bridge  was  constructed 
while  Williams'  division  guarded  the  crossing,  but  all  the 
next  day  troops  waded  the  river. 

"  We  crossed  the  Rappahannock,"  writes  James  Pratt,  a 
Lieutenant  in  the  Eleventh  Regulars,  "about  eleven  in  the 
morning,  and  pressed  on  steadily  until  at  nine  or  ten  in  the 
evening  we  halted  on  the  brow  of  a  hill.  Below  was  the 
Rapidan,  and  on  the  opposite  side  were  miles  of  camp  fires. 
After  halting  an  hour  or  thereabouts  for  other  troops,  we  de 
scended  and  forded  the  river.  It  was  cold  and  raining,  but 
an  auditor  would  almost  have  sworn  a  belated  picnic  party 
were  coming  home,  to  have  heard  the  gallant  fellows'  laughs 
and  jokes,  as  they  stripped  and  waded  the  chilly  river.  The 
mud  was  awful  on  both  sides,  for  the  earth  had  been  trode 
by  thousands  before  us.  Just  on  the  other  side,  we  encamped. 
The  mule  that  carried  my  blankets  had  been  drowned,  so  I 
lay  all  night  in  the  mud,  and  in  soaked  clothing,  by  a  bivouac 
fire." 

The  United  States  ford  of  the  Rappahannock  being  now 
uncovered,  Couch's  corps  crossed  at  that  point  with  flying 
colors  and  to  the  tune  of  "  Hail  Columbia."  Carroll's  bri 
gade,  which  was  the  first  over,  formed  line  of  battle  on  the 
hills  and  scoured  the  country,  but  without  finding  an  enemy. 

Meantime,  the  cavalry  was  divided — one  column  under 
Stoneman  crossing  the  Rapidan  at  Germanna  ford.  The 
other,  embracing  the  Third  Indiana,  and  under  General 
Averill,  bivouacked  on  the  wet  river-flats,  about  two  miles 
from  the  river,  and  Friday,  May  1,  demonstrated  at  the  ford 


84  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  the  Rail  Road  crossing,  which  was  held  by  a  considerable 
force  of  the  enemy's  cavalry,  supported  by  artillery.  Skirm 
ishing  was  kept  up  all  day,  and  some  artillery  work  indulged 
in,  but  no  vigorous  attempt  was  made  by  Averill  to  effect  a 
crossing.  During  the  day,  Captain  Gresham  was  severely 
wounded. 

Hooker  now  ordered  up  Sickles  from  the  front  of  Freder- 
icksburg,  and  halted  in  the  woods  near  the  south  bank  of  the 
Rapidan,  to  effect  the  concentration  of  his  forces.  Having 
led  fifty  thousand  men,  loaded  with  personal  baggage,  and 
encumbered  with  artillery  and  trains,  nearly  forty  miles  in 
two  days;  bridged  and  crossed  two  dangerous  streams,  and 
gained  a  point  which  took  in  reverse  the  entire  fortified  line 
of  a  cautious,  suspicious  and  vigilant  enemy,  he  could  not 
refrain  from  exultation.  He  said  to  his  staff:  "  I  have  the 
army  of  Lee  in  one  hand,  and  Richmond  in  the  other!"  He 
addressed  his  troops :  "  It  is  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  that 
the  commanding  officer  announces  that  the  operations  of  the 
last  three  days  have  determined  that  our  enemy  must  either 
ingloriously  fly,  or  come  out  from  behind  his  defenses,  and 
give  us  battle  on  our  own  ground,  and  where  certain  de 
struction  awaits  him.  The  operations  of  the  Fifth,  Eleventh 
and  Twelfth  corps,  have  been  a  succession  of  splendid 
achievements." 

A  century  and  a  half  ago,  there  stood  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rapidan  a  great  house  or  castle,  in  which  dwelt  an  enter 
prising  Virginia  gentleman,  Governor  Spottswood.  Having 
discovered  a  belt  of  mineral  rocks,  he  opened  mines,  built  a 
furnace,  the  first  in  America,  levelled  the  forest  to  feed  his 
fires,  and  induced  Germans,  who  had  just  fled  from  the  per 
secutions  of  the  Palatinate,  and  emigrated  to  America  under 
the  patronage  of  Queen  Anne,  to  settle  in  his  vicinity  and 
undertake  the  work  of  mining.  The  enterprise  failed.  The 
country  returned  to  its  original  wild  ness,  and  became  clothed 
in  more  than  its  original  gloom.  No  trace  remains  of  the 
laborers  or  their  lord,  except  the  names,  Germanna  ford,  the 
Furnace  and  Spottsylvania,  and  a  tangled  growth  of  oak, 
hazel  and  low  bristling  pines,  many  miles  in  extent,  which 
sprang  up  after  the  destruction  of  the  forest  A  half  dozen 


OPENING  OF  THE  BATTLE.  85 

dark  streams  and  treacherous  patches  of  swamp  lie  hidden 
in  the  shadows;  several  roads  as  narrow  as  bridges,  traverse 
the  labyrinth,  and  here  and  there  are  inhabited  openings. 

In  the  centre  of  a  small  clearing,  two  or  three  miles  from 
the  southern  limit  of  the  Wilderness,  and  ten  miles  from 
Fredericksburg,  slightly  south  of  west,  is  a  ruin  which,  in 
April,  1863,  was  a  two-story  brick  tavern.  In  its  front  was 
a  smooth  road,  which  both  east  and  west  divides,  forming 
the  old  Orange  county  plank  road  and  the  Fredericksburg 
and  Gordonsville  turnpike.  The  plank  road,  after  bending 
out  toward  the  south,  rejoins  the  'pike  near  Salem  Heights, 
about  half  way  to  Fredericksburg.  In  the  pretentious  tavern, 
which  is  down  on  the  maps  as  Chancellorsville,  Hooker  es 
tablished  his  quarters. 

About  noon  of  Friday,  Meade,  supported  by  Couch,  ad 
vanced  toward  Fredericksburg  on  three  roads — the  plank 
road,  the  turnpike  and  a  river  road,  leading  along  the  Rap- 
pahannock  to  Banks'  ford.  A  short  march  disclosed  the 
enemy  on  all  the  roads  in  his  front  and  in  the  woods  on 
every  hand.  Lee,  though  thoroughly  surprised,  had  ac 
cepted  Hooker's  challenge,  and  here  he  was  in  full  force. 

The  advantage  of  a  short  and  fierce  struggle  which  re 
sulted  from  the  contact  was  with  Meade ;  nevertheless  Hooker 
ordered  him  to  withdraw,  and  began  vigorously  to  prepare 
for  a  defensive  battle,  expecting,  doubtless,  a  repetition  of 
the  assault  on  Fredericksburg  Heights,  with  the  tables  turned. 

Skirmishing  was  constant  during  the  afternoon,  with  mus 
ketry  and  artillery  fire.  About  four  o'clock,  a  severe  artillery 
attack  was  made  on  Slocum,  who  had  the  centre  of  the  line. 
It  continued  until  dark,  when  the  enemy  retired.  The  night 
was  spent  in  throwing  up  intrenchmerits. 

The  front  of  the  army,  Saturday  morning,  was  five  miles 
in  extent.  Slocum's  corps  lay  on  the  plank  road,  and  looked 
toward  the  south.  Meade  formed  the  left  wing,  and  faced 
toward  the  east.  Howard  formed  the  right  wing,  with  his 
extreme  right  toward  the  west.  Couch  and  Sickles  were  a 
short  time  in  reserve ;  but  as  Slocum  and  Howard  did  not 
connect,  Sickles  advanced  between  them,  throwing  Birncy's 
division  well  forward. 


86  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Rebel  artillery  and  sharpshooters  opened  at  an  early  lion? 
on  the  left  and  front,  and,  with  a  little  change  of  position, 
kept  up  a  capricious  fire  throughout  the  day  on  Slocum, 
About  eight  o'clock  Birney  saw,  with  amazement,  troops 
and  trains  ascending  and  descending  a  hill  two  miles  in  his 
front,  and  moving  steadily  toward"  the  south-west.  A  sus 
picion  instantly  forced  itself  upon  him  that  in  spite  of  the 
demonstrations  against  Slocum,  perhaps  under  their  cover, 
the  enemy  was  either  retreating  to  Gordonsville  or  moving 
toward  Hooker's  flank  and  rear.  He  accordingly  advanced 
a  battery  and  opened  a  heavy  fire.  He  succeeded  in  forcing 
the  Rebel  line  in  disorder  from  the  road  it  was  pursuing,  but 
he  was  not  able  to  change  its  general  course.  Birney  then 
marched  out,  his  right  protected  by  Whipple  and  his  left  by 
Williams,  but  making  slow  progress,  as  he  had  to  force  his 
way  through  thickets,  and  even  lay  a  bridge  of  rails  over 
a  troublesome  stream.  At  length  he  struck  the  enemy's  rear, 
and,  after  spirited  fighting,  captured  nearly  a  regiment — no> 
attempt  being  made  by  the  Rebel  advance  to  turn  to  its 
relief.  Still  uncertain  as  to  the  direction  or  meaning  of  the 
movement,  Birney  halted  in  his  advanced  position  on  the 
main  road  over  which  the  Rebel  column  had  passed,  and 
formed  his  division  into  a  large  square,  with  his  artillery  in 
the  centre.  Suddenly  tumultuous  sounds  on  his  right  and 
rear,  followed  by  hurrying  messengers,  confirmed  his  worst 
suspicions. 

General  Jackson's  corps,  twenty-five  thousand  men,  had 
marched  unmolested,  except  by  Birney's  attack  upon  its  rear, 
across  the  whole  of  Hooker's  front,  and  was  now  breaking 
from  the  woods  upon  Howard's  corps. 

Howard's  troops  were  thunderstruck.  One  moment  they 
quailed  before  the  fire,  and  fury,  and  piercing  yells  of  the 
unexpected  foe;  the  next,  maddened  by  the  awful  echoes 
and  reverberations  of  the  forest,  they  broke  their  lines  and 
rolled  over  to  the  rear  in-  the  wildest  confusion.  Howard 
struggled  in  agonizing  but  fruitless  endeavor  to  control  them. 
Sickles,  Berry,  Mcade  and  Hooker  strove  to  fill  the  breach. 
Williams  faced  about  and  hastened  back  from  the  support 
of  Birney.  His  division  quivered, as  it  neared  the  raigovem- 


PANIC  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  87 

able  multitude,  ghastly  and  unnerved  by  fear;  but  the 
shock  was  momentary.  His  advance  regiment — our  Twenty- 
Seventh — marched  with  steady  step  to  its  assigned  position, 
and  each  other  regiment  fell,  without  confusion,  into  its 
place. 

Pleasonton  took  possession  of  the  flying  and  scattered 
artillery,  and  concentrating  it  under  the  protection  of  his 
horsemen,  opened  fire  and  swept  the  plank  road. 

Sykcs  threw  forward  his  B,egulars.  Young  Pratt  pictures 
their  advance:  "Just  after  dark  the  battling,  which  had 
been  drawing  closer  and  closer,  reached  us.  Down  the  line 
went  the  command.  In  five  minutes  the  division  had  formed 
in  the  road,  and  in  another  we  were  going  forward  at  the 
pas  de  charge  out  into  the  plain  about  the  White  House, 
leaving  our  woods  and  breastworks  far  behind.  My  regi 
ment  was  almost  at  the  head  of  the  column,  and  we  were 
soon  on  the  scene  of  action.  I  never  saw  or  dreamed  of  a 
more  magnificent  scene.  The  whole  vast  plain  was  filled 
with  heavy  columns  of  infantry.  Just  in  front  and  near  us 
battery  upon  battery  flamed  and  thundered,  and  around  and 
above  was  the  broad  glare  of  exploding  shells.  Soon  came 
the  blot  on  the  grand  scene.  The  cowardly  rabble,  the 
Eleventh  corps,  came  streaming  back  in  the  wildest  confu 
sion.  We  immediately  formed  across  their  path.  Our 
officers  all  jumped  to  the  front,  cutting  and  slashing,  and 
soon  formed  several  regiments,  and  turned  over  to  their  par- 
alized  officers  the  command  of  their  contemptible  crew." 

Birncy,  with  difficulty,  retraced  his  way  to  the  ground  held 
by  him  before  his  advance — the  Twentieth  Indiana,  the  last 
of  his  regiments  to  move  back,  not  getting  into  position  till 
eleven  o'clock. 

Meantime,  Jackson,  after  he  had  gained  the  intrenchments, 
and  when  he  was  within  a  half  mile  of  Chancellorsville,  was 
fairly  checked.  About  nine  o'clock,  during  a  lull  in  the  bat 
tle,  the  Rebel  general,  with  his  staff  and  escort,  rode  out  to 
reconnoitre  in  the  light  of  the  rising  moon.  "  General,"  said 
one  of  his  staff,  "Don't  you  think  this  is  the  wrong  place  for 
you?"  He  replied:  "The  danger  is  over.  The  enemy  is 
routed.  Go  back  and  tell  A.  P.  Hill  to  press  right  on."  In 


ScS  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

a  few  minutes,  he  turned  and  rode  back  at  a  trot,  forgetting 
that  he  had  directed  his  skirmishers  to  fire  upon  cavalry  ap 
proaching  from  the  Union  lines.  His  troops,  unable  to  see 
through  the  woods,  and  hearing  the  rapid  tramp,  received 
him  with  a  volley.  He  was  shot,  and  fell,  exclaiming,  "All 
my  wounds  are  by  own  men!" 

At  this  moment,  Birney,  with  naked  bayonets,  Ward's 
brigade  in  front,  made  a  swift  charge  down  the  road,  recov 
ering  part  of  Howard's  intrenchments  and  several  of  his 
abandoned  guns  and  caissons,  and  dashing  past,  but  leaving 
unnoticed  on  the  ground,  the  prone  and  unconscious  Rebel 
chief. 

This  same  day,  Saturday,  Reynolds'  corps  withdrew  under 
fire  from  its  position  near  Fredericksburg,  recrossed  the  river, 
and  marched  twenty-two  miles,  each  man  carrying  eight 
days'  provisions  in  addition  to  his  knapsack  and  haversack. 
Oppressed  with  the  march,  the  corps  halted  late  at  night 
near  United  States  ford,  but  the  bellowing  cannon,  and  the 
report  that  the  day  was  lost,  called  it  to  the  field,  and  it 
pushed  on.  Toward  morning,  it  reached  the  ground  and 
took  up  a  position  not  far  from  Howard's  line  on  the  right. 

At  nine,  Saturday  night,  Hooker  sent  an  order  to  Sedgwiek 
to  take  the  Heights  of  Fredericksburg,  now  but  slightly  de 
fended,  and  move  up  Sunday  morning  to  the  attack  of  Lee's 
rear.  Hooker  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  rearrangement 
of  his  line,  concentrating  it  in  a  much  smaller  space.  He 
posted  Meade  on  his  right,  and  Howard  on  his  left,  placing 
the  latter  in  the  intrenchments  which  had  been  thrown  up 
the  previous  day  by  the  former.  He  stationed  Reynolds  on 
the  right  and  rear  of  Meade,  and  in  reserve.  He  withdrew 
Sickles  from  his  advanced  position.  The  enemy,  following 
closely,  hotly  pressed  the  division,  Birney 's,  which  covered 
Sickles'  rear.  Before  day,  Hooker's  new  line  was  complete, 
and  was  apparently  able  to  hold  its  ground  against  any  force. 

Sunday's  sun  rose  red  as  blood,  and  cast  its  struggling 
rays  into  the  murky  forest.  Already  the  guns  had  opened 
their  black  mouths,  and  sharpshooters  had  begun  their  fiend 
ish  work.  Now  Slocum's  corps  was  assailed,  and  Couch 


HOOKER  STUNNED.  89 

was  threatened,  but  on  Sickles  the  enemy  fell  with  uncon 
querable  and  unquenchable  animosity. 

Under  the  fire  of  forty  guns,  and  behind  their  intrench- 
rncnts,  Berry  and  Birney,  Whipple  and  Williams,  stood  and 
withstood  assault  upon  assault.  They  mowed  the  Rebels 
down,  only  to  find  the  bloody  harvest  continually  renewed. 
After  every  repulse,  back  the  assailants  came,  headlong  and 
desperate,  and  piercing  the  tramp,  and  roar,  and  rattle,  with 
the  shrill  cry  of  their  revenge  and  grief:  "  Charge,  and  re 
member  Jackson ! " 

"So,"  as  in  days  of  old  with  the  strong  man  of  Israel,  "the 
dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death  were  more  than  they  which 
he  slew  in  his  life." 

Sickles  sent  an  aid  to  General  Hooker,  demanding  help. 
Hooker  had  been  wounded,  and  was  unconscious,  dying,  it 
was  supposed,  or  it  might  be  dead.  Couch,  the  next  in 
rank,  shrank  from  the  responsibility  of  weakening  the  centre 
or  left,  or  of  drawing  the  reserve  from  the  rear.  Sedgwick 
had  not  yet  made  his  appearance.  Sickles'  only  relief  was 
from  French,  who,  uncovered  by  the  falling  back  of  troops  in 
his  front,  threw  out  toward  the  Rebel  left  a  part  of  Carroll's 
brigade,  including  the  Fourteenth  Indiana.  Carroll  drove 
the  enemy,  reached  his  rifle  pits,  captured  nearly  three  hund 
red  prisoners,  and  started  up  the  second  rebel  line.  But 
from  this  point  he  was  forced  to  withdraw.  He  carried  with 
him  two  stands  of  Rebel  colors,  and  was  accompanied  by  a 
regiment  which  he  had  released  from  capture. 

Sickles  retreated  to  his  second  line  of  defence.  In  the 
movement  the  Twenty-Seventh  Indiana,  which,  during  the 
whole  morning,  had  been  warmly  engaged,  distinguished 
itself,  remaining  alone  in  an  advanced  and  exposed  position 
until  escape  was  barely  possible,  then  falling  slowly  and 
steadily  back. 

The  enemy  was  now  quiet.  But  after  a  half  hour's  rest 
he  made  five  fierce  charges  in  succession  on  Sickles'  new 
position.  He  also  attacked  Hancock,  who  repulsed  him, 
and  Slocum,  whom  he  pushed  back. 

About  noon  Hooker  recovered  consciousness;  but  the  gal 
lant  spirit,  so  assured  and  haughty  the  day  before,  was  be- 


90  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

clouded  and  dull.  He  had  no  longer  thought  of  conquest, 
or  advance,  or  glory — only  of  safety. 

Sunday  night  was  a  beautiful  moonlight  night,  nearly  as 
light  as  day.  The  army  gained  snatches  of  sleep,  while 
batteries,  at  intervals,  fought  crashing  duels;  and  the  pickets, 
not  more  than  forty  yards  apart,  firing  as  often  at  shadow  as 
at  substance,  kept  up  an  almost  constant  singing  of  Minie 
balls. 

Sedgwick's  co-operative  movement  was  an  entire  failure. 
He  did  not  receive  Hooker's  order  until  several  hours  after 
it  was  issued.  His  troops  did  not  move  according  to  his 
orders  until  several  hours  after  they  were  issued.  lie  barely 
gained  Fredericksburg  Heights  by  Sunday  noon.  At  Salem 
Heights,  half  way  between  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellors- 
ville  he  was  effectually  held  in  check  by  General  Lee,  now 
disengaged  from  Hooker.  He  was  sorely  pressed  throughout 
Monday.  Monday  night,  after  hard  fighting  and  with  heavy 
loss,  he  retreated  across  the  Rappahannock  at  Banks'  Ford. 

Meantime  Hooker  continued  quiet,  with  the  exception  of 
nearly  constant  picket  firing,  and  frequent  artillery  firing. 
He  concentrated  gradually,  but  did  not  attempt  even  to 
retreat  until  Tuesday,  May  5th,  when  a  pouring  rain  and  the 
swelling  Rappahannock  admonished  him  of  the  dangers  of 
delay. 

Meade's  corps  moved  last,  with  Sykes'  division  covering 
the  rears.  The  Eleventh  Regulars  were  the  last  to  leave  the 

O 

ground  and  the  last  to  cross  the  river. 

"  The  night  of  May  5th  it  rained  hard,"  wrote  Mr.  Pratt, 
when  he  was  once  more  in  camp.  "  The  firing  everywhere 
had  almost  lulled  into  silence.  The  men  stood  in  the 
drenching  rain,  or  dozed  leaning  against  the  works — nothing 
protected  except  the  gunlocks.  Just  after  dark  the  rumbling 
of  artillery  on  the  road  behind  us  began.  Then  the  endless 
tramp  of  infantry.  For  an  hour  or  so  we  thought  it  a  change 
of  position  on  the  part  of  some  corps  going  on.  But  as  the 
weary  slosh,  slosh  kept  on  for  hours,  we  knew  it  was  a 
retreat.  Nobody  was  cheerful.  Our  expectations  and  ex 
periences  were  anything  but  rose-colored.  Our  regiment  had 
been  more  than  decimated  already  for  experience,  and  we 


THE  ARMY  RETREATING.  €ft 

had  the  certainty  of  acting  as  rear  guard  to  a  retreating 
army  in  expectation.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
our  division  commenced  to  retreat.  It  was  done  very  quietly, 
so  quietly  that  my  company  and  the  next  one,  separated, 
perhaps,  a  dozen  feet  from  the  rest  of  the  regiment,  did  not 
know  that  it  had  left,  and  stood  there  ten  minutes  after. 
The  day  previous,  new  roads  had  been  cut  through  the 
woods  leading  to  the  ford,  to  allow  more  columns  to  march 
at  once.  For  a  while,  the  progress  was  slow,  nervously  so. 
It  was  fast  nearing  morning,  and  we  had  not  gone  half  a 
mile.  Between  darkness,  rain,  mire  and  stumps,  we  were 
well-nigh  knocked  up.  Toward  morning,  the  road  became 
better,  and  we  moved  faster.  By  daylight,  we  reached  the 
plateau  about  United  States  ford.  We  formed  in  front  of  a 
noble  looking  house,  and  waited  while  the  army  streamed 
over  the  two  pontoon  bridges.  They  came  in  by  a  half- 
dozen  routes,  almost  at  a  run,  regiments  and  brigades  badly 
mixed.  If  the  enemy  had  attacked  us  in  daylight,  in  force, 
we  should  have  been  destroyed.  "We  took  a  hurried  break 
fast — mine  was  part  of  two  crackers.  Soon  the  thump  of 
artillery  began  on  the  left,  evidently  the  enemy  feeling  his 
way  in  the  woods,  and  our  line  reformed  on  the  edge  of  the 
woods  back  of  the  house.  It  was  a  nervous  hour  while  we 
stood  there,  the  booming  coming  nearer  and  the  army  hurry 
ing  by.  At  last,  stragglers  and  all,  they  were  over,  and  we 
filed  down  the  hill  to  the  bridges  and  crossed,  the  engineers, 
with  the  fastenings  of  the  pontoon  boats  in  their  hands, 
begging  us  to  hurry.  We  scrambled  up  the  steep  hills,  and 
were  formed  on  the  heights,  'closed  in  mass,'  that  is,  the 
entire  division  packed  together  as  close  as  possible,  just  be 
hind  some  artillery,  which,  in  twenty  minutes  after,  opened 
on  the  head  of  a  Rebel  column.  I  went  up  by  the  battery, 
and  could  just  distinguish  the  Rebel  artillery  at  the  edge  of 
the  opposite  woods,  going  through  the  loading  and  firing. 
Of  course,  the  enemy  did  not  follow  us  across,  and  our 
batteries  were  so  well  served,  that  theirs  were  soon  si 
lenced.  We  then  began  the  march,  a  weary  tramp  of  all 
day;  weak,  sleepy,  hungry,  the  mud  almost  knee-deep  all  the 
way.  About  dark,  in  a  driving  rain,  we  got  back  here  (to 


92  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Falmouth).  I  got  my  tent  pitched,  made  the  first  meal  for 
twenty-four  hours,  save  the  crackers  in  the  morning,  of  some 
roasted  potatoes.  Nothing  ever  tasted  so  delicious,  and  then 
I  enjoyed  such  a  sleep  as  only  the  thoroughly  exhausted 
ever  know. 

"  Up  to  the  hour  of  retreat,  we  were  a  victorious  army ; 
thanks  to  a  rainy,  dark  night,  and  a  well-planned  retreat,  we 
are  not  a  demoralized  one.  And  so  the  campaign  ended, 
and  left  us  thinking  of  the  brilliant  'might-have-been',  if  the 
river  had  not  risen,  and  the  Eleventh  corps  had  been  soldiers." 

Stoneman  and  Averill  gathered  up  their  scattered  cavalry, 
which  they  had  employed  to  little  or  no  purpose,  and  also 
hastened  over  the  return  march. 

Lee  neither  published,  nor  allowed  to  be  published,  an 
official  statement  of  his  losses  in  the  battle  of  Chancellors- 
ville.  He  had  good  reason  for  his  reticence.  Our  army  took 
at  least  man  for  man,  and  our  loss  was  more  than  seventeen 
thousand.  Our  dead  were  left  in  the  forest,  unburied  where 
they  fell. 

The  Twenty- Seventh  Indiana,  out  of  three  hundred,  lost 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven  killed  and  wounded.  Among 
the  killed  were  Captain  Cassady  and  Lieutenant  Hamrick. 
Among  the  wounded  were  Colonel  Colgrove,  Captains  Wil 
liams,  Fesler  and  Jerger,  and  Lieutenants  Van  Buskirk, 
White,  Hubbard,  Hoffer  and  Loughry. 

The  Fourteenth,  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  lost 
sixty-four.  Carroll,  in  his  report,  speaks  of  the  cool  judg 
ment  and  indomitable  courage  of  Colonel  Coons,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Gavins  and  Major  Houghton;  and  of  the  prompt 
itude  and  gallantry  of  Lieutenant  A.  M.  Van  Dyke. 

His  comrades  of  the  Fourteenth  tell  how  George  Rotramel, 
a  lieutenant,  leaped  over  the  works,  calling  the  pickets  to 
follow,  and  re-established  the  broken  line. 

No  report  has  been  obtained  of  the  losses  in  the  Twentieth. 
They  must  have  been  heavy,  as  the  regiment  was  in  the 
extreme  front  both  Saturday  and  Sunday,  and,  with  the  rest 
of  Birney's  division,  was  engaged  during  every  hour  of  the 
conflict.  While  skirmishing  at  one  time,  it  captured  the 
whole  of  the  Twenty-Third  Georgia.  After  the  battle, 


GENERAL  SATISFACTION.  93 

Colonel  Wheeler  reported  it  gay.  "Yes,"  said  General 
Hooker,  "that  regiment  is  gay." 

The  Nineteenth  regiment  lost  four  men,  charging  the  rifle- 
pits  below  Fredericksburg.  Being  in  reserve  at  Chancellors- 
villc,  it  suffered  no  loss.  The  Seventh,  also  in  reserve  and 
behind  fortifications,  suffered  no  loss. 

One  man  of  Howard's  body  guard  was  captured  while 
collecting  broken  troops,  a  work  in  which  the  guard  was  effi 
cient.  Charlie  Noble,  a  fearless  youth  belonging  to  the 
band,  writes:  "Commissioned  officers  as  high  as  colonels 
joined  in  the  flight.  I  had  a  notion  to  run  some  of  them 
through.  I  was  mad  enough  to  do  it,  and  yet  I  could  not 
keep  from  laughing  to  see  them  run." 

After  the  two  armies  had  settled  down  in  their  old  en 
campments,  General  Hooker  and  General  Lee  issued  con 
gratulatory  orders,  and  Stoneman  and  Averill  followed  suit. 


94  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GETTYSBURG. 

Oh,  stranger,  go  and  tell  our  people  that  we  are  lying  here,  having  obeyed 
their  words. — Inscription  on  the  tomb  of  the  Spartans  who  fell  at  Thermopylae:. 

The  right  wing  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  spring 
of  1863,  occupied  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  Harper's 
Ferry.  Since  November,  1862,  General  Milroy  had  been  in 
command  in  the  valley — the  latter  part  of  the  time  under 
General  Schenck  as  department  commander  at  Baltimore. 
During  this  time  he  administered  affairs  with  severe  justice, 
and  in  consequence  made  himself  exceedingly  obnoxious  to 
secessionists.  An  offered  reward  of  one  thousand  dollars 
for  his  life  testified  to  the  intensity  of  their  aversion,  while 
it  betrayed,  what  indeed  they  made  little  attempt  to  conceal, 
their  approval  of  assassination  as  a  last  resort.  Milroy's 
force  numbered  from  seven  to  twelve  thousand  men,  and  he 
felt  himself  able  not  only  to  hold  the  sullen  citizens  in  sub 
jection,  and  to  keep  down  guerrillas,  but  to  clear  the  valley 
and  keep  it  clear  of  Rebel  troops.  His  cavalry  scouts  pa 
trolled  the  district  as  far  as  Front  Royal  and  Strasburg. 
They  were  frequently  in  collision  with  cavalry  scouts  of  the 
enemy,  and  came  off  victorious  in  nearly  every  encounter. 
General  Milroy  was,  however,  restrained  from  any  aggressive 
demonstration  and  interfered  with  on  every  occasion.  Gen 
eral  Halleck,  seeming  to  share  the  antipathy  of  the  citizens, 
displayed  toward  him  a  singular  want  of  courtesy  at  all 
times,  and  offered  him  decided  indignities  whenever  oppor 
tunity  allowed.  This  fire  on  his  rear  was  beyond  the  patient 
endurance  of  the  high-spirited  Indiana  General.  He  chafed 
and  fretted  under  it,  unconsciously  increasing  and  giving  the 
color  of  justice  to  the  aversion  shown  toward  him  by  his 
superior. 


AGAIN  ON  THE  RAPPAIIANNOCK.  95 

In  May  the  force  in  the  valley  consisted  of  about  seven 
thousand  effective  men;  headquarters  were  at  Winchester; 
and  the  left,  a  brigade  under  Colonel  McReynolds,  held 
Berry ville  and  guarded  the  adjacent  passes  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  and  the  neighboring  fords  of  the  Shenandoah. 

General  French,  with  eleven  thousand  men, -held  Harper's 
Ferry,  the  fortifications  of  which  had  been  increased  and 
strengthened  by  Slocum's  corps  in  the  preceding  winter. 

The  main  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  continued 
at  Falmouth,  after  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  a  little 
more  than  a  month.  It  received  few  reinforcements, 
although  it  lost  twenty  thousand  nine  months'  and  two 
years'  men.  Occupying,  however,  pleasant  and  healthy 
camps,  and  engaging  in  no  undertakings  of  importance  it 
recuperated  its  strength  and  spirits. 

The  character  of  every  day  life  is  pleasantly  detailed  by 
Lieutenant  Pratt: 

"  CA?.IP  ELEVENTH  INFANTRY,  NEAR  RAPPAHANNOCK,  ) 

June  5th,  1863.      J 

"Mv  DEAR  FATHER: — Day  before  yesterday,  with  about 
half  the  regiment,  I  was  out  on  picket  some  three  miles 
from  our  camp.  The  duty  was  light  and  not  at  all  danger 
ous,  as  no  enemy  was  within  miles  of  us.  My  quarters 
were  about  a  hundred  yards  from  my  men,  under  a  noble  old 
tree  overhanging  a  little  stream,  and  as  both  days  were 
charming  midsummer  ones,  the  woods  full  of  a  hundred  dif 
ferent  choruses — of  whippoorwills,  tree  toads,  and  the  gurg 
ling  Minnehaha  running  at  my  feet — it  was  rare  enjoyment 
for  me,  just  from  the  dusty,  sweltering  camp.  The  night 
after  we  went  out  the  regiment,  with  the  division,  moved  at 
three  in  the  morning.  The  second  evening  about  dusk  we 
were  relieved,  and  we  bivouacked  that  night  on  the  bank  of 
Potomac  Creek,  near  where  we  had  been  doing  duty. 

"  This  morning  at  four,  roused  up  from  our  clay  couches, 
bathed,  breakfasted,  and  a  little  after  five  began  the  march, 
and  after  eight  miles  found  the  regiment  between  the  United 
States  and  Banks  fords,  near  the  river.  The  division  is 
stretched  along  between  the  two  crossings. 


96  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"A  few  moments  ago,  an  orderly  came  around  to  our  tents 
with  an  order  from  army  headquarters,  countersigned  by  our 
corps  and  division  commanders,  to  be  ready  to  move  at  a 
moment's  notice,  without  baggage  and  with  three  days'  ra 
tions.  At  any  moment,  we  may  expect  the  Adjutant's  time- 
worn  expression — 'Gentlemen,  you  will  please  join  your 
companies.' 

"  Sunday.  We  are  still  here,  though  with  baggage  packed, 
and  momentarily  expecting  the  'route.'  It  is  reported  that 
a  corps  of  ours  is  across  the  river,  and  that  we  are  to  feel  the 
enemy  at  all  points  along  the  lines.  I  have  taken  pen  and 
ink  into  a  solemn  pine  woods  near  our  camp,  where  better,  I 
think,  than  in  church  or  closet,  one  is  conscious  of  the  'ten 
der  grace'  of  the  sacred  day,  and  for  a  half  hour  have  been 
lying  here  listening  to  anthems  that  would  put  the  grandest 
organ  to  shame.  The  scenery  hereabouts  is  magnificent. 

"Bank  of  the  Rappahannock.  This  letter  partakes  very 
much  of  the  character  of  a  journal,  but  I  hope  the  varieties 
of  pen  and  ink,  and  dates,  won't  condemn  it.  I  was  sent  to 
the  picket  line  night  before  last,  in  command  of  the  detail 
from  the  regiment,  and  am  writing  to  you  sitting  on  the  bank 
of  the  river.  The  rebel  pickets  line  the  other  bank,  some 
dozing,  some  fishing,  all  in  slouchy  butternut  uniforms.  Both 
sides  are  very  civil,  chatting  and  joking  with  one  another, 
and  comparing  the  generosity  of  their  respective  commissa 
ries. 

"I  slept  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  on  waking  up  this 
morning,  found  I  had  a  grim,  gaunt  Virginia  dragoon  for 
my  vis-a-vis.  He  watched  the  preparations  for  breakfast  my 
'Kory-Kory'  made  with  evident  interest,  and  after  coffee 
was  made,  with  an  explanatory  wave  of  the  hand  I  intima 
ted  I  drank  his  good  health.  Virginia  was  touched  by  such 
a  display  of  courtesy  from  a  'ruthless  invader,'  and  returned 
the  salutation  cordially,  and  with  a  smile — a  trifle  ghastly,  I 
thought,  that  was  accounted  for  soon  after,  by  himself,  from 
the  fact  that  he  hadn't  tasted  coffee  for  months.  The  ice 
broken,  we  had  a  very  pleasant  conversation,  and  finally  lie 
proposed  an  exchange  of  newspapers.  This  was  against 
orders,  but  infractions  were  winked  at,  and  I  had  a  man  bot- 


HOOKER  ON  THE  ALERT.  97 

tie  up  the  latest  Washington  paper,  and  throw  it  over  as  far 
as  possible.  The  Virginian  swam  out  and  took  it  in  his  teeth, 
and  returned.  After  he  had  replaced  it,  my  man  swam  over 
and  brought  back  the  paper  I  send  you.  The  last  view  I 
had  of  my  courteous  enemy,  he  was  sitting  on  a  log,  and 
with  a  dozen  fellow-readers,  was  evidently  enjoying  the  ac 
count  of  the  active  sympathy  of  their  brothers,  the  copper 
heads  of  the  North. 

"  The  morning  before  we  came  on  picket,  there  was  a  heavy 
firing  up  the  river,  lasting  from  daylight  until  about  ten  or 
eleven.  I  have  understood  since  that  it  was  a  reconnoissance 
in  force,  on  our  part,  toward  Culpepper  Court  House.  Both 
sides  are  restless,  yet  cautious,  neither  caring  to  be  the  at 
tacking  force. 

"Your  affectionate  son,  JAMES." 

Promotion  is  the  fond  hope  of  every  soldier,  but  it  is  sel 
dom  so  pure  an  ambition  is  rewarded  as  that  recorded  during 
this  period  by  Abram  Buckles, of  the  Nineteenth.  "I  was 
appointed,"  he  says, "  to  the  color-guard,  on  my  own  applica 
tion.  I  had  always  had  a  great  anxiety  to  carry  the  flag  of 
my  regiment,  and  did  not  know  how  I  could  get  the  place 
of  color-bearer,  unless  by  serving  in  the  guard  until  I  could 
see  a  proper  chance  to  pick  the  flag  up,  should  the  color- 
bearer  be  killed  or  wounded."  That  chance  was  not  now 
distant,  as  in  the  great  conflict  which  was  swiftly  approach 
ing,  it  was  noticeable  that  the  enemy  fought  the  "  Stars  and 
Stripes"  with  a  cool  and  set  purpose. 

The  Third  cavalry,  included  in  the  First  brigade,  was  en 
camped  at  Potomac  Creek  Station,  but  was  frequently  en 
gaged  in  reconnoissances. 

The  reports  of  his  cavalry  scouts  convinced  Hooker,  before 
the  close  of  May,  that  his  antagonist  was  hastening  to  take 
the  initiative  in  an  important  movement,  and  led  him  tc 
consider  the  possibilities  o&  an  invasion  of  the  North.  He 
communicated  his  suspicion  that  Lee  was  preparing  to  out 
flank  him,  to  President  Lincoln  and  General  Halleck,  and 
continued  keenly  on  the  alert  to  discover  and  thwart  the 
enemy's  designs.  On  the  fifth  of  June,  he  sent  a  division 
7 


98  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

across  the  Rappahannock,  to  ascertain  if  the  enemy  was 
still  in  force  on  the  Heights  of  Fredericksburg.  Careful 
skirmishing  seemed  to  show  that  Lee  had  not  changed  his 
position.  Nevertheless,  Hooker's  suspicions  were  not  quieted, 
and  he  sent  Pleasonton  with  his  cavalry  and  a  small  force  of 
infantry  up  the  river,  to  pry  into  the  proceedings  of  the 
enemy  in  that  direction.  On  the  ninth  of  June,  Gregg,  with 
one  division,  crossed  at  Kelly's  ford,  and  Buford,  with  an 
other,  at  Beverly  ford.  They  were  almost  immediately  at 
tacked.  Buford's  engagement  was  severe.  His  troops  fought 
in  cavalry  style,  neither  dismounting  nor  using  their  carbines. 
They  succeeded  in  crowding  the  enemy  back  until  they 
united  with  Gregg,  who  had  fought  his  way  up  from  Kelly's 
ford;  but  every  charge  or  advance  seemed  to  develope  the 
Confederates  in  greater  force.  Pleasonton  accordingly  re 
treated  and  re-crossed  the  river  during  the  nic^ht.  He  lost 

O  o 

five  hundred  men  in  the  battle  of  Beverly  Ford,  including 
Colonel  Davis,  the  commander  of  the  First  brigade,  killed, 
and  Adjutant  Taylor,  of  the  Third  Indiana,  wounded. 
However,  he  inflicted  a  loss  of  six  hundred ;  discovered  that 
Lee  was  at  Culpepper,  with  a  large  portion  of  his  army; 
and  learned  that  a  Rebel  column,  which  had  been  three  and 
a  half  hours  passing  through  Sperryvillc,  was  climbing  the 
Blue  Ridge  to  enter  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

In  spite  of  Pleasonton's  report,  and  of  his  own  previous 
suspicions,  General  Hooker  now,  apparently,  considered  the 
invasion  of  the  North  improbable.  Indeed,  so  audacious  a 
movement  hardly  seemed  within  the  bounds  of  reason. 
Hitherto,  the  Confederates  had  met  with  success  only  on 
Southern  soil.  South  Mountain  and  Antietam  had  been 
defeats;  while  Cedar  Mountain,  Bull  Run,  Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville,  and  almost  every  other  conflict  in  Virginia 
had  been  victories,  or  equivalent  to  victories.  Pennsylvania 
was  unknown  ground,  while  Virginia  was  full  of  familiar 
and  strong  defensible  points.  Moreover,  at  the  present  mo 
ment,  the  armies  in  the  distant  South  were  falling  back,  be 
fore  Banks  and  Grant,  and  were  entreating  for  reinforcements. 
These  conditions  were  well  known  to  Hooker.  He  did 
not  know,  on  the  other  hand,  that  Lee  had  a  better-appointed 


MILUOY  ENTRAPPED.  99 

and  larger  army  than  he  had  ever  before  commanded,  his 
transportation,  clothing  and  equipments  all  being  complete, 
Longstreet  having  returned  from  Suffolk,  and  that  conscrip 
tion,  which  "robbed  the  cradle  and  the  grave,"  having  been 
turned  to  his  direct  advantage.  Neither  did  he  know  that 
every  argument  and  motive  was  presented  by  the  Southern 
government  and  the  Southern  people,  especially  by  Virgin 
ians,  and  that  the  most  seductive  and  pressing  invitations 
were  offered  by  Northern  conspirators  to  General  Lee,  to  in 
duce  him  to  transfer  the  war  to  the  North. 

It  is  said  that  the  Confederate  Commissary  General  en 
dorsed  a  requisition  from  General  Lee,  for  rations,  with, 
"  If  General  Lee  wishes  rations,  let  him  get  them  in  Penn 
sylvania," 

General  Milroy  became  the  victim  of  Hooker's  incredulity, 
or  of  Halleck's  obtuseness.  Friday,  June  12,  he  received  a 
telegram  from  General  Schenck,  directing  him  to  make  pre 
parations  for  a  withdrawal,  but  to  hold  his  position  until 
further  orders.  He  promptly  obeyed,  stopping  his  supply- 
trains  and  redoubling  his  vigilance.  He  did  not  dream  of 
the  possibility  of  an  unannounced  approach  of  the  main 
Confederate  army,  but  supposed  the  Rebel  cavalry  in  the 
valley  was  reinforced,  perhaps  by  the  addition  of  Stuart's 
command.  His  scouts,  on  the  same  day,  discovered  the 
proximity  of  a  large  Rebel  force,  and  the  next  day  reported 
its  approach.  Milroy  immediately  determined  to  concentrate 
his  troops,  and  for  that  purpose  directed  McReynolds  to  with 
draw  from  Berrysville  and  join  him  at  Winchester.  As, 
during  the  next  day,  Saturday,  he  received  no  orders  from 
Schenck,  and  no  intelligence  of  any  kind,  although  the  tele 
graph  was  in  operation,  he  continued  in  ignorance  of  the 
imminence  and  vastness  of  his  danger.  The  telegraph  wires 
were  cut  at  dark.  About  the  same  time  that  he  was  thus 
severed  from  all  communication  with  his  superior  officer, 
Milroy  learned  from  prisoners,  that  Ewell  and  Longstreet, 
with  fifty  thousand  men,  were  pressing  upon  him.  He  had 
no  alternative.  He  must  fly,  and  under  cover  of  darkness. 
But  he  could  not  desert  McReynolds,  whose  brigade  had  not 
yet  arrived ;  and  after  it  came  in  at  ten  o'clock,  wearied  with 


100  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

a  tramp  of  thirty  miles,  he  could  not  compel  it  to  continue 
the  march  without  rest.  He  therefore  determined  to  wait 
until  Sunday  night,  meantime  defending  himself  in  Win 
chester,  as  best  he  could.  Sunday  afternoon,  he  began  to 
feel  the  Rebel  pressure.  He  anxiously  watched  the  slowly 
descending  sun.  At  last,  it  was  down,  and  night  drew  her 
friendly  curtain.  He  then  spiked  his  guns,  destroyed  his 
powder,  and  started  northward.  Four  miles  out,  he  was 
routed  in  a  severe  engagement  with  a  division  of  the  enemy. 
His  troops  scattered  and  fled,  and  all  that  escaped  the  enemy 
continued  to  fly  until  they  had  reached  Harper's  Ferry,  or 
Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania.  More  than  five  thousand 
reported  at  these  points. 

Ewell  followed  down  the  valley.  He  crossed  the  Potomac 
and  divided  his  force  into  three  columns,  which  marched  off 
toward  the  north,  the  east  and  the  west,  and  arrived,  within 
a  few  days,  at  Carlisle,  York  and  Hancock. 

June  13th  Hooker  began  his  march  northward.  He  moved 
rapidly  and  with  columns  widely  extended,  in  order  to  cover 
both  Washington  and  the  passes  of  the  Blue  Ridge. 

In  the  afternoon  Wadsworth's  division  halted,  drew  up  in 
line  and  executed  the  sentence  of  death,  pronounced  some 
time  before,  upon  a  deserter  from  the  Nineteeth  Indiana, 
and  fixed  for  this  day. 

Lee  lingered  in  the  valley,  watching  for  an  opportunity  to 
cut  across  the  rear  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  gain  an 
entrance  into  Washington.  His  horsemen  anxiously  looked 
over  all  the  accessible  heights  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  appeared 
in  force  in  all  the  passes,  and  even  dashed  across  the  Bull 
Run  mountains.  But  they  found  little  encouragement. 
Over  every  level  space  they  saw  the  Northern  army  spread 
ing  like  a  blue  sea,  and  on  every  road  they  met  Northern 
troops. 

On  the  18th  the  Third  Indiana  took  part  in  a  cavalry 
affair  at  Philamont,  with  some  loss.  Colonel  Gamble,  of  the 
Eighth  Illinois,  was  now  in  command  of  the  First  brigade, 
which  was  attached  to  Buford's  division.  Pleasonton  was 
in  command  of  the  cavalry  corps. 

A  running  fight  opened  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  and 


"VENGEANCE  IS  MINE,  SAITH  THE  LORD." 

continued  from  Middleburg  to  Upperville,  where  the  Rebels 
endeavored  to  make  a  stand.  The  Third  Indiana  behaved 
with  marked  courage  and  spirit,  repelling  and  returning  the 
repeated  charges  of  a  brigade. 

Finding  himself  unable  to  make  a  dash  on  Washington, 
Lee  forded  the  Potomac  June  24th  and  25th  and  advanced 
unopposed  to  Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania.  He  burnt 
bridges,  destroyed  railroads  and  telegraph  wires,  and  levied 
contributions  on  the  country — one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
•on  one  town,  fifty  thousand  on  another,  with  liberal  supplies 
of  food  and  clothing,  making  no  deduction  for  quiet  submis 
sion  to  his  entrance  and  his  rule.  Ewell  levied  twenty-five 
barrels  of  sourkraut  on  one  community,  but  as  June  is  not 
the  season  for  kraut,  even  in  the  most  Germanic  regions,  he 
was  compelled  to  withdraw  his  demand. 

General  Lee,  in  words  which  sound  like  solemn  irony  from 
the  pen  of  an  officer  who  was  acquainted  with,  if  he  did  not 
connive  at,  the  torture  and  slow  murder  of  defenceless  pris 
oners,  exhorted  his  soldiers  to  refrain  from  plunder  or  the 
destruction  of  private  property.  "It  must  be  remembered 
that  we  make  war  only  upon  armed  men,  and  that  we  cannot 
take  vengeance  for  the  wrongs  our  people  have  suffered 
without  lowering  ourselves  in  the  eyes  of  all,  and  offending 
against  Him  to  whom  vengeance  belonsreth." 

o  o  o 

The  proclamation  was  not  regarded  with  favor  by  the 
South.  The  Richmond  Enquirer  of  June  26th,  however, 
defended  it,  saying:  "It  is  true  that  Confederates  owe  no 
consideration  to  their  enemies.  It  is  true,  further,  that  our 
generals  owe  it  to  their  own  people  to  visit  a  terrible  devas 
tation  and  havoc  upon  the  enemy's  country,  but  it  may  be 
needful  to  deceive  the  enemy  by  forbearing  from  plunder 
now  on  the  threshold  of  the  expedition,  that  for  the  sake  of 
the  paltry  booty  of  Chambersburg,  we  may  not  miss  the 
splendid  prize  of  Philadelphia,  or  the  crushing  blow  at  the 
head  in  Washington.  Lee  may  purposely  forbear  to  give 
the  hostile  population  warning  to  run  off  their  herds  and 
(locks,  so  as  to  leave  the  country  waste  before  him,  until  he 
can  throw  the  whole  Confederate  army  into  Pennsylvania, 
wide-winged,  far-stretching,  enveloping  Washington  on  the 


102  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

one  side,  Harrisburg  on  the  other,  and  so  forward!  forward! 
until  our  red  battle  flag  reflects  itself  in  the  Delaware." 

O,  sanguine  and  sanguinary  South!  What  hopes  were 
engendered  and  crushed  by  Lee's  invasion! 

Lee's  army  was  under  good  discipline,  and  it  obeyed 
orders.  Negroes  were  kidnapped,  individuals  were  made  to 
stand  and  deliver,  remote  and  lonely  houses  were  broken 
open  and  pillaged,  a  clergyman,  sitting  in  his  own  door,  with 
a  good  pair  of  boots  on,  was  coolly  ordered  to  haul  them  off, 
and  a  Rebel  pulled  them  over  his  own  dirty  feet,  but  such 
occurrences  were  exceptional. 

Ewell's  corps,  formerly  Jackson's,  was  almost  puritanic  in 
its  deportment.  In  York  a  bar  room  was  guarded  all  night 
by  a  Rebel  sentinel.  "  I  left  a  glass  of  brandy  on  the  coun 
ter  and  my  money  drawer  unlocked,"  narrated  the  inn-keeper 
afterwards,  "and  the  next  morning  I  found  them  both  un 
touched.  When  I  looked  into  the  bar  room  I  saw  a  Rebel 
guard  singing  out  of  a  hymn  book,  and  then  he  kneeled 
down  by  a  chair  and  made  a  few  remarks.  I  asked  him 
what  he  was  about,  and  he  told  me  he  belonged  to  Stone 
wall  Jackson's  brigade,  and  his  old  commander  had  taught 
his  men  to  say  their  prayers  every  day." 

Pennsylvania  was  as  much  an  object  of  curiosity  to  the 
Rebels  as  the  Rebels  were  to  Pennsylvania.  The  fine  roads, 
the  generous  stone  dwellings,  the  gardens  and  fields  which 
laughed  with  plenty,  the  many  windowed  barns  with  their 
vast  stores  of  hay  and  grain,  and  long  rows  of  shining 
horses  and  sleek  kine,  signified  almost  incredible  comfort 
and  prosperity. 

Many  months  afterward,  a  North  Carolinian  said  to  Rob 
ert  Cathcart,  of  the  Seventieth  Indiana,  in  Sherman's  army: 
"I  gave  up  when  I  saw  those  Northern  farms.  I  staid  in  the 
army  because  I  was  under  oath,  but  I  never  afterwards  had 
any  heart." 

Hooker  crossed  the  Potomac  the  day  after  the  Rebel  army 
entered  Maryland,  and  moved  toward  Fredericksburg,  throw 
ing  his  left  out  well  toward  the  west,  still  keeping  his  cavalry 
in  advance  and  marching  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles  a  day.  Worn,  wearied,  and  dusty — ragged,  too,  be- 


FOOTSORE.  1Q3 

cause  there  was  neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  refit,  his 
troops  were  still  full  of  joyful  trust. 
Lieutenant  Pratt  writes : 

"  WARRENTON,  VA.,  June  15,  1863,  5  P.  M. 

"We  have  been  here  not  over  half  an  hour.  Left  our 
camp  on  the  Rappahannock  night  before  last  at  dark  and 
marched  until  past  midnight,  all  day  yesterday,  and  since 
I've  o'clock  this  morning.  My  feet  are  one  complete  blister. 
It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  I  kept  along,  but  I  was 
determined  to  do  it.  I  don't  think  I  could  march  another 
hour  though. 

"We  are  just  above  the  junction,  battery  after  battery  in 
position  in  front  of  us,  all  pointing  toward  the  mountains. 
Sick  and  footsore  as  we  are,  we  are  too  true  knights  to  de 
cline  the  combat  that  will  be  forced  on  us.  I  only  hope  that 
individual  gallantry  may  be  well  directed  and  improved  on." 

"!N  CAMP  NEAR  FREDERICK  CITY,  MARYLAND, 

June  27,  1863. 

"  We  got  here  late  this  afternoon.  Left  Aldie  yesterday 
morning  at  two  o'clock.  I  had  been  on  picket  all  night,  and 
before  we  marched  I  had  walked  some  five  miles  up  and 
down  the  lines  and  in  from  picket.  We  were  drawn  in 
about  half  an  hour  before  the  division  started,  and  then, 
with  it,  marched  steadily  along  through  Leesburg,  where 
we  halted  an  hour,  and  then  on  until  seven  o'clock  at  night, 
when  we  halted  near  Poolesville.  We  had  to  ford  several 
creeks,  one  of  them  waist  deep.  We  crossed  the  Potomac 
on  pontoon  boats. 

"  My  shoes  gave  out  ten  miles  before  we  halted.  First 
the  bottoms  fell  out,  and  then  the  stockings  wore  out,  and  I 
plodded  on  over  gravel  and  stubble  fields,  my  blistering  feet 
unprotected.  After  a  short  doze  under  wet  blankets,  we 
were  aroused  at  three  this  morning,  and  started  at  four. 
Yesterday  the  column  marched  twenty-five  miles.  I  marched 
at  least  thirty,  with  my  picket.  I  don't  know  how  much  we 
have  made  to-day — over  twenty,  I  should  think. 

"  The  country  hereabout  is  magnificent,  and  the  change 
of  sentiment  from  bitter  disloyalty  to  scattering  patriotism 


104  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

is  cheerful.  We  shall  probably  come  upon  the  Rebels  by 
to-morrow  evening  or  next  day." 

General  Lee's  army  numbered  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand.  Hooker's  was  smaller.  He  requested  that  he 
might  be  reinforced  by  General  French's  division  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  stating,  at  the  same  time,  that  Harper's  Ferry,  in 
present  circumstances,  was  of  no  value.  General  Halleck 
resented  the  reflection  on  that  picturesque  and  romantic  po 
sition  and  returned  a  peremptory  refusal.  Hooker  was  in 
dignant  that  in  the  moment  of  his  greatest  responsibility  he 
should  be  unnecessarily  cramped  and  hampered,  and  he  in 
stantly  sent  in  his  resignation.  Halleck,  equally  indignant 
that  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  should 
seek,  for  any  reason,  to  abandon  his  post  in  so  important  a 
crisis,  accepted  his  resignation  without  remonstrance  or 
demur,  and  promptly  appointed  General  Meade  to  the  com 
mand. 

Here  was  "a  swapping  of  horses  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,"  but  the  army  bore  up  bravely.  "  The  time  was," 
writes  Frank  Good,  "when  we  had  more  men,  and  when  we 
were  well  supplied  with  clothes  and  grub,  but  the  time  has 
never  been  when  there  was  the  same  feeling  throughout  the 
whole  command.  They  may  change  generals  as  often  as 
they  please,  they  cannot  demoralize  the  army." 

Even  in  civil  life,  although  at  first  a  foreboding  depression 
was  general,  there  was  a  quick  rebound  from  the  unexpected 
blow.  Newspapers  displayed  a  jocoseness  which  indicated 
the  reaction.  "  The  opposing  armies  in  the  North  may  be 
said  to  have  imbibed  a  pastoral  taste,  since  they  are  now  led 
by  spangled  Meade  and  flowery  Lea,"  was  the  comment  of 
one. 

The  names  of  Governor  Curtin  and  General  Couch,  who 
were  active  in  Pennsylvania  calling  civilians  into  service, 
also  excited  witticisms.  For  example :  "  We  have  a  Couch 
in  whose  arms  General  Lee  may  repose  after  his  long,  hard 
march,  and  a  Curtain  to  prevent  intrusion  on  his  privacy." 

On  crossing  the  Potomac  river  Buford's  cavalry  division 
took  the  road  to  Middletown  and  South  Mountain  pass, 
crossing  South  Mountain  on  the  29th,  going  north  along  its 


"SEE  THE  FRONT  OF  BATTLE  LOUR."  105 

western  foot  to  Covetovvn;  thence  crossing  and  bivouacking 
at  the  eastern  base  of  the  mountain,  after  a  day's  march  of 
forty  miles.  All  along  the  route  the  division  was  greeted 
with  an  enthusiasm  greatly  in  contrast  with  the  silently  hos 
tile  reception  it  had  become  accustomed  to  on  the  Virginia 
side  of  the  Potomac. 

The  march  was  resumed  soon  after  three  o'clock  on  tho 
morning  of  the  30th  of  June  and  directed  toward  Fairiicld, 
near  which  the  head  of  the  column  came  upon  a  Rebel 
picket.  Without  attempting  to  clear  the  way,  the  command 
countermarched,  took  another  road  and,  passing  through 
Emmetsburg,  reached  the  southern  edge  of  Gettysburg  about 
noon.  The  head  of  a  Rebel  column  of  infantry  appeared 
on  the  heights  west  of  the  town  about  the  same  time,  but 
countermarched  and  passed  off  on  the  Chambersburg  pike. 
General  Buford  placed  his  division  on  the  north  and;  west 
side  of  the  town,  the  First  brigade  on  the  Chambersburg 
pike  about  a  half  mile  from  Gettysburg,  and  sent  out  a 
strong  picket  on  all  approaches  from  the  north  and  west. 

Meantime,  every  part  of  the  army  was  as  indefatigably 
on  the  march.  General  Hooker,  at  the  time  he  was  sus 
pended,  was  concentrating  one  portion  of  his  force  at  Fred 
erick,  to  meet  the  Rebel  front,  and  was  directing  another 
portion  toward  the  Rebel  rear.  Meade  withdrew  the  latter, 
and  uniting  the  two  portions,  directed  his  course  toward  the 
line  of  Pipe  creek,  a  position  about  fifteen  miles  south-east 
of  Gettysburg,  with  the  intention  of  forming  there  across 
the  Rebel  line  of  march.  His  front  was  nearly  forty  miles 
from  east  to  west.  Buford's  cavalry  preceded  and  covered 
his  left  or  western  wing,  which  was  composed  of  the  corps 
of  Reynolds  and  Howard. 

General  Lee  directed  his  scattered  forces  to  concentrate 
at  Gettysburg,  where  he  could  hold  the  South  Mountain 
passes  and  Cumberland  Valley,  and  at  the  same  time  ad 
vance  to  the  attack  of  the  Federal  army. 

In  pursuance  of  these  movements,  the  armies  struck  to 
gether  sooner  than  cither  commander  anticipated.  The  first 
shock  of  the  meeting  occurred  on  the  first  day  of  July.  Bu- 
ford's  cavalry,  as  already  narrated,  in  swinging  round  to  take 


106  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

up  the  designated  position  on  Pipe  creek,  approached  Get 
tysburg,  and  seeing  the  head  of  the  enemy,  advanced  to  the 
north  and  west  side  of  the  town,  where  it  lay  during  the  last 
night  of  June.  About  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
picket  on  the  Chambersburg  road  gave  warning  of  the  ene 
my's  approach.  The  First  brigade  was  at  once  put  in  line 
of  battle,  the  Third  Indiana  on  the  right.  A  battery  was 
placed  in  position,  a  heavy  line  of  skirmishers  was  sent  out, 
and  every  preparation  was  made  to  hold  the  enemy  in  check 
until  Reynolds  and  Howard,  who  had  bivouacked  several 
miles  south  of  Gettysburg,  could  get  up.  The  skirmish  line, 
reinforced  from  time  to  time,  contested  every  inch  of  ground, 
the  battery  kept  up  an  incessant  and  effective  fire,  and  the 
brigade  was  enabled  to  hold  its  commanding  position  until 
the  infantry  arrived,  when  it  withdrew  to  the  cover  of  Sem 
inary  ridge. 

Wadsworth's  division,  four  thousand  strong,  was  the  first 
to  reach  the  ground.  It  formed  in  a  hollow  between  two 
parallel  ridges,  and  on  the  bank  of  a  little  stream  called 
Willoughby's  run — Cutter's  brigade  on  the  right,  Meredith's 
on  the  left.  While  the  line  was  forming,  Reynolds  was  shot 
and  instantly  killed.  Archer's  Rebel  brigade  made  imme 
diate,  repeated  and  heavy  attacks  on  Cutter,  and  at  length, 
forcing  him  back,  pressed  hard  after  him.  Meredith,  whose 
front  was  clear,  rapidly  advanced,  gained  Archer's  flank  and 
rear,  and  captured  eight  hundred  men  with  their  brigade 
commander. 

The  Rebels,  however,  were  reinforced,  and  the  battle  grew 
hot  and  heavy.  Wadsworth's  division  fought  nearly  two 
hours,  on  the  stream,  over  the  hills,  and  in  the  woods.  Cor 
poral  Cunningham,  of  the  Nineteenth  Indiana,  was  wounded 
in  the  hip,  and  dropped  the  colors.  Buckles,  the  brave  boy 
who  had  been  ambitious  for  this  moment,  snatched  the  flag 
from  the  ground,  unfurled  it  to  the  breeze,  and  cheered  as 
the  men  rushed  forward  in  a  charge.  It  was  the  proudest 
moment  of  his  life;  but  he,  too,  was  soon  wounded.  The 
flag  then  passed  back  to  the  hand  of  Cunningham,  who, 
after  having  his  wound  dressed,  had  found  his  way  again 
into  the  battle.  Pressed  by  twice  its  own  number,  the  divi- 


ON  SEMINARY  RIDGE.  JQ7 

sion  gradually  and  steadily  lost  ground,  and  broke  up  its 
battle  line.  On  Seminary  ridge,  it  again  formed,  its  right 
being  strengthened  by  a  large  reinforcement. 

General  Howard  reached  Gettysburg  during  the  retreat  of 
Wadsworth,  bringing  with  him  the  residue  of  the  First  corps 
and  the  whole  of  the  Eleventh  corps,  and  took  command  on 
the  field.  Posting  one  division  of  the  Eleventh  south-east  of 
the  town,  on  the  strongest  and  most  commanding  point  in 
the  vicinity,  he  hastened  to  unite  the  greater  part  of  his  force 
with  the  new  line  forming  on  Seminary  ridge. 

At  the  same  time,  Early's  corps,  marching  from  the  North, 
arrived  on  the  Rebel  ground  and  connected  with  the  Rebel 
left,  making  it  far  over-lap  the  Union  right.  The  lighting 
continued  four  hours  on  Seminary  ridge.  The  Nineteenth 
Indiana  was  on  the  extreme  left,  as  in  the  previous  line. 
Colonel  Williams  said,  as  the  regiment  assumed  its  position, 
"We  must  hold  our  colors  on  this  line,  or  lie  here  under 
them."  Bravely  they  held  their  colors  there. 

Cunningham  was  struck  again,  and  again  obliged  to  re 
linquish  his  charge.  Blanchard  fell  with  the  flag  in  his  hand, 
and  died. 

Meredith  was  grazed  on  the  head  by  the  fragment  of  a 
shell.  His  horse  was  shot,  and  rolled  heavily  upon  him. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Dudley  had  his  leg  shattered.  Lieu 
tenant  Jones,  Lieutenant  East,  Sergeant  Ferguson,  Sergeant 
Beshears,  Winsett  and  Dougherty,  Michner  and  Ogborn, 
half  the  men  in  the  regiment  fell  here. 

General  Howard  endeavored  to  effect  an  orderly  retreat  to 
the  hills  south  and  south-east  of  Gettysburg,  where,  during 
his  progress  to  the  front,  he  had  posted  a  division.  His  left, 
the  First  corps,  falling  back  through  the  suburbs  and  beyond 
the  obstructions  of  the  town,  was  able  to  gain  the  new  po 
sition  without  confusion,  but  his  right,  closely  pursued  and 
entangled  in  narrow  streets,  fell  into  inevitable  disorder  and 
suffered  immense  loss. 

The  First  brigade  of  Buford's  division  covered  the  with 
drawal  of  the  infantry.  The  men  were  dismounted,  and 
held  Seminary  ridge  until  the  withdrawal  was  accomplished, 
when,  before  they  could  be  withdrawn,  the  position  was 


108  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

flanked  by  the  advancing  Rebel  infantry.  They  fell  back, 
losing  heavily,  and  mounted  their  horses  under  a  deadly  fire. 
It  was  now  late  in  the  day,  and  General  Sickles,  arriving 
with  the  Third  corps,  formed  on  the  left  of  Howard  without 
opposition. 

With  Meade,  who,  at  Taneytown,  ten  miles  distant,  was 
duly  informed  from  hour  to  hour  of  the  situation  of  affairs 
and  events,  there  could  be  little  question  as  to  the  expediency 
of  fighting  the  momentous  and  inevitable  battle  on  the  hills 
of  Gettysburg,  and,  after  short  delay,  he  turned  in  that  di 
rection  the  corps  which,  according  to  previous  orders,  were 
concentrating  on  Pipe  creek.  But  it  would  have  been  pru 
dent  for  Lee  to  pause  before  assuming  the  offensive  in  his 
present  situation.  He  had  allowed  himself  to  be  detained 
on  unimportant  ridges  west  of  Gettysburg,  while  the  Union 
army  had  taken  up  a  position  on  the  most  formidable  emi 
nence  in  the  vicinity;  and  now,  perforce,  he  held  an  attitude 
which  bore  an  ominous  resemblance  to  that  of  Burnside  be 
fore  Fredericksburg.  On  the  other  hand,  his  army  was  in 
excellent  condition,  having  come  up  with  great  deliberation 
from  the  points  of  the  compass  to  which  it  had  been  scat 
tered;  while  portions  of  the  Federal  army  were  still  many 
miles  distant;  its  advance  was  beaten  all  to  pieces,  and  one 
of  its  best  commanders  was  slain.  Moreover,  if  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  should  play  into  his  hands  by  the  commis 
sion  of  some  fatal  error  in  the  supreme  moment  of  conflict, 
it  would  be  according  to  its  previous  career. 

Influenced  by  these  latter  considerations,  perhaps  beguiled 
by  the  broad  road  leading  down  to  Washington,  and  in 
plain  view  from  his  quarters,  and  by  the  flattering  hope  of 
dictating  peace  from  the  Capitol  within  two  days,  he  was 
not  unwilling  to  wage  the  decisive  battle  on  the  vantage 
ground  of  his  enemy.  If  he  counted  on  a  false  move,  the 
next  day  gave  him  cause  for  self-congratulation. 

The  country  for  many  miles  east  of  South  Mountain 
range  is  broken  into  parallel  ridges  diverse  in  shape,  height, 
and  length.  In  one  of  the  narrow  valleys  formed  by  these 
ridges  lies  the  rural  village  of  Gettysburg.  The  western 
and  northern  boundary  of  the  valley  is  Seminary  Ridge,  the 


"TYRANTS  FALL  IN  EVERY  FOE?"  109 

slopes  of  which  are  adorned  by  a  theological  seminary  and 
a  college.  The  ridge  on  the  eastern  and  southern  side  of 
the  valley  is  called  Cemetery  Ridge,  from  the  village  grave 
yard,  which  lies  on  the  broadest  of  its  hills.  It  is  curved 
like  a  horseshoe  and  is  broken  and  irregular,  the  central  and 
terminating  points  being  high  and  rocky,  while  the  interven 
ing  spaces  are  sunk  almost  to  the  level  of  the  valley.  Cem 
etery  Hill,  the  centre  of  the  ridge,  is  the  toe  of  the  shoe, 
On  the  right  are  Gulp's  and  Wolf's  hills ;  on  the  left  the  two 
Round  Tops,  Little  and  Great  The  Round  Tops  look 
toward  the  west.  Gulp's  Hill  faces  the  north,  while  Wolf's 
Hill  lies  to  the  east.  Cemetery  Hill  affords  a  wide-spread, 
beautiful  view,  which  is  bounded  on  the  west  only  by  the 
waving  line  of  South  Mountain.  Gettysburg  lies  at  its- 
base,  partly  on  its  front. 

Howard,  on  falling  back  to  Cemetery  Hill,  immediately 
threw  up  intrenchments.  He  posted  Wadsworth's  division, 
now  including  the  Seventh  Indiana,  which  had  been  guard 
ing  the  corps  trains  on  the  previous  day,  on  the  right  of  his 
corps,  nearly  to  Gulp's  Hill,  and  the  remaining  divisions  of 
Reynolds7  corps  in  reserve  on  his  left.  Slocum,  as  he  came 
up,  arranged  his  command  on  Gulp's  Hill,  to  the  right  of 
Wadsworth.  Hancock  took  up  the  line  on  Howard's  left. 
Sickles  formed  between  Hancock  and  Little  Round  Top, 
along  the  most  depressed  portion  of  the  ridge.  During  the 
night  and  the  following  day  troops  came  up  and  fell  into 
line.  The  last  to  arrive  were  Sedgwick's  corps,  which 
marched  to  Wolf's  Hill  on  the  right  and  rear  of  the  army, 
and  Sykes's  corps,  which  moved  to  the  rear  and  left  of 
Sickles. 

Lee's  army,  being  nearly  all  on  the  ground  the  1st  of  July, 
was  soon  in  position — Early  on  the  left,  Hill  in  the  centre, 
and  Longstreet  on  the  right  of  a  line  at  least  five  miles  in 
extent.  The  Confederates  were  fresh  and  haughty,  spurred 
by  ambition  and  flushed  with  victory.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  a  prominent  Rebel  officer,  "  They  were  filled 
with  a  profound  contempt  for  the  enemy."  The  Union 
troops  were  wearied  with  nineteen  days  rapid  marching,  but, 
to  use  the  language  of  a  Hoosier  soldier,  they  had  "  a  deter- 


HO  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

mined  mind  to  do  their  task  or  die  a  trying."  The  North 
and  the  South  seldom,  if  ever,  came  together  with  such 
high-strung,  deliberate,  desperate  resolution. 

The  bright,  still  midsummer  day  was  undisturbed,  except 
by  picket  firing,  until  four  in  the  afternoon.  Sickles,  impa 
tient,  it  is  said  indignant,  because  of  the  delay,  had  moved 
from  the  position  assigned  him,  and  had  formed  his  line  a 
half  mile  or  more  in  advance  on  the  Emmetsburg  road, 
which  runs  along  a  swell  in  the  centre  of  the  valley.  The 
movement  broke  his  connection  with  Hancock,  and  lost  him 
the  protection  of  Little  Round  Top,  while  it  brought  him 
within  easy  range  of  Longstreet's  artillery;  and  invited  the 
approach  of  Longstreet's  infantry,  which,  in  magnificent 
lines  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  far  overlapped  both  his  left  and 
right.  He  met  the  ready  and  terrible  shock  with  gallantry, 
covering  his  left  flank  with  Birney's  division  formed  into  an 
angle  and  stretched  through  a  peach  orchard,  a  wheat  field, 
and  a  grove.  A  steady  artillery  fire  and  repeated  assaults 
wholly  and  hotly  engaged  him,  while  Longstreet  threw  a 
force  toward  his  rear  to  gain  Little  Round  Top.  In  hasty 
and  unperceived  march  the  Rebel  force  had  almost  accom 
plished  its  task,  when  it  was  suddenly  confronted  by  the 
advance  of  Sykes'  corps.  An  instant  hand-to-hand  struggle 
ensued  in  the  rocky  glen  at  the  base  of  the  hill,  on  and  under 
the  granite  ledges  of  the  sides,  and  even  among  the  huge 
bowlders  at  the  top.  A  desperate  half  hour,  which  filled  the 
clefts  with  dead  men,  secured  the  height,  prevented  the  turn 
ing  of  the  Union  line,  and  saved  the  day. 

Meantime,  Sickles'  front  and  flank  were  hardly  maintained. 
Part  of  Sykes'  corps  reinforced  the  hard  pressed  Birney :  and 
from  the  distant  right  Slocum's  corps,  all  but  one  brigade, 
hurried  to  the  scene  of  combat.  But  increase  of  numbers 
only  added  to  the  din,  and  whirl,  and  fury.  No  reinforce 
ments  could  hold  the  ground,  or  redeem  the  defeat.  Torn 
from  one  position  after  another,  the  Union  troops  were  at 
last  flung  back  to  their  original  line  on  Cemetery  Ridge. 

As  the  seething  mass  rolled  over  to  the  rear,  a  young 
officer  of  Sykes'  corps,  the  only  officer  remaining  of  a  com 
pany  which  had  lost  three-fifths  of  its  men,  was  seen  stand- 


"LIBERTY'S  IN  EVERY  BLOW." 

ing  a  moment  alone,  while  he  tied  his  sword  with  his  sword- 
knot  to  his  wrist.  Twice  already  lie  had  been  struck,  and 
his  noble  heart  was  jealous  lest  the  raining  bullets,  in  taking 
his  life,  should  rob  him  also  of  his  honor.  It  was  the  same 
youth  who,  with  his  company  two  months  before,  waited  on 
the  Rappahannock,  under  the  nearing  boom  of  the  enemy's 
guns,  until  the  flying  army  and  every  straggling  soldier  was 
safe  on  the  northern  side,  and  crossed  while  the  swelling 
stream  lashed  the  bridge,  and  the  impatient  engineers  stood 
with  the  fastenings  of  the  pontoon  boats  in  their  hands. 

The  Twentieth  Indiana,  which  was  on  Birney's  left,  and 
which  had  been,  from  the  first  clash,  in  the  brunt  of  the 
battle,  reached  Cemetery  Ridge  with  its  colors  riddled,  six  cf 
its  eight  color-guards  shot  and  its  Colonel  dead.  General 
Sickles  was  carried  from  the  field  dangerously  wounded. 

Slocum's  corps  had  scarcely  reached  the  foot  of  Little 
Round  Top  when  it  was  ordered  to  return  to  its  vacated 
position  on  Gulp's  Hill.  At  the  same  time  Buford's  cavalry 
was  summoned  from  the  rear,  whither  it  had  been  sent  to 
rest  after  the  first  day's  fight,  and  was  posted  on  the  extreme 
right  to  confront  Stuart. 

Ewell  was  making  vigorous  exertions  to  gain  the  Union 
right,  having  assailed  it  in  superior  force  as  soon  as  Sykes 
and  Slocum  were  fairly  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  Sickles' 
and  Longstreet's  sanguinary  conflict.  He  easily  gained  the 
abandoned  intrenchments  of  Williams'  division,  but  though 
he  dashed  impetuously  through  a  wooded  valley  and  up 
abrupt  rocks  in  repeated  assaults  on  Greene  and  Wadsworth, 
he  made  little  impression  upon  them.  In  an  attack  made  at 
the  same  time  on  Cemetery  Hill,  his  men  advancing  cau 
tiously  in  the  now  rapidly  falling  darkness  and  under  cover 
of  houses  and  undulations  in  the  hillside,  he  was  near  being 
successful.  All  the  guns  which  could  be  brought  to  bear  on 
him  opened  as  soon  as  he  was  discovered,  but  he  continued 
his  ascent  unflinching,  and  gained  Howard's  first  line.  The 
advanced  Union  guns,  overheated  by  rapid  firing,  were 
obliged  to  cease ;  but  the  brave  cannoneers  fought  with  ram 
mers,  handspikes  and  stones  until  they  descried  troops  has 
tening  from  their  left  and  rear.  "Who  are  you?"  they  cried 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

doubtingly,  but  sent  .up  a  cheer  as  the  foremost  regiment 
shouted,  "Fourteenth  Indiana/'  The  moon,  which  was  full 
and  bright  an  hour  later,  was  not  yet  up;  and  the  charge  of 
the  Fourteenth,  directed  only  by  the  sound  and  flash  of  the 
enemy's  guns,  was  a  headlong  dash,  but  it  was  sweeping. 
The  Rebels  fled  down  the  hill  before  it,  leaving  in  the  hands 
of  the  Fourteenth  the  flag,  the  field  officers,  and  many  of  the 
privates  of  the  Twenty-First  North  Carolina. 

On  the  close  of  July  2,  Lee  still  had  reason  for  congratu 
lation.  In  possession  of  the  ground  where  lay  the  Union 
dead  and  wounded,  and  within  the  Union  line  at  both  ex 
tremities,  he  was  not  less  the  gainer  than  on  the  preceding 
day;  and  his  losses,  though  frightful,  were  plainly  not  so 
great  as  those  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  One  more 
strike,  heavy  and  well-directed,  would  put  an  end  to  the 
delay  in  his  march  to  Washington.  He  was  impatient  for 
the  short  night  to  pass. 

The  Northern  army,  however,  was  far  from  feeling  itself 
conquered.  It  waited  with  not  less  impatience  through  the 
moonlight  hours  of  the  night,  and  woke  the  new  day  with  a 
powerful  artillery  fire  upon  the  strong  intruders  in  Slocum's 
intrenchments.  When  the  artillery  ceased,  Slocum  pushed 
his  infantry  forward  to  retake  his  rifle-pits.  The  Twenty- 
Seventh  Indiana  and  the  Second  Massachusetts,  which  had 
the  extreme  right  of  his  line,  entered  an  open  space  which 
was  swept  by  Rebel  rifles.  They  strove  to  push  on.  They 
struggled  to  stand.  But  to  proceed  was  murder,  and  to  re 
main  was  death.  They  withdrew. 

His  comrades  snatched  from  the  ground  Corporal  Antrim, 
who  had  fallen  with  the  colors.  "Leave  me  here!  Let  me 
die  where  I  fell!"  cried  the  young  hero,  his  soul  flaming 
through  his  dying  eyes.  They  would  not  forsake  him.  Yet 
they  were  compelled  to  leave  the  ground  strewed  with  their 
dying  and  their  dead. 

Within  ten  minutes,  one  hundred  and  ten  Indianians,  and 
a  still  larger  number  of  Massachusetts  men,  stained  the  green 
sod  with  their  hearts'  blood.  Of  the  color-bearers  of  the 
Twenty-Seventh,  four  were  killed  and  four  were  wounded. 


"LET  US  DO  OR  DIE!"  113 

After  four  hours,  the  struggle  for  the  re-establishment  of 
Slocum's  line  on  Gulp's  Hill  was  successful. 

Silence,  fall  of  anxious  expectation,  now  fell  upon  the 
battle  field,  and,  although  interrupted  by  fitful  outbreaks  of 
firing,  continued  so  deep  that  the  soldiers  resting  and  waiting 
in  the  wild  woods  of  Gulp's  Hill,  in  the  orchards  and  the 
grave  yard,  noticed  the  warbling  of  birds  on  their  nests,  and 
followed  with  their  eyes  a  flock  of  pigeons  which  slowly 
flew  over  the  hills. 

At  one  o'clock,  a  signal  started  the  Rebel  artillery  into 
life.  One  hundred  and  fifteen  heavy  guns  opened  from  Lee's 
front,  and  poured  a  cross  fire  on  Cemetery  Hill.  Eighty 
guns,  all  that  could  be  used  in  the  shorter  space,  slowly  took 
up  the  reply.  As  in  every  previous  struggle,  the  challenging 
party  had  been  fairly  met,  and  every  blow  had  encountered 
as  heavy  a  blow,  there  was  now  no  aimless  firing  and  no 
squandering  of  ammunition.  The  valley  was  narrow,  and  the 
fire  leaped  from  hill  to  hill,  plowing  and  tearing  the  ground. 
Meade  remained  in  his  quarters,  which  were  a  little  below 
Cemetery  Hill,  and  within  Rebel  range.  Our  infantry 
crouched  behind  walls  and  trees,  and  in  the  gullies  of  the 
quaking  hills.  They  waited  for  the  charge  that  was  sure  to 
come  soon  or  late.  Our  guns  ceased,  too  much  heated  to 
continue  firing,  and  at  the  end  of  two  hours  the  Rebel  artil 
lery  gradually  slackened  its  fury.  Now  was  the  crisis  of 
expectation.  It  was  short.  Before  the  thunders  of  the  can 
non  died  away,  a  double  line  of  battle  three  or  four  miles  in 
length,  preceded  by  a  flight  of  skirmishers,  swept  down  from 
the  smoking  hills  to  the  waiting  plain,  and  surged  upward 
from  the  plain  toward  the  unshaken  Union  front.  Guns 
on  Cemetery  Ridge  opened,  shot  away  all  their  canister, 
and  grew  silent.  Muskets  and  men  were  motionless  until 
the  Rebel  tide  was  close.  Then  the  patient  rifles  were  Icl 
loose.  Still  the  Rebels  came.  The  shock  of  meeting  was 
in  the  pits,  on  the  barricades  and  on  the  batteries.  The 
varying  struggle  extended  from  Sickles'  corps,  far  on  the 
left,  in  the  front  line  of  which  was  our  Twentieth,  to  How 
ard's,  corps  on  the  right.  It  was  the  struggle  of  combatants 
8 


114  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

whose  hands  are  on  each  others'  throats.  It  could  not  en 
dure  many  minutes.  The  Rebel  lines  melted  away,  or  trailed 
painfully  back  to  the  western  hills. 

That  night,  the  two  armies  lay  panting  and  bleeding  on 
the  mournful  heights  of  Gettysburg,  perhaps  too  weary  to 
comprehend  who  had  lost  and  who  had  won.  But  there 
was  one  who  understood  and  who  acknowledged  the  situa 
tion  without  pausing  to  reflect.  Almost  before  his  shattered 
columns  regained  Seminary  Ridge,  Lee  turned  his  wagon 
trains  toward  the  Potomac.  He,  however,  prudently  threw 
up  intrenchments  and  threw  out  a  strong  line  of  guards  in 
order  to  present  the  appearance  of  maintaining  his  position. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  President  Lincoln  announced  that 
"  The  news  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  up  to  ten  o'clock, 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  3d,  is  such  as  to  cover  the  army 
with  the  highest  honor,  to  promise  great  success  to  the  cause 
of  the  Union,  and  to  claim  the  condolence  of  all  for  the  many 
gallant  fallen."  He  especially  desired  that  "on  this  day,  'He 
whose  will,  not  ours,  should  ever  be  done,'  be  everywhere 
remembered  and  reverenced  with  the  profoundest  gratitude." 

The  day  was  sweet,  fresh  and  sunny,  the  serene  blue  sky 
smiling  down  upon  the  earth,  and  on  the  pale,  stained  faces 
upturned  on  the  battle  field — 

u  Calm  and  patient,  Nature  keeps 
Her  ancient  promise  well, 
Though  o'er  her  bloom  and  greenness 
Sweeps  the  battle's  breath  of  hell. 

Still  in  the  cannon's  pause  we  hear 
Her  sweet  thanksgiving  hymn : 
Too  near  to  God  for  doubt  or  fear 
She  shares  the  eternal  calm." 

Two  letters,  one  from  a  gallant  participator,  the  other  from 
a  timid  spectator,  detail  incidents  and  scenes  which  cannot 
but  give  life-like  touches  to  the  bare  delineation  of  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg.  The  first  is  written  by  Mr.  Pratt: 

"  CAMP  NEAR  ANTIETAM  RIVER,  ) 
July  13,  1863.      j 

"  MY  DEAR  FATHER: — An  officer  of  my  regiment  going  on 
a  sick  leave,  offers  to  post  letters  for  any  of  us,  and  I  take 


"ONE  TOUCH  OF  NATURE  MAKES  THE  WHOLE  WORLD  KIN."       H5 

advantage  of  the  offer.  I  suppose  many  of  my  letters  do 
not  reach  you,  written  while  in  the  campaign.  Some  are 
given  to  honest-looking  farmers,  who  promise  they  will  post 
them  the  first  opportunity,  some  to  sutlers,  and  some  are  en 
trusted,  as  a  last  resort,  to  the  news  boys  that  we  sometimes 
see.  I  wrote  to  you  at  Man  asses,  Frederick  City  and  Get 
tysburg,  and  received  your  kind  letters  all  together  the  other 
day. 

"I  fear  the  letters  on  the  march  were  not  very  edifying  if 
they  were  received.  There  was  a  touch  of  whining  about  them 
not  manly  nor  soldier-like.  But  the  truth  was,  we  suffered 
a  great  deal, — marching  twenty-five  and  thirty  miles  a  day, 
lying  down  in  roads  and  sleeping  a  few  hours,  and  before 
daybreak  on  our  way  again, — sore  feet  and  stiff  joints,  empty 
stomachs,  horrible  mud,  driving  rains  and  roaring  streams, 
never  checking  our  tremendous  pace. 

"  We  marched  all  day  of  the  first  of  July,  till  midnight — 
halted  three  hours  and  then  on  again.  By  daylight  we  were 
in  the  circle  of  the  battle  ground.  Early  in  the  morning  we 
threw  out  skirmishers,  who  popped  away  for  half  an  hour, 
and  then  were  drawn  in.  We  took  up  a  position  in  line  of 
battle  two  or  three  times  during  the  forenoon,  but  neither  dis 
turbed,  nor  were  disturbed.  Half  the  afternoon  we  dozed, 
smoked  and  chatted,  listening  to  the  sound  of  battle  in  the 
distance.  All  at  once  the  order  came.  We  were  sorely 
needed,  and  for  more  than  a  mile  we  went  at  a  double  quick. 
We  have  all  in  a  manner  schooled  ourselves  to  the  horrible 
sights  of  a  battle  field,  because  they  don't  vary  very  materi 
ally;  but  anything  unusual  or  novel  in  the  way  of  suffering 
will  find  a  woman's  sympathy  with  a  soldier.  Now  as  we 
were  hastening  up  the  Baltimore  road  to  the  help  of  the 
Third  corps,  we  passed  a  woman  sitting  by  a  house  crying 
bitterly,  and  everybody  was  touched. 

"  We  were  now  in  sight  of  the  batteries  playing,  and  soon 
close  on  to  the  hot  musketry.  We  formed  on  a  side  hill  tre 
mendously  uneven,  with  huge  moss-covered  rocks.  Directly 
in  front  was  a  marshy  ground,  then  a  hill,  then  woods.  Look 
ing  down  this  vale  was  a  ridge  that  covered  it.  Across  this 
marshy  open  space — down  the  hill  we  were  on,  and  up  the 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

opposite  hill  we  were  to  charge.  The  enemy  were  in  the 
woods  opposite  and  behind  the  ridge,  which  was  on  our  left 
as  we  charged. 

"The  two  regular  brigades  were  drawn  up  on  this  side 
hill.  In  this  valley  we  looked  down  on,  were  our  troops  fall 
ing  back  in  the  wildest  disorder.  In  that  seething  fire  they 
were  under,  a  color-bearer  of  one  of  the  regiments  broke 
away  from  the  crowd  that  was  carrying  him  back  with  them, 
and  rushed  back  toward  the  enemy  a  half  dozen  paces, 
planted  his  colors  in  the  ground  and  fell.  The  whole  regi 
ment  rallied  for  a  few  minutes,  and  for  the  first  time,  I  heard 
the  Regulars  cheer.  The  regiment  ..broke  again  though, 
swept  down  the  vale  in  front  of  us,  and  our  brigade  com 
mander  gave  the  word  "forward."  Away  we  went,  over 
rocks  and  in  the  marsh.  A  dozen  paces  forward,  and  we  came 
within  this  enfilading  fire.  Men  began  to  fall  very  fast,  but 
the  line  kept  steadily  on.  We  gained  the  other  side,  and  lay 
down.  Part  of  the  Second  corps  was  in  front,  and  we  could 
not  fire  with  safety.  Soon  they  fell  back  in  good  order  past 
our  line,  and  then  we  rose  up  and  began.  Our  brigade 
fought  alone,  the  other  brigade  being  in  our  rear.  The  men 
fought  gallantly,  but  fell  fast,  exposed  as  they  wrere  to  an 
almost  semi-circle  of  fire. 

"The  field  was  so  thickly  strewed  with  the  dead  and 
wounded  that  you  could  almost  have  walked  on  bodies  over 
it,  and  of  course  no  particular  case  could  fix  your  attention 
in  the  excitement,  but  one  sight  almost  fascinated  me  with 
forgetfulness  of  danger  and  death  all  around.  Right  at  the 
foot  of  my  company,  as  they  were  loading  and  firing  so  rap 
idly  that  they  were  almost  a  sheet  of  fire,  lay  a  splendid 
looking  staff  officer,  covered  with  blood  and  dying;  but  in  all 
his  agony  he  turned  his  face  to  us  half  smiling,  and  waved 
his  hand  as  if  to  cheer  us  on.  I  could  not  keep  my  eyes  off 
of  him.  Such  stern,  gallant  stuff  as  he  was  made  of  I  never 
expect  to  see  equalled. 

"  Soon  we  had  a  fire  in  our  rear,  and  we  realized  that  we 
were  flanked.  The  men  still  stood,  till  presently  the  order 
came  to  fall  back.  As  we  did  so,  the  fire  became  more  aw 
ful  than  ever,  and  the  slaughter  was  fearful.  An  officer  who 


THE  ELEVENTH  REGULARS.  117 

had  been  at  the  signal  station,  told  me  that  just  as  they  were 
retreating,  three  heavy  lines  of  battle  came  up  and  poured 
their  fire  on  us.  The  long  ridge,  that  was  on  our  flank,  was 
•crowded  with  Texan  sharpshooters,  who  did  terrible  work. 
They  were  lying  down.  All  I  could  see  of  them  was  the 
flash  of  their  rifles  along  the  ridge,  and  the  'Lone  Star7 
flag  in  the  centre  of  it.  After  we  had  gained  the  heights 
again,  we  formed  the  first  line  of  battle.  I  saw  the  regiment 
was  fearfully  shattered,  but  we  had  n't  time  to  tell  each  other 
who  had  fallen,  if  we  knew.  We  were  momentarily  ex 
pecting  to  charge  again;  but  a  force  of  fresh  troops  was 
brought  forward,  and  proved  to  be  enough  to  drive  back  the 
-enemy. 

"We  were  engaged  an  hour  and  a  half.  The  brigade 
started  on  the  charge  with  about  nine  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
and  came  out  with  three  hundred  and  nineteen.  My  regi 
ment,  out  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  men  and  twenty-three 
officers,  lost  a  hundred  and  fifteen  men  and  nine  officers. 
My  company,  out  of  fifty-seven  men  and  four  officers,  came 
back  with  twenty-two  men  and  one  officer,  myself,  two  of 
the  others  killed,  and  one  wounded.  Just  after  we  started 
on  the  charge,  I  was  hit  by  a  spent  ball  almost  directly  over 
the  heart,  and  knocked  down.  A  little  water,  though,  cured 
my  faintness,  and,  after  hard  running,  I  caught  up  with  my 
company  again.  Almost  in  the  same  place  in  falling  back, 
another  ball  passed  through  my  pants  and  grazed  my  leg, 
just  starting  the  blood.  The  muscle  swelled  somewhat,  and 
I  had  to  limp  for  three  or  four  days;  but  I  do  not  feel  it 
now.  The  spot  on  my  breast  is  still  sore. 

"  On  the  third  we  were  still  under  heavy  artillery  fire.  The 
pieces  showered  about  us  for  hours,  tops  of  trees  and  heavy 
branches  carried  off  by  round  shot  helped  the  awful  din. 

"We  suffered  considerably,  not  so  much  as  the  day  before, 
but  still  severely. 

"I  did  not  see  a  sight  that  affected  me  more  than  that  of  a 
man  that  belonged  to  my  company,  who,  when  we  lay  under 
the  artillery  fire,  went  forward  to  get  a  better  sight,  of  the 
battle,  and  who  had  not  gone  a  dozen  steps  before  he  was 
mortally  wounded.  The  stretcher  bearers  picked  him  up  and 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

brought  him  back.     As  they  went  by  the  company  on  their 
way  to  the  hospital,  he  begged  them  to  set  him  down  for  a    » 
moment,  and  then  reached  out  his  hand  and  said:  l  Good 
bye!'  as  calmly  as  good  night,  to  his  comrades  that  came 
about  him. 

"  That  day  ended  the  conflict  for  us.  Other  troops  pushed 
on,  but  our  shattered  little  force  was  left  out  of  range.  The 
battle  might  have  been  called  ended,  though,  after  that  artil 
lery  fire  and  their  successful  attempts  to  pierce  our  lines, 
which  it  preceded. 

"  I  never  can  place  myself  at  the  head  of  the  little  com 
pany — now  still  further  reduced  to  nineteen — without  a  sad 
thought  of  those  noble  fellows  who  used  to  be  with  me.  The 
story  of  my  mess  will  be  like  a  story  I  have  read  somewhere 
of  a  roaring  club  of  young  fellows  who  were  to  meet  once  a 
year,  as  long  as  they  lived — and  the  last  meeting  was  a 
gray-haired  old  man,  the  only  relic  of  that  jolly  crowd,  who 
toasted  the  memory  of  his  former  comrades,  and  sung  the 
songs  all  by  himself. 

"  Soon  after  the  battle,  we  were  hurried  here  by  the  same 
forced  marches  that  took  us  into  Pennsylvania,  and  now 
have  the  enemy  in  our  front.  Day  before  yesterday,  I  wa& 
out  skirmishing  from  daybreak  until  dark;  the  line  of  skirm 
ishers  was  some  two  or  three  miles  long,  and  we  drove  the 
enemy  some  two  miles. 

"Yesterday  afternoon,  we  were  massed  by  brigades,  and 
advanced  still  farther,  but  had  no  battle.  To-day  we  have 
been  lying  in  line  of  battle  all  day,  momentarily  expecting 
the  battle  to  commence.  An  occasional  artillery  duel  occurs 
on  our  right  or  left,  but  our  immediate  front  is  quiet,  except 
picket  firing.  The  enemy  is  intrenching  himself.  This  bat 
tle,  it  seems  to  me,  must  be  a  deciding  one ;  long  before  this 
reaches  you,  we  shall  have  fought  it. 

"  Love  to  all. 

"Your  affectionate  son,  JAMES." 

The  following  letter,  addressed  to  her  cousin  in  Indiana 
polis,  was  written  by  a  young  orphan  girl,  a  native  of  Indi 
ana,  but  a  resident  of  Gettysburg: 


CITIZENS  ON  THE  HOUSE  TOPS. 

«  GETTYSBURG,  July  17,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MINA:  Your  request  that  I  should  tell  you  '-all 
I've  passed  through,'  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  comply  with,  for 
I  have  lived  a  lifetime  in  the  past  few  weeks,  and  yet,  to  look 
back,  it  seems  like  some  fearful  dream.  God  grant  that  you, 
that  none  I  love,  may  ever  pass  through  such  scenes,  or  wit 
ness  such  bloody,  fearful  sights!  Words  can  give  you  no 
conception.  It  was  perfect  agony.  Not  for  worlds  would  I 
go  through  it  again. 

"  The  next  time  I  hear  the  Rebels  are  coming,  I'll  believe, 
instead  of  laughing  at  the  idea  of  such  a  thing;  and  I  will 
leave  this  region  of  country,  if  I  have  to  walk  We  were 
in  their  possession  three  days.  Their  treatment  of  us  was 
most  courteous  and  kind;  they  did  not  take  from  us  even  a 
chicken;  they  did,  however,  take  our  cherries,  currants,  on 
ions  and  potatoes,  but  that  we  thought  no  hardship. 

"  The  first  day's  battle  was,  as  you  have  learned  by  the 
papers,  to  the  west  of  the  town,  at  which  end  we  live.  Our 
house  stands  right  on  the  Harrisburg  road — along  which 
most  of  the  rebel  force  came — just  at  the  edge  of  the  town. 

"On  Tuesday  morning,  June  30,  the  Rebels  were  seen 
cautiously  creeping  up  the  hills  to  the  west  of  Gettysburg. 
I  saw  the  pickets.  They  were  planting  batteries  to  com 
mand  the  town,  when  our  cavalry  dashed  in  and  charged 
out  the  Chambersburg  pike.  The  Rebels,  supposing  our 
men  were  in  force,  retired  without  firing  a  gun.  Had  our 
troops  been  a  few  hours  later,  the  Rebels  would  have  had 
possession  of  the  beautiful  hills  around  us,  and  our  fate 
would  have  been  sealed;  for  our  men  say.  had  one  army  had 
possession  of  the  hills  around  Gettysburg,  no  force,  no  mat 
ter  how  great  its  strength,  could  have  taken  it. 

"On  Wednesday  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  cannonading 
was  heard,  but  very  distant.  All  citizens  were  ordered  off 
the  streets.  Immediately  you  could  see  the  house  tops  cov 
ered  with  ladies,  as  well  as  gentlemen,  watching  the  battle. 
Our  family  repaired  to  the  attic,  and  from  the  windows  we 
could  see  the  movements  of  our  troops.  It  was  not  long 
until  we  very  distinct!  v  heard  the  mournful  whiz  of  the  Rebel 
shells,  as  they  came  thick  and  fast  through  the  woods  just 


120  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

beyond  us.  But  it  was  not  until  1  saw  the  fences  on  our 
own  premises  torn  down,  and  cannon  placed  all  around  us, 
one  battery  just  in  our  back  yard,  that  I  began  to  realize  our 
danger.  Then  we  shut  up  the  house  and  went  into  the  cel 
lar,  taking  with  us  provision  to  give  our  men,  and  rags  for 
the  wounded.  Though  the  shells  fell  thick  around  us,  shat 
tering  trees,  knocking  bricks  out  of  the  house,  &c.,  Cousin 
Jennie  stood  on  the  cellar  steps,  cutting  bread,  spreading  it 
with  apple  butter,  and  giving  it  to  our  poor  men,  who  had 
been  marched  double-quick  for  miles  without  any  breakfast. 
The  poor  fellows  were  so  grateful,  and  would  say,  "Courage, 
ladies,  we'll  drive  the  rebs!"  At  one  time,  our  troops  were 
ordered  to  make  a  stand  and  hold  our  house,  but  afterward 
were  ordered  to  give  them  half  the  town.  Our  main  force 
fell  back  to  Cemetery  Hill,  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  town 
from  us.  How  I  wish  we  could  boast  that  a  Rebel  had  never 
walked  our  streets  but  as  a  prisoner;  but  twice  has  that  foul 
flag  waved  in  triumph  over  Gettysburg.  Our  men  retired, 
fighting  every  step  of  the  way.  The  firing  of  the  musketry 
was  more  rapid  than  the  ticking  of  a  watch,  and  it  seemed 
that  for  every  gun  fired  there  was  a  shriek.  Oh,  it  was  aw 
ful!  How  I  wished  for  Cousin  Jennie's  courage;  but  all  I 
could  do  was  to  sit  in  the  cellar  corner  and  cry.  About  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  Rebels  had  possession  of  us. 
They  made  a  charge  through  our  hall.  We  were  obliged 
to  open  our  house  for  the  wounded.  Near  dark,  some  of  our 
wounded  came  staggering  into  the  cellar,  covered  with  blood; 
the  cellar  floor  was  rnuddy  with  blood  and  water,  the  latter 
of  which  had  been  poured  on  their  wounds.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  sight  that  greeted  us  as  we  came  up  from  the  cel 
lar.  The  moon  was  shining  brightly  in  the  heavens,  while 
on  the  earth,  scattered  everywhere,  were  the  dead,  and  the 
wounded  moaning  with  pain;  our  yard  and  house  were  full. 
I  actually  thought  I  had  been  transferred  to  some  strange 
place,  so  different  did  it  seem  from  the  home  I  had  seen  in 
the  morning.  Though  the  fighting  was  still  going  on,  it  was 
almost  nothing  in  comparison  to  a  few  hours  before.  The 
Rebels  took  their  wounded  from  our  house,  to  the  rear  of 
their  army;  so  v\re  went  to  work  and  took  up  carpets, brought 


LEE  UNDER  THE  HOSPITAL  FLAG. 

down  beds,  and  tried  to  make  our  wounded  as  comfortable 
as  possible.  Our  army's  centre  rested  on  Cemetery  Hill, 
where  we  had  a  number  of  guns,  and  which  we  could  dis- 
stinctly  see  from  our  door;  and  as  the  Rebels  only  held  half 
the  town,  we  were  in  the  centre  and  near  the  front  of  the 
Rebel  army.  Our  troops  paid  respect  to  the  flag  that  floated 
over  our  house,  and  it  was  only  a  stray  shell  that  came  near 
us,  after  the  first  day's  battle. 

"The  college,  which  is  quite  near  us,  was  also  taken  as  a 
hospital.  From  the  cupola,  there  is  a  splendid  view  of  the 
country  for  miles  around,  and  there,  under  the  protection  of 
the  hospital  flag,  stood  General  Lee,  taking  note  of  both 
armies,  and  sending  dispatches  all  over  the  field.  General 
Ewell  and  staff  took  tea  with  us  Wednesday  evening.  We, 
being  in  their  power,  kept  quiet  as  to  our  sentiments,  until 
they  commenced  the  subject.  We  then  very  warmly  ex 
pressed  our  feelings,  and  told  them  they  were  unwelcome 
guests.  Many  of  them  were  handsome  and  intelligent,  and 
all  polite  and  accommodating.  Seeing  there  were  none  but 
ladies  in  the  house,  the  General  gave  us  a  guard  to  protect 
us.  General  Ewell  wanted  to  make  his  quarters  with  us; 
but,  as  we  could  not,  or  rather  would  not,  put  ourselves  to 
any  trouble  to  give  him  two  private  rooms,  he  went  else 
where  to  sleep,  but  came  for  breakfast,  bringing  with  him 
Generals  Early  and  Rhodes.  Some  of  us,  myself  among 
the  number,  having  been  so  frightened  by  Wednesday's  fight, 
General  Ewell  gave  us  two  wagons  to  take  us  to  the  rear, 
where  there  was  less  danger,  and  sent  one  of  his  staff  with 
us  for  protection.  Auntie,  Cousin  Jennie  and  the  servant 
were  all  that  had  courage  to  remain.  The  house  we  stopped 
at  happened  to  be  General  Jenkins'  headquarters.  I  really 
liked  him.  He  was  struck  by  a  shell  in  Thursday's  fight, 
and  could  not  go  into  battle  on  Friday. 

" Thursday  and  Friday,  I  was  three  miles  away  from  the 
fighting.  Though  I  could  hear  it,  I  saw  none  of  its  horrors. 

"  Sunday  morning,  when  I  came  home,  both  armies  had 
gone;  the  voice  of  booming  cannon  was  hushed,  and  in  its 
stead  was  heard  the  rumbling  wheels  of  ambulances,  which 
covered  every  field  and  road,  bearing  away  the  wounded. 


122  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Every  one  has  house  and  hands  full,  notwithstanding  news 
paper  slanders,  which  I  hope  you  do  not  believe.  If  the 
Rebels  are  going  to  invade  your  State,  as  they  have  this,  I 
would  advise  you  to  pack  up  and  go  as  far  north  as  you 
can.  Your  affectionate  cousin, 

ANNIE  YOUNG." 

General  Lee,  according  to  his  usual  policy  when  his  losses 
were  great,  made  no  report;  but  it  is  computed  that  thirty- 
four  thousand  dead  and  wounded  (more  men  than  are  in 
Indianapolis)  were  strewn  among  the  green  fields  of  Gettys 
burg  on  that  "Glorious  Fourth."  Of  these,  sixteen  thousand 
belonged  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Ten  thousand  Reb 
els,  who  had  received  no  hurt  in  the  battle,  were  captured. 
Six  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-three  Union  soldiers 
were  taken  by  the  enemy.  The  whole  Union  loss  was  twenty- 
three  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-six.  The  total  Rebel 
loss  was  about  twenty-eight  thousand. 

Indiana  suffered  heavily.  The  Nineteenth,  Colonel  Wil 
liams,  had  thirty-four  killed,  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
wounded,  fifty-seven  missing — more  than  two  thirds  of  the 
regiment.  General  Meredith,  beside  being  struck  on  the 
head  by  the  fragment  of  a  shell,  was  severely  bruised  by  the 
fall  of  his  horse. 

The  Twentieth  had  thirty-two  killed,  one  hundred  and 
nine  wounded,  and  eleven  missing — largely  over  one-third 
of  its  numbers.  For  the  second  time,  its  Colonel  was  killed 
in  battle. 

Colonel  Wheeler  served  as  Captain  in  the  Twentieth, 
seven  months;  as  Major,  seven  months;  as  Lieutenant  Col 
onel,  seven  months;  and  three  months  as  Colonel.  He  was 
a  brave  and  beloved  officer. 

The  Fourteenth,  Colonel  Gavins,  had  seven  killed  and 
twenty-three  wounded.  Captain  John  P.  Blinn,  former v Ad 
jutant  of  the  Fourteenth,  was  mortally  wounded  while  doing 
duty  as  aide  to  General  Harrow.  He  died  a  Christian  sol 
dier. 

The  Twenty- Seven th  lost  twenty-one  killed,  ninety-six 
wounded,  and  several  missing.  Colonel  Colgrove  was  in 


LOSSES  IN  REGIMENTS. 

command  of  a  brigade.  His  faithful  horse,  which  bore  the 
marks  of  Winchester,  Cedar  Mountain,  Antietam  and  Chan- 
cellorsville,  was  shot  through  both  fore-legs  at  Gettysburg, 
and  permanently  disabled. 

The  Seventh  lost  two  killed,  nine  wounded  and  ten 
missing. 

The  Third  cavalry,  Colonel  Chapman,  had  five  killed, 
twenty-three  wounded  and  seven  captured.  Major  Lemon, 
an  esteemed  and  efficient  officer,  was  mortally  wounded. 

Howard's  escort,  the  two  companies  of  which  consisted 
respectively  of  eighty-five  and  eighty-six  men,  lost  one  man. 

Rev.  Mr.  Monfort,  the  Indiana  Military  Agent  in  Wash 
ington,  started  to  the  battle  field  with  five  assistants  and 
with  supplies  for  the  wounded,  on  the  fifth  of  July.  He  had 
so  much  difficulty  in  securing  means  of  conveyance,  that  in 
two  days  he  only  reached  Littletown,  eight  miles  from  Get 
tysburg.  He  made  a  report,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
extract: 

"At  Littletown,  hundreds  of  wounded  were  in  church  and 
school  house,  in  barns  and  shops.  Here  we  found  Dr.  Gar- 
ver,  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Nineteenth  Indiana  Volunteers, 
sick,  but  giving  his  attention  to  the  wounded,  and  having 
been  detailed  to  wait  upon  Lieutenant  Colonel  Dudley,  who 
was  dangerously  wounded,  and  who  has  since  lost  a  leg  by 
amputation. 

"Along  the  line  of  travel,  we  met  hundreds  of  the  wounded, 
who,  being  able  to  walk,  but  bearing  in  many  cases  danger 
ous  hurts,  had  been  permitted  to  make  their  way  as  best  they 
could  to  the  nearest  depot,  which  was  some  twenty-seven 
miles  from  Gettysburg. 

"  The  road  from  Littletown  was  thronged  with  the 
wounded — hungry,  faint  and  weary.  We  met  a  benevolent 
gentlemen  selling  bread  at  fifty  cents  per  loaf.  Others  were 
heard  of  who  had  cultivated  the  grace  of  benevolence,  and 
could  readily  ask  one  dollar  per  loaf! 

"  No  battle  field  of  which  I  have  knowledge  will  bear  any 
comparison  with  Gettysburg. 

"It  furnishes  abundant  evidence  of  the  severest  contest 
in  which  our  army  has  ever  been  engaged,  and  that  which 


124  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

intensified  the  horrors  of  this  conflict  is  the  utter  destitution 
which  prevailed  for  six  days  after  the  battle.  There  had 
been  no  supplies  to  any  considerable  amount  carried  with 
the  army,  and  no  train  arrived  until  seven  days  after  the 
battle.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  Rebel  arrny  had  con 
sumed  the  provisions  of  the  surrounding  country,  and  you 
will  be  able  to  judge  of  the  destitution. 

"The  Surgeon  of  the  Second  corps  hospital  gave  me  a  list 
of  supplies  when  the  army  commenced  its  pursuit  of  the 
Rebels:  A  few  stretchers,  eight  pounds  of  chloroform,  one 
box  of  bandages,  sixteen  rolls  of  plaster,  three  pounds  of  lint — 
and  sixteen  hundred  wounded! 

"Dr.  Haines,  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Nineteenth  Indi 
ana,  was  left  in  charge  of  Seminary  Hospital,  with  several 
wounded,  and  without  supplies  of  any  kind.  Finding  in  the 
cellar  of  a  deserted  house,  a  crock  of  lard,  he  filled  an  empty 
fruit  can  with  lard,  took  a  sheet  from  a  bed,  tore  off  a  strip, 
prepared  a  wick,  and  soon  a  lamp  was  burning.  By  this 
light,  he  dressed  wounds  the  first  evening.  Having  no  band- 
dages,  he  went  into  the  town,  and  entering  a  house,  took 
from  the  beds  fine  sheets,  which  he  converted  into  bandages 
and  lint 

"Within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  headquarters  of  the 
Second  corps  hospital,  I  saw,  on  Sabbath  morning  of  the 
twelfth  instant,  twenty-seven  bodies  of  dead  Confederates, 
unburied,  the  food  of  worms.  The  living,  too,  in  many 
cases,  were  found,  whose  wounds  were  alive  with  the  mag 
got.  It  was  not  possible,  with  the  supply  of  surgeons  left, 
to  do  all  that  was  needed  to  be  done. 

"There  was  very  great  destitution  of  food  and  clothing 
until  Wednesday  the  8th,  when  the  railroad,  being  in  running 
order,  supplies  were  beginning  to  come  in.  I  should  think 
there  were  not  less  than  ten  thousand  soldiers  supplied  with 
shirts  and  drawers,  within  seven  days,  by  the  different  relief 
societies.  Provisions  came,  too,  in  very  great  abundance.  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  loading  a  six-mule  team,  several  times, 
with  provisions  for  our  wounded  in  the  different  corps  hos 
pitals. 

"  Such  generosity  as  was  displayed  by  the  citizens  of  Get- 


HARRY  SHALER. 

tysburg  and  surrounding  country  toward  the  suffering,  has 
never  been  surpassed. 

"The  weather  has  been  favorable  to  our  wounded.  I  met 
a  number  of  men  upon  the  battle  field,  from  Indiana,  with 
sorrowing  hearts,  seeking  the  resting  places  of  their  dcadr 
and  surgeons  sent  from  the  State,  rendering  good  service 
wherever  needed. 

"The  gratitude  of  our  brave  sufferers,  and  the  commenda 
tions  which  we  were  compelled  quite  frequently  to  hear  in 
regard  to  our  State  Administration,  caused  a  feeling  of  pride 
that  we  were  Indianians." 

On  the  fourth  of  July,  the  Twentieth  Indiana  was  thrown 
forward  as  skirmishers,  and  had  a  severe  engagement,  in 
which  it  lost  one  officer  and  several  men. 

A  number  of  captures  was  made  by  parties  or  individuals, 
moving  independently  over  the  field.  Harry  Shaler,  a  pri 
vate  in  Howard's  escort,  riding  on  a  distant  part  of  the  field, 
came  unexpectedly  upon  a  squad  of  nineteen  Rebels.  A 
poncho,  thrown  across  his  shoulders,  fortunately  concealed 
his  dress.  He  effected  a  further  disguise  by  boldly  ordering 
the  squad  to  remove  several  wounded  men  from  the  field. 
As  soon  as,  under  his  direction,  the  party  was  at  a  safe  dis 
tance,  he  put  his  revolver  to  the  head  of  a  Lieutenant,  the 
commander  of  the  squad,  and  demanded  his  sword.  It  was 
reluctantly  surrendered.  Harry  then  marched  his  nineteen 
prisoners  into  a  Union  camp.  In  another  excursion,  he  cap 
tured  a  captain  and  five  more  men,  making  the  sum  of  his 
captures  amount  to  twenty-five. 

General  Schurz,  while  riding  with  four  of  Howard's  escort, 
captured  half  a  Rebel  company. 

During  the  night  which  followed  the  last  Rebel  assault, 
several  troops  of  horsemen  penetrated  to  the  enemy's  rear 
and  discovered  Lee's  preparations  for  retreat.  Their  reports 
were  confirmed  by  the  next  day's  reconnoissances. 

On  the  morning  of  July  7,  General  Meade  began  a  forced 
march  through  the  lower  passes  of  South  Mountain,  pursu 
ing  a  course  which  was  parallel  with  that  of  General  Lee, 
although  somewhat  longer.  Steady  rains  and  heavy  roads 
impeded  progress,  but  the  pursuers  were  in  superb  spirits. 


126  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  nearest  approach  to  complaint  to  be  found  in  a  number 
of  private  letters  written  at  this  period,  occurs  in  the  follow 
ing  odd  passage  from  Charlie  Noble: 

"General  Howard  and  staff  are  at  dinner.  They  sit  down 
to  a  table  and  have  all  the  good  grub  they  want,  while  we 
poor  dogs  have  to  cook  our  own  meals — a  piece  of  salt  junk 
and  a  cup  of  coffee.  But  all  right.  If  my  time  was  out, 
I'd  enlist  again.  A  braver  man  than  General  Howard  never 
blowed  his  nose.  He  is  called  the  Ney  of'  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac." 

The  mountains  swarmed  with  stragglers.  The  roads  were 
full  of  wagons  and  ambulances.  Farm  houses  and  barns, 
all  along  the  route,  were  crowded  with  wounded.  Buford's 
cavalry  gallantly  cleared  Boonsboro  pass,  and  the  road  sev 
eral  miles  eastward,  engaging  the  enemy  sharply  at  Boons 
boro,  Beaver  creek  and  Yorktown.  The  Third  Indiana  was 
engaged  in  skirmishes  on  the  sixth,  eighth,  ninth  and  tenth 
of  July. 

On  the  eleventh  and  twelfth,  Meade  drew  up  and  sat 
down  before  Lee,  who,  at  Williamsport,  had  been  three  days 
waiting  for  a  fall  in  the  Potomac.  The  Rebel  General  was 
strongly  intrenched,  but  he  was  almost  destitute  of  ammuni 
tion,  and  seemed  at  last  to  be  within  the  grasp  of  the  Union 
army.  What,  therefore,  was  the  dismay  of  that  army,  after 
waiting  two  days  in  grim  patience,  to  find  itself  on  the  four 
teenth  in  line  before  vacated  fortifications. 

The  cavalry  alone  had  a  slap  at  the  enemy.  In  a  sharp 
two  hours'  engagement  with  his  rear  guard,  near  a  pontoon 
bridge  at  Falling  Waters,  it  inflicted  a  loss  of  sixteen  hun 
dred,  while  it  suffered  a  loss  of  but  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five. 

The  escape  of  Lee  was  the  cause  of  universal  and  pro 
found  regret.  "The  fruit  seemed  so  ripe,  so  ready  for  pluck 
ing,"  sorrowfully  remarked  President  Lincoln,  "  that  it  was 
very  hard  to  lose  it." 

The  much-enduring  Army  of  the  Potomac,  inured  to  re 
verse  though  it  was,  felt  the  disappointment  of  its  not  un 
reasonable  expectations  to  be  intolerable.  The  soldiers, 
however,  with  characteristic  faith  in  their  leader,  looked  be- 


UNIVERSAL  DISAPPOINTMENT.  127 

yond  him  for  a  scape-goat.  They  easily  fixed  upon  Halleck, 
who,  by  holding  "Fighting  Jo.  Hooker'  and  the  "Grey  Ea 
gle"  of  Indiana  under  arrest  during  the  glorious  days  of 
Gettysburg,  had  rendered  himself  obnoxious. 

Again  young  Noble  boyishly  expressed  the  general  senti 
ment:  "It  was  the  same,"  he  said,  "as  if  you  had  a  fly  be 
tween  your  fingers,  and  should  open  one  and  let  it  out.  I 
do  not  wish  Halleck  any  harm,  but  I  should  like  to  hear  of 
him  kicking  the  bucket." 

Thomas  O.  Harter,  who,  the  previous  year,  rendered  valu 
able  assistance  to  General  Pope,  while  acting  in  his  capacity 
of  spy  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Gettysburg  campaign, 
was  captured.  He  was  detained  several  days,  but  managed 
to  effect  his  escape  before  the  Rebels  crossed  the  river.  He 
asserted.,  as  the  result  of  his  observations,  that  the  Rebels 
were  so  reduced  in  numbers,  and  so  disheartened,  that 
Meade  could  have  tied  every  man;  that  if  twenty-five  reso 
lute  men  had  found  their  way  into  Williamsport  on  the 
night  of  Sunday,  July  12,  they  could,  in  the  confusion,  have 
destroyed  the  whole  Rebel  army. 

Disappointment  and  indignation  were  not  confined  to  the 
Northern  army  nor  to  the  Northern  people.  The  sudden 
and  utter  frustration  of  its  haughty  hopes  struck  a  forebod 
ing  terror  to  the  heart  of  the  South.  But  its  spirit  was  as 
far  as  ever  from  being  subdued. 

"What  though  the  field  be  lost?"  said  the  Richmond  Dis 
patch  of  July  17,  in  the  words  of  the  fallen  angel — 

"All  is  not  lost!     The  unconquerable  will 
And  study  of  revenge,  immortal  hate, 
And  courage  never  to  submit  or  yield — 
All  these  remain." 


128  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS  AFFAIRS  IN  KENTUCKY  AND  TENNESSEE. 

"As  well  the  soldier  dieth  who  standeth  still,  as  he  that  gives  the  heav 
iest  onset." — Sidney. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  1862,  General  Buell  was  ordered 
to  transfer  his  command  to  General  Rosecrans,  and  to  report 
himself  at  Indianapolis.  In  December,  a  military  commis 
sion  was  convened  at  Cincinnati,  to  investigate  and  report 
upon  the  operations  of  the  army  under  the  command  of 
Major  General  D.  C.  Buell  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

After  two  days'  session,  it  was  adjourned  to  Nashville. 
The  conclusions  which  were  reached  by  the  commission 
partially  exculpated  the  accused,  or  suspected,  officer,  and 
partially,  though  not  to  the  same  degree,  inculpated  others. 

No  evidence  worthy  of  consideration  was  found  against 
Buell's  loyalty. 

No  censure  was  pronounced  upon  his  policy  toward  the 
inhabitants  of  disaffected  districts,  as  it  was  not  in  violation 
of  orders,  nor  inconsistent  with  the  conciliatory  policy  of  the 
Government. 

The  failure  in  forestalling  Bragg  in  the  possession  of 
Chattanooga,  and  in  dislodging  Kirby  Smith  from  East 
Tennessee,  was  judged  to  be  due  to  General  Hallcck,  who, 
while  he  ordered  prompt  movement,  required  railroad  repairs 
so  extended  as  to  render  his  orders  nugatory. 

For  the  invasion  of  Kentucky,  Buell  alone  was  held  re 
sponsible  in  the  eyes  of  the  commission.  Had  he  been  less 
dilatory  in  concentrating,  he  might  have  joined  successful 
battle  with  the  enemy  before  the  Cumberland  Mountains. 
The  odium  of  the  surrender  of  the  troops  at  Munfordsville 
was  thrown  upon  General  Wright,  excepting  so  far  as 
BuelFs  failure  to  attack  Bragg  south  of  the  Cumberland 


GENERAL  BUELL.  129 

Mountains  made  him  responsible  for  that  failure.  General 
Wright,  relying  upon  the  timely  advance  of  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  had  given  positive  orders  to  the  commander  of  the 
post  to  hold  out,  leaving  him  no  power  to  consult  his  own 
discretion. 

In  regard  to  the  last  disaster,  the  battle  of  Perryville,  as 
much  blame  attached  to  McCook  for  delay  in  entering  the 
field,  as  to  the  commander-in-chief  for  his  ignorance  of  the 
situation. 

The  examination  relieved  General  Buell  of  much  of  the 
opprobrium  with  which  his  military  career  had  closed.  The 
deportment  of  the  deposed  officer  was  dignified  throughout 
all  the  trying  scenes  to  which  he  was  subjected.  When  first 
made  aware,  August  18,  that  his  removal  was  under  con 
sideration,  and  was  delayed  only  at  the  request  of  General 
Halleck,  he  wrote  to  the  latter,  "  I  beg  that  you  will  not  in 
terpose  in  my  behalf.  I  respectfully  request  that  I  may  be 
relieved.  My  position  is  far  too  important  to  be  occupied 
by  any  officer  on  sufferance.  I  have  no  desire  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  what  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  public 
good." 

When  actually  removed,  he  retired  without  any  of  that 
striving  after  effect  which  marked  McClellan's  withdrawal 
from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  now  quietly  submitted 
to  the  sentence  of  the  commission. 

It  may  be  that  there  was  no  great  merit,  except  in  so  far 
as  it  showed  good  sense,  in  the  unobtrusive  character  of  his 
departure  from  the  army.  No  tender  ties  united  the  soldiers 
and  the  man  who  had  formed  them  into  an  army,  and  had 
led  them  from  the  Ohio  to  the  distant  Tennessee,  and  from 
the  Tennessee,  over  the  spurs  of  the  Cumberland,  back  to 
the  Ohio.  They  pinned  neither  their  faith  nor  their  love  to 
one  who  had  met  with  so  much  failure  and  so  little  success. 
Moreover,  while  most  courteous  to  the  citizen,  Buell  had 
shown  himself  cold  and  inflexible  to  the  soldier.  He  was 
so  strict  a  disciplinarian,  so  severely  obedient  to  regulations, 
that  he  seemed  to  have  no  sympathy  with  an  individual. 
If  a  stroke  of  his  pen,  or  a  shake  of  his  head,  might  have 
9 


130  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

mollified  an  offended  or  embittered  regiment,  it  was  all  one 
to  him.  He  maintained  inviolate  his  proud  reserve. 

On  the  eleventh  of  December,  while  the  Thirty-Fourth 
Indiana,  not  yet  brigaded,  was  lying  at  New  Haven,  Ken 
tucky,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Ryan,  at  the  time  in  command 
of  the  regiment,  gave  Major  John  L.  Wilson  a  written  leave 
of  absence,  informal  because  without  the  signature  of  the 
General  in  command,  to  return  to  Indiana  after  his  horse. 
Major  Wilson  was  gone  only  a  few  days;  but  meanwhile 
General  Nelson  arrived  at  New  Haven,  took  command, 
and  reported  his  absence  as  requiring  discipline.  Discipline 
was  administered  without  notice  or  investigation,  Major 
Wilson  being  summarily  discharged  from  the  service. 

General  Nelson,  on  learning  the  particulars  of  the  case 
through  Colonel  Steele  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Ryan,  re 
lented,  and  with  Colonel  Ammon,  just  made  brigade  com 
mander,  requested  the  revocation  of  the  sentence  and  the 
reinstatement  of  the  dismissed  officer.  General  Buell  was 
inexorable.  He  maintained  that,  "Whatever  hardship  there 
might  be  in  the  case,  his  general  order  having  gone  forth, 
he  could  not  rescind  it,  as  the  precedent  would  be  bad." 

The  regiment  then  applied  to  Governor  Morton.  Every 
company  sent  petitions,  containing  an  aggregate  of  nine 
hundred  and  three  names  of  rank  and  file,  for  Major  Wilson's 
re-appointment.  After  inquiry  into  the  circumstances,  Gov 
ernor  Morton  unhesitatingly  complied.  But  Wilson,  unwill 
ing  to  forgive  an  injustice,  which,  although  it  was  admitted, 
was  not  acknowledged  by  the  perpetrator,  declined. 

The  injured  officer  afterward  occupied  responsible  posi 
tions,  to  one  of  which,  that  of  Paymaster  in  the  United 
States  Army,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln,  with 
the  confirmation  of  Congress. 

Such  inflexibility  of  will  as  General  Buell  evinced  was 
not  calculated  to  win  affection.  Doubtless  men  would 
greatly  admire  infallibility  in  a  commander,  but  in  default 
of  that  superhuman  virtue,  they  are  willing  to  accept  only 
the  magnanimity  which  is  capable  of  acknowledging  and 
correcting  a  mistake. 

Nashville  was  the  centre  of  considerable  activity  during 


COLONEL  MILLER  AT  NASHVILLE. 

the  progress  of  the  Buell  and  Bragg  marches  and  counter 
marches.  Colonel  Miller,  who  succeeded  General  Dumont 
in  command  of  the  post,  continued  a  strictly  just  and  vigi 
lant  administration,  repressing  the  effervescing  Secessionists 
within,  and  restraining  the  armed  Confederates  without. 

On  the  night  of  the  fifteenth  of  August,  with  fifteen 
hundred  infantry  and  four  pieces  of  artillery,  he  set  out  to 
make  an  attack  upon  Morgan  at  Gallatin.  He  arrived  at 
daylight,  but  succeeded  in  striking  only  the  rear  of  the  rov 
ing  chieftain,  always  as  fleet  in  flight  as  he  was  forward  in 
a  foray.  Miller  denied  himself  the  excitement  of  a  pursuit; 
but  he  had  scarcely  set  his  face  again  toward  Nashville, 
when  Morgan,  deceived  by  his  forbearance,  came  galloping 
back,  and  burst  upon  him  in  an  impetuous  attack.  Miller 
received  him  with  the  utmost  steadiness,  overmastered  him, 
and  drove  him  off  faster  than  he  had  come  up,  with  the  loss 
of  seventeen  men  killed  and  many  wounded.  Miller  lost 
but  two. 

On  his  return,  Colonel  Miller  began  to  fortify  Nashville, 
but  he  was  superseded  and  sent  to  Murfreesboro.  He 
was  recalled  directly,  and  put  in  command  of  a  brigade 
which  included  the  Thirty-Seventh  Indiana.  Preparations 
were  now  made  to  defend  the  city,  in  case  of  assault  during 
the  withdrawal  of  the  army  from  Tennessee.  Capitol  Hill, 
which  towers  up  in  the  centre,  was  turned  into  a  fort,  with 
the  Twelfth  Indiana  battery  posted  on  its  four  corners. 
Fortifications  were  built  and  manned  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town.  Supplies  and  tidings  were  soon  cut  off;  and  the  city 
was  threatened  on  every  side  by  numerous  small  bands  of 
the  enemy.  The  stores  of  soap,  candles,  coffee  and  sugar 
were  consumed.  Toward  the  last  of  October,  the  troops 
were  reduced  to  half-rations.  However,  they  made  frequent 
sallies  from  the  city,  drove  back  the  enemy,  and  obtained  the 
necessaries  of  life. 

At  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  October  1,  Colonel  Mil 
ler,  with  a  part  of  his  brigade,  marched  out  of  Nashville,  to 
attack  four  hundred  guerrillas  thirteen  miles  distant.  He 
surprised  them  at  daylight  and  routed  them,  killing  forty 


132  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  mortally  wounding  their  commander.  He  returned  with 
a  large  number  of  horses,  cattle  and  sheep. 

On  the  night  of  October  6,  General  Palmer  with  cavalry 
and  artillery,  and  Colonel  Miller  with  two  thousand  infantry, 
undertook  an  expedition  against  Lavergne,  fifteen  miles 
south  of  Nashville,  and  occupied  by  General  Anderson  with 
three  thousand  troops.  Their  success  was  brilliant,  in  spite 
of  the  incautious  attack  of  Palmer  on  the  north  of  the  town, 
a  half  hour  before  the  concerted  time. 

On  the  night  of  Sunday,  October  19,  Colonel  Miller,  with 
a  detachment  of  infantry,  a  battery  and  a  regiment  of  cav 
alry,  started  to  intercept  a  force  under  Forrest,  as  it  was 
crossing  the  Cumberland  river  seven  miles  above  Nashville. 
He  appeared  at  the  point  at  daylight,  and  threw  the  Rebels 
into  confusion.  They  re-crossed,  upsetting  in  their  haste  a 
flatboat  and  sinking  a  cannon  with  which  it  was  loaded, 
and  betook  themselves  immediately  to  their  horses  and  a 
scattered  flight.  With  few  exceptions,  they  escaped,  Miller's 
cavalry  having  failed  in  a  movement  which  had  been  ordered 
upon  their  rear,  but  they  left  behind  them  a  quantity  of  small 
arms. 

November  5,  a  few  days  before  the  head  of  the  returning 
army  appeared,  the  outer  defences  of  Nashville  were  attacked 
by  Breckinridge,  Forrest  and  Morgan.  The  Twelfth  battery, 
in  Fort  Negley,  and  all  the  artillery  within  the  fortifica 
tions,  did  such  good  service  that  the  attack  was  repulsed 
without  the  necessity  of  calling  the  infantry  into  action. 

The  army  of  the  Ohio,  when  General  Buell  resigned  it  to 
the  hands  of  General  Rosecrans,  presented  a  woful  contrast 
to  the  army  which,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  marched 
down  to  Pittsburgh  Landing  and  swept  the  enemy  from  the 
field  of  Shiloh.  It  was  broken  in  number  and  in  spirit,  half- 
fed,  ragged,  barefoot,  and  scattered  over  the  whole  face  of 
Kentucky  and  a  portion  of  Tennessee,  with  sick  in  hundreds 
of  hospitals  and  almost  every  road-side  cabin,  with  more 
than  twenty-six  thousand  men  furloughed  at  their  homes, 
and  more  than  six  thousand  deserted  throughout  the  North- 
West.  The  main  force  continued  on  the  march  until,  dur 
ing  November,  it  reached  the  vicinity  of  Nashville.  Here  it 


ACTIVITY  IN  THE  REAR.  133 

settled  down,  and  snatched  a  little  rest  while  awaiting  rail 
road  repairs  and  supplies. 

Remaining  behind  in  Kentucky,  chiefly  along  the  Louis 
ville  and  Nashville  Railroad,  were  our  Seventieth,  Seventy- 
Fourth,  Seventy-Fifth,  Eightieth,  Eighty-Seventh,  Hundred- 
and-First,  Sixty-Fifth,  Eighty-Fourth,  Thirty-Third,  Eighty 
Fifth,  and,  after  its  exchange,  Seventy-First  infantry,  Fourth 
cavalry,  and  detachments  of  the  Fifth,  with  our  Thirteenth, 
Eighteenth  and  Twenty-First  batteries. 

These  troops,  left  like  pools  after  the  subsidence  of  widely 
overflowing  waters,  were  riot  in  the  least  danger  of  stagna 
tion.  Morgan,  Forrest  and  Wheeler  careered  over  the  State, 
hitting  a  loyal  head  wherever  they  saw  it,  stealing  a  good 
horse  wherever  they  found  it,  and,  by  the  connivance  of  the 
country  people,  escaping  scot  free.  In  snatching  small  op 
portunities  to  pick  off  individuals,  and  to  capture  squads, 
they  were  eminently  successful,  gaining  by  vigilance  and 
alacrity,  more  than  by  the  display  of  courage  and  skill,  tfoe 
palm  for  dashing  boldness. 

Generally,  our  infantry  was  hurled  headlong  in  pursuit  of 
Rebel  horse,  as  if  it  was  supplied  with  as  many  and  as 
strong  legs  as  cavalry.  When  the  enemy  was  on  the  line 
of  the  railroad,  the  pursuers  were  put  aboard  cars,  and 
dashed  at  break-neck  speed  through  a  country  which  was 
full  of  hills  and  precipices,  and  was  inhabited  by  a  hostile 
and  unscrupulous  people.  Perhaps  as  many  men  were  lost 
by  the  fatigue  and  exposure  of  the  race,  and  the  treacherous 
accidents  of  the  railroad,  as  by  the  fire  of  the  skirmish.  Yet 
hostile  encounters  were  not  infrequent. 

Four  hundred  men  and  officers  of  the  Seventy-Third  were 
guarding  trestle-work  at  Muldraugh's  Hill,  shortly  after  it 
reached  the  field,  when  they  were  surrounded  by  a  large 
force  of  Rebel  cavalry.  They  made  resistance,  holding  1  he 
enemy  oft'  an  hour  and  a  half;  but  in  the  end  they  were 
obliged  to  surrender.  They  were  paroled  and  sent  to  Indi 
anapolis.  ,  : 

On  the  thirtieth  of  September,  the  Seventieth  surprised  a 
troop  of  cavalry  at  Russellvillc,  rushing  down  upon  the  camp 
in  gallant  though  somewhat  irregular  style.  "Was  ever  such 


J34  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

a  funny  charge  made — with  the  officers  all  in  front!" — ex 
claims  Major  Samuel  Vance,  describing  the  affair.  Forty- 
five  horses  were  captured,  and  many  saddles,  bridles,  blank 
ets  and  guns.  Thirty-six  of  the  enemy  were  killed  and 
wounded,  while  but  one  man  was  killed,  and  none  wounded 
in  the  Seventieth. 

The  Captain  of  company  K,  in  a  private  letter,  alludes  to 
the  gallant  bearing  of  George  Vance,  who  was  included  in 
a  rapid  and  bold  movement  to  intercept  the  enemy's  retreat. 
Young  Vance  was  one  of  the  most  promising  youths  in  the 
Seventieth,  and  was  most  dearly  beloved.  At  a  later  period 
of  the  war,  he  was  mortally  wounded  in  firing  a  salute. 
The  apparently  useless  death  of  one  so  bright  and  good,  so 
gentle  and  manly,  made  darker  a  family  circle  already 
shrouded  in  grief. 

November  30,  Major  Hill,  with  the  Second  Indiana  cav 
alry,  was  sent  from  Nashville  to  intercept  or  overtake  a  party 
of  Confederate  cavalry.  Near  Hartsville,  he  discovered  the 
object  of  his  search,  and  dashed  upon  it  as  it  was  going  off 
in  triumph  with  a  Union  train  and  its  escort.  After  a  chase 
of  eighteen  miles  and  a  fight  in  which  twenty  of  the  enemy 
were  killed,  he  captured  two  hundred  prisoners  and  re 
captured  the  train  and  escort.  Hill  was  highly  compli 
mented  by  Rosecrans  in  special  field  orders. 

The  Second  remained  at  Hartsville,  and  though  reduced 
to  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  able  men,  furnished 
escorts  when  required,  threw  out  each  day  thirty  men  for 
advanced  videttes,  and  daily  patrolled  for  a  distance  of  ten 
miles,  seven  roads  which  led  to  the  vicinity  of  the  camp. 
Though  the  position  \vas  strong,  being  on  a  hill  and  in  a 
wood  between  Hartsville  and  the  river,  with  ravines  on  each 
side,  its  isolation  rendered  necessary  the  extremes  of  cau 
tion  and  vigilance.  An  Illinois  officer,  Colonel  Moore,  was 
in  command.  The  outpost  consisted  of  a  brigade  which  had 
been  withdrawn  by  Thomas  from  Durnont's  division,  and 
included  beside  the  late  reinforcement  of  the  Second  cavalry, 
about  fifteen  hundred  infantry  with  two  pieces  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Indiana  battery. 

At  daylight  the  morning. of  December  7,  a   bitter  cold 


AFFAIR  AT  HARTSVILLE.  135 

morning,  the  camp  was  roused  by  a  courier  announcing  the 
rapid  approach  of  the  enemy.  Already  he  was  in  sight,  not 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  away.  Major  Hill  hastened  with  a 
single  mounted  company  to  meet  and  retard  him,  while 
Colonel  Stewart,  who  had  joined  the  regiment  but  the  pre 
vious  evening,  after  a  long  illness,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
Second  dismounted,  moved  out  to  protect  the  camp  and 
cover  the  formation  of  infantry.  As  soon  as  the  line  of  bat 
tle  was  formed,  the  troopers  ran  to  their  camp,  saddled  their 
horses  and  galloped  to  either  flank.  Rebel  artillery  opened 
the  engagement,  and  joining  with  musketry,  pressed  up  close, 
killing  the  horses  of  Nicklin's  guns,  and  pushing  back,  and 
after  an  hour's  struggle,  breaking  the  infantry  line.  Moore 
surrendered.  Stewart,  at  a  distance  from  him,  and  on  broken 
ground,  drew  his  companies  together  and  held  out  fifteen 
minutes  after  the  display  of  the  white  flag.  Nearly  one 
hundred  Indianians  cut  their  way  out. 

The  enemy,  with  his  prisoners,  was  across  the  river  and 
in  full  retreat,  when,  having  marched  ten  miles  in  two  hours, 
Harlan's  brigade,  including  the  Seventy-Fourth  and  Seventy- 
Fifth  Indiana,  of  Dumont's  division,  appeared  on  the  ground. 
It  rescued  a  few  prisoners  and  saved  a  large  amount  of  prop 
erty.  Major  Stewart  escaped,  and  Major  Hill  was  re-taken 
by  the  skirmishers  of  the  Tenth  Indiana. 

The  prisoners,  although  they  had  eaten  no  breakfast,  were 
marched  until  morning  without  food.  They  were  taken  to 
Murfreesboro,  and  the  privates,  after  being  robbed  of  their 
blankets  and  stripped  of  their  overcoats,  were  paroled  and 
brought  back  to  our  lines,  where  they  were  exchanged.  The 
officers  were  sent  to  Libby,  Colonel  Stewart  spending  three 
months,  on  the  way,  in  an  Atlanta  prison,  where  he  suffered 
a  return  of  his  fever. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year,  General  Dumont,  after  he 
roic  struggles  to  remain  in  the  field,  in  spite  of  confirmed  ill- 
health,  was  compelled  to  relinquish  his  command  and  retire 
from  military  service.  He  was  succeeded  by  General  Rey 
nolds,  who  prepared  to  join  the  main  army  at  Nashville. 
Instea'd  of  moving  southward,  however,  the  division  hast 
ened  northward,  all  the  troops  in  Kentucky  and  the  northern 


136  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

part  of  Tennessee  being  suddenly  summoned  to  meet,  pur 
sue,  or  in  some  way  circumvent  John  Morgan.  The  bold 
raider  had  crossed  the  Cumberland,  and  was  well  on  his  way 
toward  the  Ohio  before  he  was  discovered.  He  reached 
Bardstown,  whence  he  was  driven  back  by  a  much  larger 
force.  Reynolds  marched  to  Cave  City,  through  rain  and 
mud,  and  marched  back  to  Gallatin,  and  further  southward 
through  mud  and  snow.  Meantime,  every  reconnoitring 
and  foraging  party  from  the  army  at  Nashville  came  in  con 
tact  with  the  enemy. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  Colonel  Kirk,  with  a  portion 
of  his  brigade  and  two  companies  of  the  western  squadron 
of  the  Third  cavalry,  pushed  two  miles  beyond  Lavergne, 
with  the  loss  of  eleven  wounded.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hurd 
was  wounded. 

On  the  seventh  of  December,  Matthews'  brigade,  with 
two  guns  from  Swallows'  battery,  the  Seventh  Indiana, 
guarding  a  forage  train,  was  twice  attacked  by  a  considera 
ble  force.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Balfe,  in  command  of  the 
Thirty-Fifth,  was  wounded  and  obliged  to  give  place  to  Ad 
jutant  Mullen,  who  ordered  the  regiment  to  change  front 
and  charge  bayonets  with  a  cheer.  The  order  was  promptly 
obeyed,  and  the  attack  was  repulsed,  but  he  who  gave  the 
command  never  spoke  again.  He  was  shot  through  the 
brain.  The  Thirty-Fifth  loved  him,  and  long  missed  his 
cheerful  young  face. 

The  Rebels  lost  one  hundred.  Matthews  lost  forty,  and 
saved  his  train.  He  was  publicly  thanked  by  Rosecrans. 

Henry  M.  Williams,  a  young  officer  on  Van  Cleve's  staff, 
in  a  letter  dated  December  17,  mentions  a  small  affair  with 
the  enemy,  and  also  describes  an  interview  under  the  pro 
tection  of  a  flag  of  truce : 

"Our  division  is  in  the  advance  on  the  Murfreesboro  pike, 
and  we  find  great  reason  to  be  watchful.  You  may  have 
seen  in  the  papers  an  account  of  the  capture  of  our  cavalry 
outposts.  I  had  been  out  that  day  posting  those  very  vi- 
dettes,  and  had  left  them  scarcely  two  hours  when  the  whole 
party  were  captured,  about  forty-five  men.  A  flag  of  truce 
from  the  enemy  had  arrived,  arid  our  men,  feeling  perfectly 


FLAGS  OF  TRUCE.  137 

secure  while  it  remained,  had  dismounted,  and  were  easily 
taken.  It  is  probable  they  will  all  be  returned  with  an  apol 
ogy.  The  morning  after  this  affair,  I  took  out  fifty  infantry 
to  bring  in  the  wounded  and  bury  the  dead.  Found  one 
killed  and  one  wounded  on  each  side.  The  secesh  wounded 
has  since  died.  In  conversation,  he  said  the  old  Union  was 
good  enough  for  him. 

Flags  of  truce  come  and  go  almost  daily.  I  went  with 
one  the  other  day,  in  company  with  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Hepburn  and  Lieutenant  Wilson.  We  had  a  very  pleasant 
interview  with  some  Rebel  officer?,  one  of  whom  was  Major 
Prentice,  son  of  George  D.  Prentice,  of  the  Louisville  Journal^ 
a  very  gentle menly  Southern  bloat.  Another  was  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Hawkins,  a  very  young  man,  whose  mother 
lives  near  our  present  camp.  He  formerly  taught  school  in 
the  neighborhood,  but  was  among  the  first  to  take  the  stump 
for  war.  As  we  were  parting,  he  spoke  feelingly,  almost  elo 
quently,  about  our  troubles,  asking  why  we  did  not  let  them 
alone,  saying  that  the  country  was  large  enough  for  both  of 
us,  &c.,  &c.  You  may  rest  assured  that  I  was  not  at  all 
backward  in  speaking  my  mind. 

"All  that  I  met  enquired  anxiously  what  would  follow  the 
late  Democratic  successes.  I  urged  Governor  Seymour's 
remark,  that  he  was  for  the  war,  and  had  only  made  use  of 
such  men  as  the  Woods,  to  carry  the  election.  They  an 
swered  that  Seymour's  speeches  were  against  the  war,  to 
which  I  could  make  no  reply.  I  afterward  added  that  we 
had  now  four  hundred  thousand  more  men  in  the  field,  that 
the  President  was  Commander-in-Chief,  that  Congress  would 
not  dare  withhold  supplies,  and  that  we  would  probably  get 
along  well  enough.  So  you  see,  mother,  staff  duty  is  varied 
and  pleasant  thus  far." 

The  old  talc  of  sickness  among  new  regiments  was  re 
peated  in  every  division  of  the  army.  No  precaution  and 
no  care  on  the  part  of  privates,  and  no  humanity  and  no 
wisdom  on  the  part  of  officers,  were  able  to  prevent  or  to 
control,  to  any  very  decided  extent,  what  seemed  to  be  a 
predestined  ordeal. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  November,  a  private,  Lewis  Ketcham, 


138  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

in  the  Seventieth,  writes:  "As  a  general  thing,  the  regiment 
was  very  glad  to  get  away  from  Bowling-Green.  I  believe 
there  would  not  have  been  a  hundred  men  left,  if  we  had 
staid  there  much  longer.  We  buried  eight  and  ten,  and 
sometimes  more,  every  week,  and  there  was  no  end  to  de 
serting." 

As  late  as  the  first  of  March,  an  officer  in  the  same  regi 
ment  says:  "My  company  seems  to  be  fated.  After  I 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  so  many  had  died,  surely 
no  more  would  be  taken,  four  died  in  less  than  a  week. 
Strange  that  a  life  in  the  open  air,  with  really  bat  little  ex 
posure — for  we  have  not  seen  hard  service — should  result  so 
unfortunately.  I  am  weary  of  being  captain.  It  is  so  ter 
rible  to  see  men  die  whom  one  has  persuaded  from  their 
homes." 

There  were,  however,  many  ameliorations  to  camp  life, 
especially  as  ladies  sometimes  dared  the  dangers,  not  by  any 
means  imaginary,  of  travel  through  regions  infested  by  guer 
rillas,  to  give  their  society  to  their  relatives,  and  their  chari 
ties  to  the  needy.  How  opportune  and  pleasant  were  very 
slight  attentions,  may  be  inferred  from  a  few  extracts  from 
letters.  The  following  is  from  a  member  of  the  Thirty- 
Third: 

"Miss: — I  infest  you  to  read  a  few  lines  merely  to  let  you 
know  that  I  arn  well  and  have  not  forgotten  you,  and  hope 
when  this  comes  to  hand,  it  may  find  you  the  same.  I  re 
ceived  your  kind  present,  \vhich  I  send  you  a  thousand 
thanks  for,  as  nothing  could  have  come  in  a  better  place 
than  did  that  book;  for  I  was  lonesome,  and  had  nothing  to 
read  to  amuse  myself  with.  Please  excuse  my  apology,  I 
did  have  the  Testament,  but  wanted  something  for  a  change. 
I  will  take  good  care  of  the  book  and  never  part  with  if,  for 
I  wanted  something  to  remember  you  by;  for  I  never  did  or 
have  since  saw  the  lady  that  could  solace  the  sick  with  so 
much  benignity  as  you  did.  You  have  no  idea  how  much 
we  missed  you  when  you  left  us." 

"October  27 — Camp  of  Seventieth  Indiana.  Nathan  and  I 
were  making  our  bed  by  the  light  shining  through  the  cracks 
of  the  stove,  our  light  had  just  gone  out,  when  in  came  a 


LITTLE  SERVICES.  139 

letter  for  each  of  us,  and  a  star  candle  from  Mrs.  Bates."  A 
visitor,  amused  by  the  vanity  of  soldiers,  writes  as  follows : 

" Bowling-  Green.  All  Saturday  and  Sunday  we  sewed 
hard,  putting  linings  and  pockets  in  overcoats,  as  our  boys 
brought  not  only  their  own,  but  the  coats  of  all  their  friends 
to  us.  It  is  delightful  to  do  anything  for  them.  But  it  is 
the  funniest  thing  in  the  world  to  see  the  poor  fellows  stand 
before  our  big  looking-glass.  As  they  have  nothing  but 
little  bits  of  pocket  mirrors,  which  reflect  one  feature  at  a 
time,  of  course  they  have  not  really  seen  themselves — sun 
burn,  buttons  and  all — since  they  became  soldiers.  They 
can  hardly  tear  themselves  away.  When,  after  many  a  lin 
gering  look,  they  do  get  to  the  front  door,  they  are  sure  to 
run  back  for  something  they  pretend  to  have  forgotten — in 
reality  to  take  a  parting  glance.  They  havn't  a  bit  of  mod 
esty  about  it.  I  think  I  should  die  laughing,  if  I  wasn't  so 
sorry  for  them.  I  tell  them  that  they  put  me  in  mind  of  the 
young  men  in  the  town  of  Union  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 
Captain  Cramer  was  the  first  to  volunteer  and  get  a  uniform. 
Of  course  he  had  his  picture  taken.  And  what  should  every 
young  fellow  in  the  town  do,  but  borrow  Captain  Cramer's 
suit,  run  down  to  the  wagon — the  daguerreotype  office  was 
a  big  covered  wagon — and  get  his  likeness.  Perhaps  it  gave 
them  resolution  to  enlist,  for  they  did,  one  and  all." 

The  writer  adds:  "I  must  tell  you  how  we  smuggled  a 
woman  along  on  her  way  to  visit  her  sick  husband,  some 
where  about  Nashville — she  had  no  idea  where.  She  was 
distressed  to  death,  and  bent  on  finding  him,  but  she  had  no 
more  sense  about  traveling  than  a  baby.  She  had  come 
from  Minnesota  down  to  Louisville,  easy  enough,  but  there 
she  was  at  a  loss.  She  told  me  in  the  jam  at  the  depot,  just 
as  we  were  hurrying  out  to  get  on  the  train.  I  had  no  time 
to  think,  but  I  said,  'Come  ahead,  stick  close  to  me,  I'll  do 
what  I  can.'  I  shook  my  pass  in  the  conductor's  face,  with 
out  giving  him  a  chance  to  read  it,  so  we  were  off  without 
any  trouble.  We  left  the  woman  on  the  train.  I  can't  im 
agine  what  would  become  of  her." 

Over  all  travelers  to  the  army,  anxious  and  distressed 
about  some  sick  Indiana  soldier,  and  ignorant  of  his  where- 


140  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

abouts,  officers  from  our  State,  assigned  to  that  work  in  con 
nection  with  other  objects,  had  a  benevolent  care. 

In  December,  Governor  Morton  appointed  Dr.  Hutchinson, 
of  Mooresville,  Military  Agent  in  Nashville,  with  authority 
to  transact  business  in  aid  of  suffering  and  distressed  volun- 

o 

teers  from  Indiana.  Dr.  Hutchinson  was  instructed  to  regis 
ter  the  names  of  sick  and  disabled  soldiers;  to  inform  him 
self  with  regard  to  their  location,  condition  and  wants ;  to 
see  that  they  were  furnished  with  accommodations,  medical 
attendance  and  food;  to  procure  from  the  proper  officers  de 
scriptive  lists  for  those  who  might  be  without  them,  in  order 
to  obviate  difficulties  in  regard  to  pay  or  discharge;  to  exam 
ine  the  condition  of  hospitals,  and  call  the  attention  of  proper 
authorities  to  any  neglect  or  abuse;  to  keep  himself  advised 
of  the  location,  condition  and  movements  of  regiments;  to 
assist  citizens  who  were  seeking  friends  in  the  army  or  in 
hospitals,  or  who  were  endeavoring  to  get  information  about 
them,  or  to  get  furloughs,  discharges,  transfers,  or  anything 
else  for  them;  and  in  short,  to  do  all  that  was  possible  for  the 
health  and  happiness  of  the  soldier.  He  was  directed  to  co 
operate  with  the  military  authorities  of  the  department,  and 
with  the  Sanitary  Commission  in  Indiana;  and  to  make  fre 
quent  communications  to  Mr.  Hannaman,  both  informally, 
by  means  of  letters,  and  formally,  through  official  reports. 

The  system  of  military  agencies  was  the  outgrowth  and 
the  complement  of  the  Indiana  Sanitary  Commission,  which 
was  the  first  organization  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States. 
The  origin  of  the  Commission  was  due  to  the  conviction  on 
the  part  of  Governor  Morton  and  other  men  of  forecast,  that 
the  war  would  be  long  and  desperate,  and  that  the  soldier 
would  require  from  a  benevolent,  or  more  properly  an  affec 
tionate  people,  not  an  occasional  but  a  perennial  spring  of 
relief.  Its  establishment  was  made  easy,  and  at  the  same 
time  was  rendered  obligatory  by  the  vast  accumulation  after 
the  siege  of  Fort  Donelson,  of  voluntary  offerings,  which 
could  be  saved  from  waste  or  prodigal  use  only  by  system 
atic  distribution. 

The  Commission  was  organized  in  March,  1862,  with 
William  Hannaman,  president,  and  Alfred  Harrison  treas- 


MILITARY  AGENTS. 

urer.  By  means  of  agents  employed  without  wages  or  sal 
ary,  or  any  pecuniary  remuneration  other  than  the  defrayal 
of  actual  expenses,  it  supplied  the  soldier  with  whatever  the 
Government  failed  to  furnish  for  his  comfort  and  advantage 
in  the  hospital,  in  the  camp,  on  the  march,  or  on  the  field. 
The  agents  went  with  each  shipment  of  goods  to  the  army, 
and  distributed  stores  to  every  regiment,  making  it  more  di 
rectly  an  object  to  preserve  the  health  of  troops  in  the  field, 
than  to  restore  the  sick  in  the  hospitals.  They  did  every 
thing  in  their  power  for  the  prevention  or  relief  of  suffering, 
from  writing  a  letter  for  the  ignorant  or  sick,  to  chartering 
a  steamboat  for  the  wounded.  In  the  army,  their  services 
were  confined  to  Indianians;  while  in  hospitals,  they  dis 
pensed  their  charities  impartially. 

When  permanent  hospitals  were  established,  not  only 
along  the  border  and  throughout  the  North,  but  in  the 
armies,  it  became  necessary  to  add  to  the  system  of  itiner 
ating  agents,  a  stationary  or  permanent  agency.  Dr.  Woods, 
of  Centreville,  was  appointed  Military  Agent  for  Louisville, 
the  last  of  October,  1862.  Dr.  Hutchinson,  as  already  men 
tioned,  was  appointed  for  Nashville  in  December.  The 
Military  Agents  were  at  first  under  the  control  of  the  Com 
missary  General  of  Indiana,  but,  as  they  were  necessarily 
agents  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  it  was  soon  evident  that 
they  were  properly  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  President 
of  the  Commission.  Accordingly  Mr.  Hannaman  was  made 
General  Military  Agent.  No  man  was  better  calculated  to 
direct  and  apply  the  generous  gifts  of  a  warm-hearted  people. 
Having  experience  of  toil  and  economy,  he  was  acquainted 
with  the  value  of  money;  having  suffered,  he  was  able  to 
sympathize  with  sorrow;  being  a  Christian,  he  knew  the 
priceless  worth  of  life ;  long  and  widely  known  to  be  honest, 
accurate  and  thorough  in  his  business,  he  was  above  suspi 
cion. 


142  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

STONE  RIVER. 

I  heard  the  bells  on  Christmas  day 
Their  old  familiar  carols  play, 

And  wild  and  sweet 

The  word  repeat 
Of  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men! 

Then  from  each  black,  accursed  mouth, 
The  cannon  thundered  in  the  South, 

And  with  the  sound 

The  carols  drowned 
Of  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men ! 

And  in  despair  I  bowed  my  head ; 
There  is  no  peace  on  earth,  I  said ; 

For  hate  is  strong, 

And  mocks  the  song 
Of  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men  ! 

Then  pealed  the  bells  more  loud  and  deep; 
"God  is  not  dead  nor  doth  he  sleep! 
The  wrong  shall  fail 
The  right  prevail 
With  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men  ! '' 

— Longfellow. 

Rosecrans  at  Nashville,  and  Bragg  at  Murfreesboro,  rap 
idly  reorganized  and  refitted  their  forces.  The  former  accu 
mulated  a  vast  quantity  of  supplies.  The  latter  added  to 
the  size  of  his  army  by  large  drafts  from  the  South  and 
West.  Both  were  resolved  not  to  repeat  the  indecisive  his 
tory  of  the  summer  and  fall.  Each  questioned,  it  would 
seem,  the  propriety  of  receiving  combat  on  a  selected  posi 
tion,  or  of  challenging  it  by  an  advance,  and  at  the  same 
time  held  himself  in  readiness  to  respond  to  the  decision  of 
his  adversary. 

The  country  between  Nashville  and  Murfreesboro  is  trav 
ersed  by  two  good  turnpikes,  several  tolerable  country-roads 


MARCHING  TO  BATTLE.  243 

and  a  number  of  intolerable  cross-roads.  The  soil  is  deep 
and  sticky.  High,  steep  banks  of  numerous  creeks,  rugged 
hills  and  hollows,  cedar  brakes,  oak  groves  and  thickets, 
afford  many  secure  coverts  to  the  cautious  scout  or  the  re 
treating  foe.  Through  a  region  so  favorable  for  defensive 
warfare,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  when  storms  and  mud  rule 
the  season,  and  in  the  face  of  a  strong  and  active  enemy,  a 
movement  could  not  be  lightly  undertaken  by  the  most 
ardent  leader.  Accordingly  both  Bragg  and  Rosecrans  bent 
all  their  powerful  energies  to  the  thorough  accomplishment 
of  every  preparation. 

Rosecrans  took  the  initiatory  step.  The  day  after  Christ 
mas,  in  the  dusk  of  morning,  and  while  rain  poured  down 
from  the  wintry  skies,  he  set  out.  His  column  consisted  of 
forty-four  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixteen  men,  of  whom 
fifteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty-three  formed  his 
right  wing,  and  were  under  McCook's  command;  thirteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  constituted  his  left, 
and  were  in  Crittenden's  command;  and  thirteen  thousand 
three  hundred  and  ninety-five  were  in  his  centre,  under 
Thomas.  They  were  in  heavy  marching  order,  with  knap 
sacks  on  their  backs,  and  with  haversacks  containing  three 
days'  rations.  The  remainder,  seventeen  hundred,  formed  a 
brigade  of  engineers. 

The  subdivisions  of  both  right  and  left  wing  were  three, 
each  including  three  brigades.  The  centre  consisted  of  five 
subdivisions,  but  as  one,  Mitchell's,  was  required  to  garrison 
Nashville,  another,  Reynolds',  and  two  brigades  from  a  third, 
Fry's,  were  detained  near  Gallatin  and  along  the  Louisville 
and  Nashville  road,  but  two  divisions,  Negley's  and  Rous 
seau's,  with  Walker's  brigade  of  Fry's,  were  on  the  march. 

Cavalry  skirmishers  spread  far  and  \vide  in  advance.  The 
main  cavalry  force  guarded  the  flanks.  One  company  of  the 
Second  Indiana  in  Minty's  brigade,  was  in  the  left  wing 
accompanying  Palmer's  division.  Klein's  battallion  was  in 
the  right  wing  in  Johnson's  division. 

Thomas  moved  a  little  west  of  south,  on  the  Franklin 
road,  depending  on  cross-roads  for  getting  to  his  position  in 
the  centre,  when  that  should  be  required.  He  was  beyond 


144  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  reach  of  the  enemy's  skirmishers,  and  encountered  no 
opposition.  McCook  directed  his  march  straight  south 
toward  Nolensville,  and  met  the  enemy  at  the  start.  Dur 
ing  the  day  his  advance  sharply  engaged  a  body  of  hostile 
skirmishers,  pushing  them  first  to  a  defile  in  a  range  of  rocky 
hills,  and,  when  strengthened  by  a  six  gun  battery,  they 
attempted  to  make  a  decided  stand,  driving  them  out  with 
the  loss  of  a  gun. 

Crittenden  on  the  Murfreesboro  road  also  met  with  warm 
opposition.  Late  in  the  afternoon  Hazen's  brigade  moved 
into  the  woods,  toward  the  enemy's  left  flank.  The  fore 
most  regiments,  Sixth  Kentucky  and  Ninth  Indiana,  were 
surprised  by  a  volley  fired  into  their  ranks.  By  a  strange 
oversight  the  Ninth  had  empty  guns,  but,  not  losing  their 
self-possession,  the  men  loaded,  advanced  as  skirmishers,  and 
drove  the  enemy  rapidly.  The  Ninth  lost  but  one  killed  and 
two  wounded. 

The  weather  was  not  cold,  but  the  rain  impeded  the  march 
and  delayed  the  wagon  train.  At  night,  the  troops,  who 
were  as  wet  as  if  they  had  waded  a  river,  slept  without 
tents  and  with  but  few  blankets,  and  stood  on  the  picket  line 
without  fires.  The  next  day  while  the  army  crawled  along, 
there  was  constant  fighting  on  its  outskirts.  Crittenden  was 
stationary  until  noon.  Meantime  the  pickets  of  the  Fortieth 
Indiana,  which  had  been  engaged  during  the  night  in  his 
front,  continued  skirmishing,  losing  one  wounded. 

Hascall's  brigade  with  Estep's  battery,  cleared  the  enemy 
out  of  the  houses  and  hills  of  Lavergne,  flung  into  Stewart's 
creek  a  fire  kindled  on  one  end  of  the  bridge,  and  captured  a 
Confederate  camp  on  the  south  bank  of  the  stream,  with 
twenty-five  Rebel  skirmishers.  The  Fifty-Eighth  lost  five 
men  wounded  in  the  affair. 

Hazen's  brigade,  with  a  detachment  of  Michigan  cavalry 
as  advanced  guard,  went  eastward  to  save  a  bridge  over  the 
same  stream,  on  the  Jefferson  road,  pushing  against  opposing 
cavalry,  which  fell  back,  but  with  provoking  unwillingness. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Suman,  of  the  Ninth,  proposed  to  the 
Michigan  horsemen  to  make  a  charge.  Accordingly,  *nd 
with  loud  cheers,  they  dashed  directly  down  the  road,  Suman 


SKIRMISHING.  145 

in  the  lead.  As  high  fences  were  on  each  side,  the  chase 
was  unbroken  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  when  a  forest  on  right  and 
left  allowed  the  flying  force  ground  to  form.  The  pursuers 
stopped  and  opened  fire,  while  Suman  galloped  back  to 
hasten  the  march  of  the  infantry.  He  had  gone  but  a  short 
distance  when  a  small  body  of  hostile  troopers  filed  across 
the  road  in  his  front,  and  summoned  him  to  surrender.  Two 
cavalrymen,  who  accompanied  him,  threw  up  ^heir  hands, 
and  surrendered  without  a  word;  but  he  fired  his  revolver, 
emptying  two  saddles,  cut  through  the  line,  reached  his  regi 
ment,  and  led  it,  accompanied  by  artillery,  to  the  point  of 
action.  The  enemy  did  not  stay  to  meet  the  reinforcement, 
and  the  bridge  was  saved. 

A  fog,  which  enveloped  the  army  in  its  whole  length  and 
breadth,  hung  deepest  and  longest  over  McCook's  front, 
greatly  favoring  hostile  sharpshooters,  as  they  tenaciously 
held  or  reluctantly  relinquished  their  positions.  Klein's  bat 
talion  lost  two  killed  and  several  wounded. 

In  the  middle  of  the  forenoon,  Kirk,  who  had  the  infantry 
advance,  concentrated  his  brigade,  directing  Edgarton's  bat 
tery  upon  the  rebel  artillery,  and  when  that  proved  insuffi 
cient,  opening  Simonson's  guns.  The  enemy  was  dislodged, 
but  on  account  of  the  fog  he  was  allowed  to  retire  unpursued, 
and  to  remain  unmolested  in  another  position  several  hours. 

At  twelve  Me  Cook  was  forced  to  halt  by  the  appearance 
of  the  enemy  in  line  of  battle.  Again  he  brought  his  batter 
ies  into  play,  and  following  up  the  fire  by  throwing  forward 
the  Sixth  and  Twenty-Ninth  Indiana,  and  the  Thirty-Fourth 
Illinois,  he  pushed  through  the  village,  and  to  Wilson's  creek. 
Kirk  crossed  the  stream  a  half  mile  below  the  road,  the  bridge 
having  been  burned,  but  he  was  compelled  to  halt  by  the 
early  and  extreme  darkness  of  a  rainy  night. 

During  the  day  two  men  were  wounded  in  the  Twenty  , 
Ninth  Indiana. 

Rousseau  and  Negley,  after  a  wretched  march  toward  the 
centre  of  the  line,  reached,  the  former  Nolensville,  the  latter 
the  Murfreesboro  road,  on  the  right  of  Crittenden. 

The  third  day,  Sunday,  the  army  rested,  except  that  Rous- 
10 


146  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

seau  joined  Negley,  and  Willich  reconnoitred  several  miles 
in  Me  Cook's  front. 

Monday,  the  29th,  the  march  and  the  attendant  skirmish 
ing  were  resumed  at  an  early  hour,  and  were  continued 
throughout  the  day,  the  one  hot  and  vindictive,  the  other 
slow  and  cautious.  Camp  after  camp  of  the  enemy,  with 
fires  still  burning,  showed  that  the  armies  were  in  close  and 
closer  proximity.  The  Thirty-Sixth  Indiana,  in  Crittenden's 
front  line,  waded  Stewart's  Creek  waist  deep.  The  Fifteenth 
and  Fifty-Seventh  also  waded  the  stream  and  kept  the  enemy 
from  returning,  while  the  bridge,  which  had  been  partially 
destroyed,  was  repaired.  Wood's  division  reached  Stone 
river.  Harker's  brigade,  our  Fifty-Seventh  and  Seventy-Third 
in  advance,  crossed  the  river,  driving  back  in  disorder,  and 
with  sharp  firing,  a  force  on  guard  at  the  ford.  The  Seventy- 
Third  lost  one  man.  The  brigade,  however,  was  recalled 
when  it  was  discovered,  contrary  to  the  previous  report  of 
scouts,  that  Breckenridge's  entire  division  was  at  hand,  and 
was  but  little  in  advance  of  the  main  Confederate  army. 

The  left  wing  and  Negley's  division  of  the  centre,  en 
camped  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  not  seven  hundred 
yards  from  the  enemy's  intrenchments.  The  right  wing  biv 
ouacked  at  Wilkerson's  cross-roads,  reaching  the  point  with 
great  effort  long  after  dark.  Many  of  the  troops  were  still 
without  blankets;  few  fires  were  allowed;  it  was  again  rain 
ing,  and  the  night  was  cold,  dark  and  drear)'. 

The  axes  of  the  pioneer  brigade  resounded  through  the 
woods  long  before  dawn  of  Tuesday.  The  troops  break 
fasted  early.  The  right  and  centre  opened  out,  prepara 
tory  to  taking  position  in  line  with  the  left  and  parallel  to  the 
course  of  Stone  river,  west  of  Murfreesboro.  The  first  step 
provoked  opposition,  and  ground  was  gained  only  foot  bv 
foot  and  at  bloody  cost.  The  Fourth  battery  fought  a  Rebel 
battery  and  drove  it  under  cover.  Pressing  on,  Bush  became 
engaged  in  a  second  duel,  and  after  two  hours,  and  with  the 
loss  of  four  men  killed  and  three  men  wounded,  captured  th« 
guns  of  the  second  battery.  He  pushed  through  a  wood 
and  took  up  a  good  position  on  open  ground. 

The  Thirty- Seventh  Indiana  lay  under  the  fire  of  skirm- 


LINE  OF  BATTLE  FORMED.  147 

ishers  and  sharpshooters  from  early  morning  until  after  mid' 
night,  protecting  a  battery.  The  regiment  lost  one  killed 
and  two  wounded.  The  Eighty-First  in  a  brisk  skirmish 
lost  Lieutenant  Wilde,  a  good  soldier,  who  was  mortally 
wounded.  The  Eighty-Second,  Colonel  Hunter,  with  its 
brigade,  at  an  early  hour  of  Tuesday  morning  started  back 
to  Lavergne,  where  Wheeler,  having  gained  Rosecrans'  rear 
with  three  thousand  cavalry,  had  burned  Me  Cook's  wagon 
train.  The  brigade  was  in  time  to  save  the  mules.  Making 
no  attempt  at  pursuit,  it  returned  to  the  front,  whence  the 
Eighty- Second  was  immediately  ordered  to  move  again 
toward  Nashville,  to  meet  and  guard  a  train  of  supplies. 

During  the  night  of  the  thirtieth  Baldwin's  brigade  sup 
ported  a  cavalry  reconnoissance,  marching  four  miles  to  the 
right  of  our  lines,  approaching  but  carefully  avoiding  an  en 
tanglement  with  the  enemy,  and  returning  to  its  position 
without  an  encounter. 

Before  midnight  the  army  was  formed  in  line  of  battle. 
Its  front  was  toward  the  east,  except  that  Willich's  brigade, 
on  the  right  of  the  right  wing,  bent  back  southward.  It  was 
more  than  three  miles  long,  one  extremity  resting  on  high 
wooded  ground  south  of  the  Franklin  turnpike,  the  other  on 
the  bank  of  the  river.  The  right  and  centre  lay  on  broken 
ground,  which  was  comparatively  open  in  front,  but  which 
in  the  rear  was  mainly  a  wilderness  of  gnarled  and  scrurfby 
cedars. 

McCook's  divisions  from  riffht  to  left  were  Johnson,  Davis 

O  7 

and  Sheridan.  Negley  alone  formed  Thomas'  front,  Rous 
seau,  who  came  up  quite  late  in  the  afternoon,  resting  in 
Negley's  rear  on  the  Murfreesboro  pike.  Palmer  was  on 
Crittenden's  right  in  line  with  Negley.  One  brigade  of 
Wood's  division,  Wagner's,  was  in  line  with  Palmer.  His 
two  remaining  brigades,  with  Van  Cleve's,  were  on  the  rear 
and  left,  extending  down  to  the  river. 

The  right  wing  was  extremely  thin,  stretched  indeed  to 
the  utmost,  while  the  left  was  compact.  The  line  might 
suggest  a  club,  or  perhaps  a  lasso,  the  left  and  centre  being 
the  coil,  which  by  a  skillful  cast  encompasses  the  unwary 
victim. 


148  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Me  Cook  was  ordered  to  engage  the  enemy  at  daylight  of 
the  thirty-first,  and  hold  him  three  hours  at  every  hazard, 
while  Crittenden,  supported  by  Thomas,  should  ford  the 
river,  sweep  up  toward  Murfreesboro,  take  possession  of 
town  and  railroad,  move  west  on  the  Franklin  road,  and  get 
ting  in  the  rear  of  Bragg,  cut  off  his  retreat. 

Bragg  was  no  unwary  victim.  His  plan  was  laid,  his  po 
sition  was  taken,  and  his  movements  were  made  with  the 
most  judicious  consideration.  His  army  was  on  high  ground, 
about  a  mile  west  and  north-west  of  Murfreesboro,  and  inter 
sected  the  river,  his  centre  and  left  being  west,  and  his  right 
wing  east  of  the  stream,  with  the  course  of  which  its  line 
corresponded.  The  ground  on  which  the  centre  and  left 
stood  descended  abruptly  in  the  rear  to  the  river,  which  was 
fordable  nearly  everywhere,  and  sloped  gently  in  the  front  to 
a  narrow  valley  clothed  with  oak  and  cedar.  Breckenridge 
was  in  command  of  the  right,  Polk  of  the  centre,  and  Hardee 
of  the  left.  Wheeler's  cavalry,  which  had  returned  from  its 
raid  round  Rosecrans'  rear,  covered  the  left  flank.  Cavalry 
also  protected  the  right. 

Bragg' s  intention,  exactly  in  accordance  with  Rosecrans' 
desire,  was  to  throw  Hardee  upon  Me  Cook  at  the  earliest 
possible  hour  of  the  thirty-first,  but  he  meant  by  the  very 
weight  of  his  assaulting  column  to  break  the  wide-stretched 
right  wing  into  fragments,  then  swiftly  with  both  Hardee  and 
Polk  to  crush  Thomas,  and  gaining  the  Murfreesboro  turn 
pike,  to  cut  Rosecrans  off  from  Nashville. 

The  plans  of  the  two  commanders  were  thus  in  one  respect 
the  same,  each  aiming  to  reach  the  rear  of  his  antagonist, 
and  sever  it  from  its  base.  The  condition  of  numbers  was 
in  Bragg's  favor,  as  he  could  not  have  had  less  than  fifty 
thousand  men,  and  probably  had  sixty-two  thousand.  Rose 
crans  reckons  it  at  the  latter  figure,  while  he  had  on  the  field 
but  forty-three  thousand.  In  other  respects  the  hostile  armies 
were  so  well  matched  that  if  the  decree  had  been  announced 
that  numbers  were  not  to  be  taken  in  account  in  the  decision 
of  the  battle,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  divine  the 
result. 

There  were  twenty-six  regiments  and  five  batteries  of  Indi- 


THE  LEFT  WING  MOVING  OUT.  149 

ana  troops  in  the  gallant  Union  array,  beside  a  battalion  of 
cavalry  on  either  extremity.  They  stood  from  right  to  left, 
in  front  and  in  reserve,  in  the  following  order:  The  Thirty- 
Ninth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Jones,  and  Thirty-Second,  Colo 
nel  Von  Trebra,  in  Willich's  brigade;  the,  Thirtieth,  Colonel 
Dodge,  and  Twenty-Ninth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Dunn,  in 
Kirk's  brigade;  the  Sixth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Tripp,  and 
Simonson's  battery,  in  Baldwin's  brigade,  which  had  the  rear 
of  Johnson's  division;  the  Twenty-Second,  Colonel  Gooding, 
in  Post's  brigade;  Eighty-First,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Timber- 
lake,  in  Woodruffs  brigade,  which  was  in  Davis'  reserve; 
Bush's  battery  in  Sill's  brigade;  Thirty-Seventh,  Colonel 
Hull,  in  Miller's  brigade;  Thirty -Eighth,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Griffin,  in  Scribner's  brigade;  Eighty-Eighth,  Colonel  Hum 
phrey,  and  Forty-Second,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Shanklin,  in 
John  Beatty's  brigade;  Thirty-First,  Colonel  Osborn,  in 
Craft's  brigade;  Ninth,  Colonel  William  H.  Blake,  in  Ha- 
zen's  brigade;  Thirty-Sixth,  Major  Kinlcy, in  Grose's  brigade, 
Palmer's  reserve;  Fifty-Eighth,  Colonel  Buell,  and  Estep's 
battery,  in  Hascall's  brigade;  Fifty- First,  Colonel  Straight, 
and  Seventy-Third,  Colonel  Hathaway,  in  Barker's  brigade; 
Fortieth,  Colonel  John  Blake,  Fifteenth,  Colonel  Wood, 
Fifty-Seventh,  Colonel  Hines,  and  Cox's  battery,  in  Wag 
ner's  brigade;  Eighty-Sixth,  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  Forty- 
Fourth,  Colonel  Williams,  in  Fyffe's  brigade;  Thirty-Fifth, 
Colonel  Mullen,  in  Price's  brigade;  Seventy-Ninth,  Colonel 
Knefler,  and  Swallow's  battery,  in  Sam.  Beatty's  brigade. 

The  last  day  of  the  year  1862  opened  slowly  upon  the 
hostile  armies  which  lined  the  banks  of  Stone  river.  The 
dim  gray  sky  was  like  a  face  blurred  with  weeping. 

The  flowing  stream  and  the  intervening  valley,  with  grove 
and  brake,  house  and  field,  lay  silent, while  the  clouds  of 
night  tardily  dispersed,  and  the  damps  of  dawn  rolled  up 
ward.  Van  Cleve  moved  to  the  brink  of  the  lower  ford. 
Wood  set  out  on  his  march  to  the  upper  ford.  McCook's 
line  awaited  the  onset  of  the  enemy,  or  the  order  to  move 
out  and  coax  him  from  his  intrenchments.  Detachments  of 
the  Thirty-Second,  Thirty-Ninth,  Thirtieth,  Twenty-Ninth 
and  Twenty-Second  Indiana,  and  the  Seventy-Seventh 


150  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Pennsylvania,  formed  a  heavy  skirmish  line.  Company  B 
of  the  Thirty-Ninth  patroled  the  woods  six  hundred  yards 
in  advance.  Klein's  battalion  prepared  to  move  toward 
the  rear.  Suddenly  the  left  wing  of  the  Confederate  army 
came  sweeping  down  and  up  toward  Me  Cook,  without 
drums,  without  artillery,  which  followed  less  swiftly,  and 
regardless  of  the  sharp  picket-fire.  It  tore  away  the  skirm 
ish  line  like  cobwebs,  captured  an  advanced  and  unresisting 
battery,  and  dashed  heavily  upon  the  main  line  of  battle. 
Its  weight  was  sufficient  to  break  the  line,  and  it  broke  it> 
although  there  was  a  manful  struggle  to  stand  fast. 

The  advance  companies  of  the  Thirty-Ninth  fled  toward 
the  right,  and  rallied  behind  a  rail  fence,  where  Lieutenant 
Neal  and  half  the  little  command  fell.  The  remnant  rallied 
again  in  a  cedar  thicket  to  save  a  gun.  Kirk  withdrew 
from  Williclrs  brigade  the  five  reserve  companies  of  the 
Thirty- Ninth,  and  added  them  to  his  own  command,  which, 
as  he  was  severely  wounded,  shortly  after  devolved  upon 
Colonel  Dodge.  It  could  not  be  rallied,  except  in  fragments. 
Colonel  Dunn,  seeing  the  Thirtieth  take  a  stand  upon  an 
elevation  in  a  corn  field,  moved  toward  its  rear  with  the 
Twenty-Ninth.  Other  troops  collected  round  the  nucleus, 
and  a  line  consisting  of  the  Seventy-Ninth  Illinois,  Thirtieth 
Indiana,  now  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hurd,  and  a  part  of 
the  Thirty-Fourth  Illinois,  extended  to  Baldwin's  brigade, 
which,  though  heavily  attacked,  had  not  yet  faltered.  The 
new  line  stood  until  the  ground  was  torn,  the  stubble  was 
ablaze,  one  of  the  Illinois  Colonels  had  fallen,  Colonel  Dunn 
was  captured,  the  horses  attached  to  two  of  Simonson's 
guns  were  killed,  and  the  guns  were  lost.  Retreat  was  re 
sumed  in  confusion  and  disorder.  It  was  directed  toward 
the  Nashville  turnpike.  Colonel  Baldwin  yielded  his  posi 
tion  only  after  he  had  made  every  effort  to  rally  his  brigade. 
The  Sixth  held  its  ground  to  the  last  moment.  Three  times 
its  colors  fell  and  rose.  Three  times  the  color-bearer  was 
wounded.  Nearly  all  the  guard  were  killed  or  wounded. 

Willich's  scattered  brigade  deprived  of  its  commander,  it 
kne\v  not  how,  without  orders,  and  ignorant  of  the  ground, 
succeeded  in  moving  in  the  same  direction.  It  took  advan- 


THE  RIGHT  WING  BROKEN. 

tage  of  every  thicket  and  fence  to  obtain  or  preserve  some 
approach  to  order.  Colonel  Jones,  with  the  pickets,  which 
had  barely  escaped  capture  at  the  first  onset,  and  annihila 
tion  at  the  first  stand,  caught  sight  of  the  banner  of  the 
Thirty-Ninth,  and  following  it,  joined  the  companies  which 
had  reinforced  Kirk,  but  in  the  flight  had  been  swept  far  to 
the  right.  With  Colonel  Gibson,  who  had  part  of  a  regi 
ment,  he  repulsed  every  attack,  and  as  he  neared  the  turn 
pike  united  with  squads  of  cavalry  and  teamsters  for  the 
protection  of  an  ammunition  train.  The  colors  of  the 
Thirty-Ninth  fell  and  rose,  fell  and  rose  again,  and  at  last 
dropped  to  rise  no  more,  except  as  a  trophy  in  the  enemy's 
hands. 

The  Thirty-Second,  with  one  gun,  was  harassed  by  cav 
alry,  but  it  drew  up  in  square,  and  with  presented  bayonets 
repulsed  each  attack.  Klein's  battaliion  was  also  engaged 
with  cavalry,  and  after  the  first  encounter  conducted  itself 
with  gallantry. 

While  the  right  of  the  right  wing  was  thus  struggling  and 
straggling  to  the  rear,  its  centre  and  left  were  shaken  and 
driven.  It  was  nbout  seven  o'clock  when  the  Twenty- Ninth 
broke  away  from  the  five  companies  of  the  Twenty-Second 
which  were  in  the  battle  line.  Davis'  division  stood  long 
enough  to  give  Me  Cook  some  faint  hope  of  holding  the 
remainder  of  his  wing.  But  brigade  after  brigade  broke  and 
scattered.  Once  Woodruff's  brigade,  in  which  was  our 
Eighty-First  under  its  first  fire,  swung  back  upon  the  enemy 
and  regained  its  first  position,  though  to  hold  it  but  a 
moment.  William  Abbott,  the  color-sergeant,  clung  to  the 
colors  after  he  had  received  several  wounds,  and  dropped 
them  only  when  his  hand  fell  nerveless  from  a  mortal  hurt. 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Tanner  was  shot,  and  unable  to  drag 
himself  from  the  ground,  lay  there  hours  defenceless  under 
fire,  and  in  the  midst  of  hoofs  and  wheels. 

Sheridan  was  drawn  into  the  whirl  not  many  minutes 
after  Davis.  Twice  he  changed  front  under  a  withering  fire. 
Four  times  he  repuked  assaults.  He  was  almost  surrounded 
before  he  retired.  Bush,  who  had  driven  the  enemy  from 
Davis'  retreating  lines,  guarded  and  followed  Sheridan's  rear, 


152  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

losing  one  caisson,  after  every  horse  had  been  shot,  and 
spending  all  his  ammunition.  In  a  dense  wood  his  two  rear 
guns  were  forced  to  halt  by  retreating  infantry.  The  artil 
lerymen  remained  faithful,  until  one  gun  was  stuck  fast  in 
the  trees,  nearly  all  the  horses  were  killed  and  the  enemy 
was  within  forty  yards. 

McCook's  command  was  now  gone — Johnson's  division 
crumbled  to  atoms,  Davis'  broken  to  pieces,  Sheridan's  beaten 
off  the  field.  More  than  two  miles  to  the  right,  a  torn  and 
bloody  line,  over  which  even  the  enemy's  rear  had  passed, 
was  all  that  marked  the  morning's  battle  front.  Before  ten 
in  the  forenoon  there  was  but  one  little  foothold  for  hope  on 
the  whole  field — that  small  portion  of  the  front  which  had  as 
yet  been  unassailed.  Could  that  breast  the  nearing  tempest 
until  a  new  line  was  formed  out  of  the  still  disengaged 
troops  in  the  extreme  left  and  reserve,  and  the  fugitives  in 
the  rear,  the  tide  might  yet  be  turned.  It  had  been  impossi 
ble  to  reinforce  Johnson  and  Davis,  so  sudden  had  been  their 
overthrow ;  and  Rousseau  had  failed  in  an  attempt  to  move 
through  the  cedars  in  the  rear  and  right  of  Sheridan,  his 
artillery  having  been  utterly  obstructed,  and  his  right  brig 
ade  attacked  at  disadvantage  and  forced,  in  the  dark  woods, 
into  a  desperate  fight.  But  Rosecrans  gave  his  orders  to 
Negley  and  Palmer  to  hold  their  line  at  every  cost,  while  at 
every  cost  he  worked  to  brace  it  up.  One  reported  to  him 
that  General  Sill  \vas  dead.  Another  repeated  that  McCook 
was  slain.  Gareschd,  his  beloved  friend,  fell  at  his  side,  his 
head  torn  from  his  body.  "Brave  men  must  die  in  battle!" 
said  the  General.  He  recalled  Van  Cleve  from  the  further 
side  of  the  river,  whither  that  General  had  reluctantly  led 
his  division  shortly  after  daybreak,  while  the  ominous  roar 
and  rattle  were  three  miles  off. 

Van  Cleve  turned  with  alacrity.  He  left.  Price  to  guard 
the  ford,  and  having  already  sent  off  FyfTe  to  protect  his 
train,  then  threatened  in  the  rear,  he  advanced  on  the  double- 
quick  with  Beatty's  brigade  over  more  than  a  mile  of  field 
and  wood.  General  Wood,  who  had  followed  Van  Cleve 
to  the  river,  followed  him  now,  and  also  on  the  run,  toward 
the  right.  As  they  neared  the  turnpike  they  were  forced  to 


THE  CENTRE  BEATEN.  153 

move  slowly,  and  at  intervals  were  compelled  to  stop  by 
wild  masses  of  fugitives.  The  disorder  which  obstructed 
their  march  was  miles  in  extent,  and  terrific  in  aspect. 
Horses  and  mules,  furious  with  terror,  were  driven,  and 
beaten,  and  cursed  by  furious  teamsters;  cavalry,  infantry, 
artillery,  provision-wagons  and  ammunition-wagons  were 
inextricably  entangled;  pursued  and  pursuers  were  pressed 
close  and  intermingled;  stars  and  stripes  and  stars  and  bars 
fluttered  and  flaunted  almost  within  touch;  shells  shrieked 
overhead,  and  cut  a  murderous  course  through  the  mass ; 
troops  struggling  backward  shamelessly  faced  troops  strug 
gling  onward,  and  when  indignantly  questioned,  loudly  gave 
the  name  and  number  of  their  regiment. 

The  innocent  inhabitants  of  the  forest  partook  of  the 
affright  and  disorder.  From  cedar-thickets  flocks  of  little 
birds  wavered  and  circled  above  the  field.  "Wild  turkeys, 
rabbits  and  raccoons  fled  for  shelter  to  the  very  fore-front  of 
danger,  rubbing  against  the  legs  and  attracting  the  attention 
of  the  troops.  More  than  one  soldier,  true  to  the  manly 
instinct  which  cannot  refuse  protection  to  appealing  help 
lessness,  held  nestling  in  his  coat  when  he  left  the  field,  some 
little  quivering  creature. 

Meantime  there  was  no  pause  in  the  swift  battle.  Polk 
and  Ilardee  moved  on  in  double  lines,  artillery  firing  over  the 
heads  of  infantry,  attacked  Negley's  right  in  front  and  flank, 
forced  it  back,  and  uncovered  Miller's  right.  Ordered  to 
hold  his  position  to  the  last  extremity,  Miller  had  begun  to 
rearrange  his  lines.  He  continued  his  movement,  and  at  the 
same  time  directed  such  a  volley  of  artillery  upon  the  enemy 
as  checked  his  approach,  though  without  diminishing  his 
fire.  Resting  the  Eighteenth  Pennsylvania  on  a  battery  on 
the  right,  the  Twenty-First  Ohio  on  a  battery  on  the  left, 
and  giving  the  centre  to  the  Thirty-Seventh  Indiana  and 
Seventy-Fourth  Ohio,  with  a  battery,  he  bent  his  line  like  a 
bow.  lie  struggled  hard  and  long  with  varying  success. 
The  Pennsylvania  regiment,  under  a  misunderstanding,  fell 
back  when  Stanley  retreated,  but  promptly  resumed  its  posi 
tion  under  Miller's  direction.  Colonel  Hull  withdrew  the 
Thirty-Seventh  from  the  front  to  get  ammunition,  but  the 


154  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

teamsters  had  fled,  and  he  hastened  back  to  his  post  with 
such  cartridges  as  he  could  gather  from  the  fallen. 

Captain  Shook  describes  further  the  part  taken  by  the  Thir 
ty-Seventh  :  "  Our  regiment  was  ordered  to  advance  over  the 
rise  on  our  right,  since  the  change  of  position  become  our  front, 
and  if  possible  gain  the  woods,  a  few  rods  distant,  through 
which  the  Rebels  were  advancing.  Our  cannon  were  pouring 
the  grape  into  their  line.  Our  men  advanced  gallantly,  and 
bravely  held  the  position  several  minutes.  The  enemy's 
first  line  wavered  and  fell  back,  but  advanced  again  imme 
diately.  We  were  moved  back  five  yards,  and  ordered  to 
lie  down  and  still  keep  up  our  fire,  while  artillery  fired  over 
us.  The  ground  was  strewed  with  dead  and  wounded  Reb 
els,  and  we  were  again  ordered  forward.  After  a  hard  strug 
gle  we  gained  our  former  position.  We  poured  the  contents 
of  our  rifles  into  the  enemy's  ranks,  which  were  just  beyond 
a  thin  wood.  In  a  short  time  we  were  overpowered  by 
numbers,  and  the  sixty  rounds  of  ammunition,  which  every 
man  had  at  the  beginning,  being  almost  gone,  we  were 
moved  back  to  our  first  position  on  the  edge  of  the  woods. 
We  here  lost  three  guns,  seventeen  horses  being  killed. 
This  sharp  contest  lasted  about  one  hour.  I  had  forty-eight 
men  in  the  fight  on  this  part  of  the  battle  field.  Ere  we  fell 
back  to  our  first  position,  twenty  had  fallen,  killed  or  wounded. 
We  remained  at  the  edge  of  the  woods  but  a  few  moments, 
as  artillery  opened  upon  us  terribly,  and  the  regiment  which 
had  relieved  us  was  pressed  back." 

The  ground  on  his  front  and  flank  was  smoking  with  the 
enemy's  fire,  and  a  bullet  had  cut  through  the  side  of  Miller's 
neck,  when  he  retired.  He  left  five  guns  on  the  field,  the 
horses  having  been  killed,  but  he  marched  without  disorder, 
without  haste,  carrying  many  of  his  wounded,  and  loading 
and  firing  from  the  cartridge  boxes  of  the  fallen.  Encoun 
tering  a  strong  body  of  the  enemy  on  the  line  of  retreat,  he 
drove  it  off,  and  cleared  his  road. 

Palmer's  division — Craft's,  Hazen's  and  Grose's  brigades — 
now  bore  the  brunt.  It  was  attacked  before  Negley  retired, 
and  at  disadvantage,  while  changing  its  position,  the  enemy 
sweeping  up,  still  in  double  lines,  with  artillery  firing  over 


CRUFT  AND  GROSE.  155 

infantry.  Hazen,  Palmer's  left,  had  been  posted  in  a  cotton 
field,  but  as  his  position  was  open  to  fire,  not  only  in  front, 
but  on  both  flanks,  he  moved  out  to  take  possession  of  a 
knoll  which,  while  less  exposed,  was  more  commanding.  It 
was  while  making  this  movement,  before  he  was  twenty 
yards  out,  that  the  enemy  fell  upon  him.  He  was  forced 
back,  and  at  the  same  time  compelled  to  throw  his  right,  ihc 
Sixth  Kentucky  and  Ninth  Indiana,  to  Cruft's  left.  lie 
withdrew  his  other  regiments  about  fifty  yards  to  a  slight 
elevation,  covered  with  scanty  oaks,  in  a  sharp  tract  or  point 
of  ground  between  the  turnpike  and  railroad,  which,  con 
verging  for  a  long  distance,  cross  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
above  the  river,  Wagner's  brigade,  which  had  occupied  that 
position,  having  been  advanced  to  the  left. 

Grose  moved  to  the  protection  of  Cruft's  rear,  and  faced 
to  the  rear.  The  Thirty-Sixth  Indiana  had  scarcely  taken 
its  position  on  the  right  flank  of  the  brigade,  when  a  volley 
from  cedar-thickets  in  its  front  riddled  its  ranks.  Every 
mounted  officer,  except  the  Adjutant,  had  his  horse  shot 
under  him. 

During  the  heavy  assault  on  its  front,  it  was  separated 
from  the  brigade  by  the  passage  behind  it  of  a  retreating 
regiment  of  Regulars.  At  the  same  time,  two  companies 
were  torn  from  it  and  driven  quite  adrift.  The  Thirty-Sixth 
retired,  and  shortly  rejoined  the  brigade,  when  the  enemy 
was  driven  from  the  rear. 

Meantime,  the  front  was  not  less  sorely  beset,  the  enemy 
having  succeeded  in  getting  a  column  into  a  wood  which 
covered  the  greater  part  of  Cruft's  line.  The  Thirty-First, 
which  had  occupied  the  right  since  the  enemy  appeared, 
except  a  few  moments  when  it  was  short  of  ammunition, 
three  times  drove  back  an  assailing  force.  Captain  Water 
man  picked  up  a  fallen  man's  rifle  and  did  good  service  with 
it.  Sergeant- Major  Noble  buckled  on  a  cartridge  box, 
snatched  a  rifle  from  the  ground,  and  stood  in  the  front  rank. 
Surgeons  Morgan  and  McKinncy  established  themselves 
close  in  the  rear  to  stanch  without  dangerous  delay  the  brave 
blood  so  freely  flowing.  Every  man  did  his  duty.  But 
Cruft  was  compelled  to  retire.  He  left  the  cedar-wood  full 


156  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  his  dead.  The  faithful  surgeons  refused  to  abandon  their 
patients,  and  yielded  themselves  prisoners  to  the  conquering 
enemy. 

Hazen  now  concentrated  his  little  force  by  moving  the 
Ninth  Indiana  from  the  right,  across  the  cotton  field,  under 
the  galling  fire  of  both  artillery  and  musketry.  He  was 
alone  in  the  front,  but  he  was  equal  to  his  opportunity. 
When  his  ammunition  was  nearly  gone,  one  regiment  with 
fixed  bayonets,  and  another,  which  had  no  bayonets,  with 
clubbed  muskets,  held  the  ground  until  Grose's  brigade  rein 
forced  them.  Schaefer,  the  last  of  Sheridan's  brigadiers,  fol 
lowed  Grose.  Van  Cleve,  with  Beatty's  brigade,  marched 
tip  through  fugitives  and  teams,  crossed  a  field  beyond  the 
turnpike,  gained  an  oak  wood,  formed  in  line  of  battle,  and 
under  a  heavy  fire  steadily  advanced.  The  Nineteenth  Ohio 
and  Ninth  Kentucky,  (veteran  regiments,  the  Nineteenth 
Ohio  especially  one  of  the  noblest  in  the  service,)  were 
in  the  front  line,  the  Seventy-Ninth  Indiana  and  Eleventh 
Kentucky  in  the  rear,  until  nearly  a  half  mile  had  been 
gained,  when  the  ammunition  of  the  front  beginning  to  fail, 
the  command  was  given  to  halt  and  wheel  by  company  into 
column.  The  front  halted,  wheeled,  marched,  and  the  rear 
passed  through.  Never  in  the  graceful  manoeuvres  of  the 
parade  ground,  stimulated  by  waving  handkerchiefs,  bright 
eyes  and  brave  music,  did  the  Seventy-Ninth  Indiana  and 
Eleventh  Kentucky  step  so  proudly  as  now,  under  the  in 
spiration  of  the  steady  tramp  of  their  comrade  regiments 
and  the  death-dealing  fire  of  the  enemy.  Without  the  pause 
of  a  moment,  they  took  up  the  fight  and  the  advance. 

By  this  time,  Fyffe  and  Ilarker  had  gained  the  front  of 
the  fugitives  and  formed  on  Beatty's  right,  though  yet  in  his 
rear.  Ilarker's  advance  regiment  struck  the  enemy  in  the 
cedars,  and  retreated  over  the  Seventy-Third  Indiana,  which 
was  lying  down.  The  latter  sprung  to  its  feet  the  moment  the 
retreating  regiment  left  the  ground  clear,  and  met  the  pursu 
ers  sharply  face  to  face.  Both  columns  stood  firm  until  the 
Seventy-Third  dashed  forward  in  a  charge,  when  the  Rebels 
fell  back.  The  regiment  pushed  on  alone,  an  order,  which 
did  not  reach  Colonel  Hathaway,  having  withdrawn  the  rest 


THE  ENEMY  ON  EVERY  II AND.  157 

of  the  brigade.  Captain  Tibbetts  was  killed ;  Captain  Doyle 
was  mortally  wounded;  all  the  members  of  the  color  guard, 
except  the  bearer,  were  killed  or  wounded;  a  third  of  the 
regiment  had  fallen  when  the  Adjutant,  who  was  mounted 
on  the  only  horse  remaining,  discovered  a  force  preparing  to 
advance  on  the  left  flank,  and  not  fifty  yards  distant.  A 
rapid  retreat,  not  so  hasty  but  that  the  wounded  were  saved, 
enabled  the  regiment  to  join  the  brigade.  In  the  advance, 
companies  A,  B  and  F  of  the  Fifty-First,  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Colescott,  deployed  on  the  extreme  right  as  skirmish 
ers,  lost  largely,  and  were  saved  from  destruction  chiefly  by 
Colescott's  skill.  Fyffe's  flank  was  exposed  by  the  falling 
back  of  Harker,  and  the  Eighty-Sixth  Indiana,  being  on  the 
right,  suffered  greatly.  So  near  were  the  Rebels,  that  many 
of  the  men  were  unable  to  get  away  when  ordered  to  retreat. 
Both  color  bearers  were  shot  down,  one  killed,  the  other  dis 
abled  for  life,  and  the  colors  were  lost.  The  brigade  was 
withdrawn  only  after  it  was  nearly  surrounded. 

Beatty's  regiments  were  now  isolated,  and  far  in  advance. 
Van  Cleve,  who,  though  wounded,  retained  command  of  his 
division,  despatched  an  order  which  brought  back  the  rear 
line  without  delay.  The  front  was  in  thick  woods,  pressing 
the  enemy's  front,  and  unconscious  of  danger  to  its  flank — 
when  two  aids,  Lieutenant  Percival  to  the  Eleventh,  Lieu 
tenant  Sheets  to  the  Seventy-Ninth,  gave  the  order  and 
started  them  steadily  and  swiftly  on  retreat.  Lieutenant 
Sheets  turned  to  gallop  back,  but  in  winding  among  the 
trees  lost  the  line  of  direction,  and  when  he  came  upon  open 
ground  found  himself  fronting  the  enemy.  Turning,  he  saw 
Rebel  skirmishers  pressing  up  behind  him — evidently  in  ad 
vance  of  a  line  of  battle.  Only  far  to  his  right,  beyond  a. 
field  and  a  high  rail  fence,  could  he  see  the  Union  blue. 
His  horse  was  hew  and  untried,  but  spur  and  rein  and  voice 
and  the  fast  coming  fire  of  the  enemy  stimulated  the  creature 
to  its  utmost  speed.  The  field  was  crossed,  the  fence  was 
leaped,  and  the  friendly  line  was  gained. 

At  the  same  time  that  Van  Cleve's  division  and  Harker's 
brigade  moved  toward  the  right,  Hascall  changed  the  front 
of  his  brigade  to  the  rear,  preparatory  to  starting  in  the  same 


1,58  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

direction.  He  had  not  gone  more  than  two  hundred  yards, 
when  by  the  throng  of  fugitives  from  the  right  wing  he  was 
compelled  to  halt  his  whole  brigade,  with  the  exception  of 
Estep's  battery,  which  followed  Van  Cleve.  After  strug 
gling  an  hour  to  advance,  he  was  able  to  get  a  single  regi 
ment  to  the  relief  of  Hazen,  and  in  the  end  to  follow  with 
his  three  remaining  regiments.  He  recalled  Estep's  battery, 
but  before  it  arrived,  was  fiercely  engaged  with  the  force 
which  overlapped  Hazen.  Repulsing  it,  he  reformed  his 
line,  throwing  the  Fifty-Eighth  Indiana  in  his  front.  Gen 
eral  Rosecrans,  riding  up  at  the  moment,  addressed  the  men, 
directing  them  to  hold  their  fire  until  the  enemy  was  close. 
The  Fifty-Eighth  obeyed  the  injunction,  firing  so  straight 
into  the  face  of  the  Rebels  in  the  next  assault,  as  to  stagger 
them  and  send  them  back  with  one  volley.  They  were  soon 
up  again,  and  for  the  third  time  assailed  Hascall's  front. 

Meantime  Wagner  was  as  warmly  engaged.  From  the 
point  between  the  roads,  he  had  been  ordered  to  cross  the 
railroad,  post  his  battery  on  the  left,  and  hold  the  ground  to 
the  river  at  all  hazards.  Cox  took  position  on  the  crest  of  a 
hill,  directly  before  the  ford.  The  regiments  lay  down  near 
under  cover  of  woods.  They  were  not  any  too  soon.  Rebel 
infantry  in  mass  strove  to  cross  the  railroad  in  front  of  them. 
Again  and  again,  as  if  spurred  on  to  madness  by  their  suc 
cess  on  the  right,  they  threw  themselves  into  the  withering 
fire  of  Cox's  guns.  At  length  they  were  compelled  to  desist. 
The  intermission  was  short,  but  it  was  most  opportune,  as 
Cox  was  nearly  out  of  ammunition.  Wagner  took  advan 
tage  of  it  to  throw  his  regiments  further  to  the  front,  where, 
on  open  ground  they  again  lay  down,  to  avoid,  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  the  fiery  rain  of  artillery. 

They  lay  until  the  storm  slackened;  until  they  saw  the 
Rebels  draw  near  and  nearer,  heard  officers  urge  their  men 
on,  heard  the  men  bring  their  pieces  to  a  charge,  and  utter 
the  shrill  yell  which  precedes  the  fierce  onset,  then  they  fired 
a  deadly  volley.  An  uncertain  and  breathless  moment, 
smoke  hid  the  field.  It  lifted  slowly,  and  straining  eyes  saw 
in  place  of  the  glittering  line  of  threatening  bayonets  the  gray 
backs  of  the  foe  in  flight. 


THE  EXTREME  LEFT.  159 

Cox  was  now  supplied  with  ammunition.  He  resumed 
his  fire,  facing  at  times  three  batteries,  the  most  annoying  of 
which  was  beyond  the  river,andcontimaeditduringlong  hours, 
while  his  supporting  regiments  lay  on  the  cold  ground.  Late 
in  the  afternoon  it  was  evident  that  the  cncmv  was  prepar 
ing  for  another  assault.  "  They  are  bringing  up  their  lust 
reserves,"  said  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lennard,  of  the  Fifty- 
Seventh,  looking  toward  the  Rebel  line.  "If  we  can  only 
hold  them  this  time,  the  day  is  ours,"  he  added  as  he  rode 
along  the  front  of  his  regiment. 

The  Rebels  had  gained  a  position  not  more  than  three 
hundred  yards  distant,  and  were  moving  up.  The  Fifteenth 
and  Fifty-Seventh  advanced  on  the  double  quick  and  firing, 
met  them,  repulsed  them,  and  threw  themselves  on  the 
ground,  while  Cox  and  Estep,  who  had  been  silent  during 
their  advance,  opened  fire  again.  Rebel  guns,  eighteen  in 
number,  which  had  also  been  silent,  also  opened  lire.  Col 
onel  Hincs  was  severely  wounded  by  a  shell,  and  was  carried 
from  the  field,  but  not  until  he  had  delivered  the  command, 
with  instructions,  to  Captain  McGraw,  Colonel  Lennard 
having  previously  been  shot  and  disabled.  The  Fifteenth 
and  Fifty-Seventh,  lying  close  to  the  earth  in  a  slight  depres 
sion,  were  partially  sheltered  from  the  batteries  in  their  front, 
but  they  were  enfiladed  by  the  guns  beyond  the  river.  There 
could  be  no  possible  advantage  in  remaining  in  the  position 
while  every  sweeping  shell  made  terrible  havoc,  but  they 
could  not  rise  without  encountering  the  fire  of  our  guns. 
Cox  and  Estep  were  informed  of  the  situation,  when,  chang 
ing  the  direction  of  their  fire,  they  allowed  the  two  regiments 
to  make  their  way  to  a  less  exposed  position. 

The  action  of  the  Fortieth,  which  served  under  both  Has- 
call  and  Wagner  in  the  engagements  on  the  left,  may  be  best 
described  by  Major  Learning.  The  following  letter  was 
hastily  written  on  the  battle  field  to  his  wife: 

"  Our  entire  right  wing  gave  way,  a  great  part  of  it  in 
much  confusion.  The  stragglers  came  rushing  back  toward 
our  position  (we  were  just  to  the  left  of  the  pike)  in  a  perfect 
panic.  For  a  time  all  seemed  lost.  Our  men  fell  back 
across  a  large  open  field  between  the  pike  and  the  woods  in 


160  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

which  they  had  been  posted,  the  Rebels  pursuing  and  yelling 
with  all  their  might.  After  our  men  had  got  well  across  the 
field,  a  battery  of  eighteen  guns,  posted  on  the  hill  to  the  left 
of  the  pike,  was  turned  on  the  Rebels  as  they  advanced  in 
four  lines,  and  grape  and  cannister  were  showered  among 
them  until  they  could  stand  it  no  longer.  Our  brigade  had 
been  withdrawn  from  the  position  first  held,  in  order  to  sup 
port  the  right  wing  in  its  retreat,  and  as  we  were  in  an  open 
field,  I  had  a  fine  view  of  the  effect  of  the  fire  of  our  bat 
teries.  The  loss  to  the  enemy  here  was  awful.  As  some 
times  from  four  to  six  guns  would  fire  at  one  time,  at  not 
more  than  one  to  two  hundred  yards,  full  into  the  face 
of  the  advancing  lines,  whole  companies  were  swept  down 
as  grain  by  a  reaper.  They  soon  broke  and  ran  back  to  the 
shelter  of  the  woods,  whither  they  were  followed  by  our 
merciless  shells.  In  the  meantime  we  had  been  shelled  by 
some  batteries  of  theirs  planted  in  front  of  the  position  we 
held  at  first.  Grape,  cannister  and  fragments  of  shell  fell 
around  us  like  hail.  The  regiment  was  getting  disordered. 
Blake  received  an  order  to  report,  to  General  Wood  as  under 
arrest,  He  started  off,  and  Neff  was,  of  course,  in  command. 
Just  at  this  time  an  order  came  for  us  to  march  across  to  re 
lieve  the  Fifty-Eighth,  of  Hascall's  brigade.  This  regiment 
was  sharply  engaged  with  a  force  in  front,  but  was  manfully 
standing  its  ground.  The  Fortieth  marched  over  the  railroad, 
into  an  open  field,  and  lay  down  on  a  hill-side  just  in  rear  of 
the  Fifty-Eighth.  We  were  exposed  to  the  full  fire  of  the 
force  engaging  the  Fifty-Eighth,  and  being  above  if,  were  in 
much  more  danger,  as  it  is  a  fact  beyond  all  doubt  that  per 
haps  nine-tenths  of  all  the  shots  in  battle  pass  too  high,  and 
that  there  is  more  danger  to  men  one  hundred  yards  to  the 
rear  than  to  those  in  front.  There  was  also  a  battery  in  full 
view  of  us  taking  the  Fortieth  as  its  target.  But  the  boys 
lay  like  heroes  under  this  the  most  fearful  trial  that  troops 
can  be  put  to,  that  is,  exposure  to  fire  without  a  chance  to 
return  it.  We  lay  there  for  a  half  hour,  when  Royse  came 
to  me  and  told  me  that  Neff  was  wounded  soon  after  we 
arrived  at  this  place,  and  that  I  was  in  command.  The 
Fifty-Eighth  by  this  time  had  expended  its  ammunition,  I 


THE  FORTIETH. 

called  the  Fortieth  to  attention,  and  moved  forward  to  relieve 
it.  As  the  fine  fellows  sprang  to  their  feet,  I  saw  three  lying 
in  their  places,  never  more  to  respond  till  the  last  trump  shall 
call  to  attention  the  universe.  A  large  number  of  wounded 
had  been  removed.  We  started,  as  I  have  said,  to  relieve 
the  Fifty-Eighth.  When  we  were  near  enough,  I  called  out 
to  them  that  we  would  take  their  places,  and  in  five  seconds 
they  had  retired,  and  we  were  ready  for  the  Rebels.  The 
party  that  had  fought  the  Fifty-Eighth  soon  retired.  I 
ordered  to  cease  firing,  and  rode  out  in  front  of  the  regiment 
to  see  what  was  coming  next.  I  was  not  long  in  finding 
out.  A  large  brigade  of  Breckenridge's  corps  was  formed 
about  a  half  mile  in  front  of  us,  and  in  a  few  moments  came 
across  the  open  field  directly  upon  us.  The  order  was  given 
that  no  one  should  fire,  and  our  boys  lay  flat  and  motionless. 
As  their  line  advanced  the  fire  from  three  of  their  batteries 
was  directed  on  us;  and  the  limbs  from  the  trees  overhead 
cut  off  by  their  shells,  wounded  and  bruised  quite  a  number 
of  our  boys.  I  rode  over  to  the  right  of  the  regiment  to  see 
what  support  we  had  there.  I  could  see  nothing  at  all  to 
our  flank  on  the  right,  nothing  to  our  rear.  On  our  left  was 
the  One  Hundredth  Illinois  behind  the  embankment,  at  nearly 
a  right  angle  to  our  position.  This  was  well  enough,  but  I 
was  uneasy  about  our  right,  especially  as  the  weight  of  the 
advancing  brigade  was  moving  toward  the  right  of  our  line. 
But  nothing  could  be  done  just  then  by  me  to  remedy  the 
matter,  so  I  merely  sent  a  notice  of  the  advance  to  Rose- 
crans,  and  left  him  to  prepare  as  he  thought  best.  As  soon 
as  the  enemy  was  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  the 
One  Hundredth  Illinois  commenced  firing.  I  had  intended 
to  let  them  come  close  up  to  us,  then  fire,  and  charge  bayo 
nets.  But  they  halted  as  soon  as  the  Illinois  regiment  com 
menced  on  them,  and  I  was  compelled  to  give  the  order 
" Commence  firing"  The  boys  did  so  with  a  will.  I  stood 
watching  them  and  the  effect  of  their  firing  on  the  enemy. 
I  cannot  express  to  you  how  proud  and  happy  I  was  when  I 
saw  their  coolness,  and  the  determination  in  every  face.  I  en 
couraged  them  in  every  way  I  could,  and  as,  unable  to  stand 
11 


162  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

our  fire,  the  Rebels  began  to  run,  I  shouted  to  the  boys  to  give  it 
to  them.  They  yelled  out  a  shout  of  triumph,  and  it  seemed 
to  me,  shot  as  if  it  were  not  necessary  to  load,  and  they 
could  indeed  "fire  at  will."  They  disappeared  into  the 
woods  on  our  right,  and  we  had  nothing  but  the  fire  of  their 
batteries  to  stand.  This  continued  for  several  hours,  indeed 
till  dark,  but  happily  all  the  shell  and  shot  passed  to  our  rear, 
although  not  more  than  a  few  rods.  At  dark  the  battle  was 
nearly  over,  and  ceased  soon  after. 

"Just  after  we  had  driven  our  visitors  off,  I  rode  out  to  see 
the  effect  of  our  fire.  The  ground  was  literally  covered  with 
their  dead  and  wounded.  A  prisoner  we  took  said  that  the 
Louisiana  regiment  he  had  belonged  to  was  almost  exter 
minated;  that  one  captain  came  out  without  a  man  left,  and 
another  had  only  ten. 

"  Now  I  know  you  would  like  me  to  say  something  about 
myself.  Well,  my  little  lady,  folks  say  I  did  my  duty. 
That's  enough,  is  it  not?  But  I  cannot  give  too  much 
praise  to  Royse.  He  behaved  like  a  hero.  All,  officers  and 
men,  did  their  duty  nobly,  and  I  am  glad  to  have  so  brave  a 
set  of  fellows  under  my  command.  I  must  not  forget  to  say 
that  in  all  probability  the  Fortieth  was  the  only  regiment 
which  had  been  engaged  that  rested  on  the  night  of  the  great 
battle  on  the  same  ground  that  it  occupied  the  night  before.*' 

At  the  same  time  that  Rosecrans,  by  the  rapid  advance  of 
the  left  and  reserve,  checked  the  enemy  in  front,  he  succeeded, 
by  posting  disengaged  regiments,  among  which  was  the 
Eighty-Second  Indiana,  (just  returned  from  escort  duty,)  to 
gather  up  stragglers,  in  forming  the  greater  part  of  the  right 
wing  along  the  turnpike, — Johnson  on  the  right  of  Rousseau, 
and  Sheridan  and  Davis  turned  toward  the  rear,  with  cavalry 
still  further  to  the  rear, — and  in  massing  the  guns  of  Stokes, 
Guenther,  Loomis  and  Simonson  so  as  to  s\veep  the  open 
field  on  the  risjht  of  the  road.  Here  there  was  irregular 

O  o 

fighting  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day. 

The  following  rough  outline  of  this  day's  battle  is  said  to 
have  been  given  by  a  private  to  an  old  Hoosier  at  a  street 
corner : 

"  You  say  you  can't  understand  about  army  wings,  they 


REVIEW  OF  THE  DAY'S  DISASTERS.  163 

being  crushed,  falling  back,  &c.  Well,  here  it  is  in  short: 
Suppose  our  army  to  be  like  a  bird  at  Stone  River,  head 
toward  Murfreesboro,  its  body,  Thomas'  corps,  being  the 
centre,  MeCook's  corps,  the  right  wing,  spread  wide  open, 
and  Critteridcn's  corps,  the  left  wing,  not  opened  out.  That 
will  do  well  enough  for  illustration.  Well,  Bragg's  army 
pile  in  on  MeCook's  wing  at  its  tip,  and  break  off  an  inch  or 
so  by  capturing  batteries  and  several  hundred  of  our  men. 
And  the  feathers  fly  mightily  all  along  that  wing,  and  it  is 
overpowered,  and  falls  back  in  retreat,  just  as  the  bird  would 
ibid  its  wing,  until  it  laps  right  up  'long  side  the  centre. 
That's  the  way  it  was  done.  But  they  didn't  move  our  head 
nor  centre,  though, — nary!  Well,  the  Reb.  cavalry,  of  which 
they  had  a  powerful  slue  during  this  fight,  came  round  on 
our  rear  on  the  big  Nashville  road,  where  were  our  hundreds 
of  wagons  and  ambulances.  There,  we  will  say,  is  the  bird's 
tail;  and  the  supply  wagons,  and  doctors'  tools,  and  niggers, 
we'll  call  them  the  tail  feathers.  Now,  them  feathers  flew 
some,  you  better  believe!" 

In  the  evening  a  council  of  the  general  officers  of  the  army 
was  held  in  a  little  log  cabin  on  the  right  of  the  turnpike, 
within  short  artillery  range  of  the  Rebel  front.  The  gloom 
with  which  it  opened  was  not  relieved  by  a  statement  of 
the  situation.  The  supply  trains  had  been  sent  back  toward 
Nashville  -to  get  them  out  of  the  way  of  the  Rebel  cavalry; 
some  of  them  had  been  destroyed,  and  the  line  of  communi 
cation  was  interrupted.  Twenty-eight  guns  were  captured; 
two-thirds  of  the  field  were  lost.  Willich  was  a  prisoner, 
having  been  captured  after  his  horse  was  shot,  while  return 
ing  to  his  brigade  after  an  interview  with  Johnson.  Kirk 
was  mortally  wounded.  Sill,  Roberts  and  Schaeffer  were 
dead.  Wood  and  Van  Cleve  were  disabled.  Ten  Colonels, 
ten  Lieutenant  Colonels,  six  Majors,  and  an  uncounted  num. 
ber  of  Captains  were  wounded,  captured  or  killed.  Sheridan 
alone  had  lost  seventy-two  officers.  The  United  States 
brigade  of  Regulars  had  lost  twenty -two  officers.  More  than 
seven  thousand  were  gone  from  the  ranks.  The  men  were 
hungry,  tired,  cold,  disheartened,  and  were  sorrowing  for  the 
loss  of  their  comrades. 


1(54  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Except  Rosecrans,  Van  Cleve  and  Thomasy  the  Generals 
were  all  men  who  had  not  yet  reached  middle  life.  They 
were  awed  by  the  events  of  the  day,  and  after  they  had  given 
their  reports,  were  silent.  Retreat  seemed  the  only  reasona 
ble  course,  and  as  the  supply  trains  had  already  been  started, 
it  might  commence  at  once.  But  the  mortifying  and  painful 
word  was  unuttered.  Rosecrans  was  determined  yet  to  win. 
If  communication  was  cut,  the  army  could  live  on  corn.  A 
stand  might  be  made  on  the  south  bank  of  Overall's  creek, 
but  he  preferred  to  maintain  his  present  ground, — the  line 
which  had  been  formed  along  the  turnpike  under  the  fire  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  position  held  by  the  left.  The  open 
ground  in  front  of  the  present  right  was  swept  at  all  points 
by  our  artillery,  and  could  not  be  covered  by  the  enemy. 
The  history  of  the  day  had  not  shaken  the  confidence  of  the 
General  in  his  soldiers,  nor  of  the  soldiers  in  their  General. 

During  the  night  the  wounded  lay  upon  the  field  between 
the  lines  calling  for  help,  which  could  not  be  given  them,  as 
the  moon  shone,  and  any  movement,  even  on  their  part, 
caused  the  enemy  to  fire.  Nevertheless  a  few  dragged  them 
selves  within  the  Union  lines,  and  told  the  sad  condition  of 
dying  comrades. 

Before  day,  Crittenden  re-united  his  division,  bringing 
them  all  together  on  the  left  of  the  turnpike,  and  took  up  a 
new  line  of  battle  about  five  hundred  yards  to  the  rear  of 
the  former  line;  and  Walker's  and  Starkweather's  brigades 
came  up  from  Stewartsboro  and  rejoined  Thomas. 

New  Year's  day  was  bright  and  beautiful.  It  was  the  day 
on  which  the  President  issued  his  proclamation  of  freedom  to 
the  slave,  and  clothed  the  Union  soldier  in  the  refulgent 
panoply  of  justice.  Surely  there  would  be  other  token  than 
smiling  skies  of  Heaven's  approval! 

The  armies  closely  confronted  each  other,  skirmishing  con 
stantly,  and  cannonading  occasionally,  but  chiefly  preparing 
for  battle.  Both  leaders  continued  their  original  plan  of 
massing  their  forces  on  the  left,  in  order  to  cut  the  commu 
nications  and  to  cut  off  the  retreat,  each,  of  his  antagonist. 
Van  Cleve's  division,  under  General  Beatty,  crossed  the 
river  and  took  position  on  high  ground,  behind  and  before 


THE  ENEMY'S  LAST  ASSAULT.  165 

which  were  open  fields.  The  left  was  thrown  forward,  so 
that  the  line  was  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  river.  Grose's 
brigade  crossed  some  distance  down  the  river,  and  took  its 

O  ' 

post  near  a  hospital,  which  had  been  established  on  the 
thirtieth. 

The  Thirty-Sixth  Indiana  built  a  barricade,  under  cover 
of  which  it  repulsed  a  strong  and  sudden  attack.  Captain 
King  was  shot  through  the  head  and  killed  instantly,  while 
gallantly  encouraging  his  men.  The  regiment  left  its  de 
fences  and  pursued  the  storming  party,  but  without  engaging 
it  again. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  day,  Wood's  division,  now  under 
the  command  of  ITascall,  lay  a  half-hour  under  a  heavy  ar 
tillery  fire.  Gibson's  brigade  reconnoitred  cautiously  on  the 
right,  and  its  skirmishers  repulsed  a  cavalry  charge.  Whee 
ler's  indefatigable  cavalry  captured  another  train  and  a  piece 
of  artillery,  going  up  the  road  as  far  as  Lavergne. 

Thursday  night,  Bragg  withdrew  portions  of  the  force  he 
had  massed  on  his  left,  and  increased  the  weight  of  his  right, 
in  order  to  meet  Rosecrans.  Early  on  Friday  morning,  he 
opened  a  fierce  artillery  fire  on  Hascall,  from  the  east  bank 
of  the  river,  and  almost  immediately  disabled  Estep's  bat 
tery,  which  was  obliged  to  withdraw,  the  men  hauling  off 
two  of  the  guns.  The  infantry  held  its  ground,  other  batter 
ies  opened,  and  in  a  short  time  the  hostile  fire  ceased. 

The  day  seemed  passing  in  a  series  of  indeterminate  en 
gagements,  when,  like  a  sudden  tempest  harbingered  by  no 
cloud  nor  thunder,  the  Rebel  right  was  flung  upon  the  Union 
left.  Beatty's  first  line,— the  Fifty-First  Ohio,  Eighth  Ken 
tucky,  Thirty-Fifth  and  Seventy-Ninth  Indiana, — was  lying 
down  partially  in  woods,  partially  unprotected,  and  all  around 
was  still,  when  a  trumpet-like  voice  in  the  direction  of  the 
enemy  gave  the  order:  "  FORWARD!  DOUBLE-QUICK!  GUIDE 
CENTRE!  MARCH!"  No  explanation  from  returning  skirm 
ishers  was  necessary.  "My  blood  ran  cold!"  said  afterward 
a  young  officer  on  Beatty's  staff,  "I  knew  what  was  coin 
ing.  The  order  was  repeated  three  times  before  the  Rebels 
moved.  Then  out  from  cover,  and  over  the  wide  flat  in  our 
front,  they  came,  swift,  steady,  silent,  in  six  splendid  lines  of 


106  TRE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

assault.  They  were  within  sixty  or  seventy-five  yards  of  us> 
when  up  sprang  our  troops  and  fired.  A  moment's  check, 
and  the  column  rolled  on  as  solid  as  ever.  Then  there  was 
a  hand  to  hand  struggle,  with  horrible  confusion.  I  was  as 
near  to  the  Rebels  as  to  our  men.  My  horse  was  shot  three 
times.  But  the  fight  was  as  short  as  it  was  desperate.  The 
first  line  fled,  the  second  line  broke,  the  third  line  staggered 
back.  We  were  pushed  to  the  river,  some  had  crossed;  the 
Rebels  cheering  madly,  were  close  behind  us;  the  great  field 
between  the  river  and  the  hill  from  which  we  had  broken, 
was  gray  with  them;  and  their  batteries  had  gained  the  crest 
when  reinforcements  arrived,  for  Rosecrans  had  his  wing  so 
compact  that  forces  could  be  shortly  thrown  to  any  point, 
and  fifty  two  guns  wheeled  into  position  on  the  west  bank, 
poured  out  an  awful  and  incessant  fire.  The  Rebel  rear 
ranks  at  first  closed  up  the  gaps,  but  suddenly  the  whole 
mass  broke,  scattered  and  fled,  exactly  as  a  glass  bottle  flies 
to  pieces  when  a  stone  is  cast  against  it.  In  twenty  minutes 
they  lost  two  thousand  men.  Cheers  flew  to  the  right  and 
left  along  the  ranks." 

Before  the  Rebel  lines  broke,  Miller's  and  Stanley's  brig 
ades,  under  the  command  of  Miller,  rose  from  a  recumbent 
position  near  the  river  bank,  and  rapidly  advanced.  They 
were  ordered  back,  but  not  receiving  the  order  until  they 
\vere  across  the  stream,  and  the  enemy  was  flying,  they  took 
up  the  pursuit.  Van  Clevc's  division  rallied  and  returned. 
Grose  moved  up.  Davis  pushed  forward.  Four  guns  of  the 
Washington  battery,  a  celebrated  battery  from  New  Orleans, 
were  captured.  Crittenden's  corps  and  Davis'  division  re- 
occupied  the  ground  from  which  Van  Cleve  had  been 
driven,  but  the  fall  of  night  prevented  a  continuance  ot 
pursuit. 

The  Thirty-Fifth  behaved  splendidly  in  this  engagement, 
and  lost  fearfully.  One-third  of  its  ranks  fell,  with  Captains 
Kilroy,  Crowe  and  Prosser.  While  Prosser,  shot  through 
both  thighs,  lay  on  the  field  breathing  out  his  life,  he  retained 
his  command,  directing  and  encouraging  his  men. 

Thomas'  report  for  January  3,  opens  with  the  following 
paragraph : 


LIEUTENANT  COLONEL  SHANKLIN.  167 

"  Soon  after  daylight,  the  Forty-Second  Indiana,  on  picket 
in  a  clump  of  woods,  about  eight  hundred  yards  in  front  of 
our  lines,  was  attacked  by  a  brigade  of  the  enemy,  evidently 
by  superior  numbers,  and  driven  in  with  considerable  loss. 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Shanklin,  commanding  the  regiment, 
was  surrounded  and  taken  prisoner  while  gallantly  endeav 
oring  to  draw  off  his  men  under  the  fire  of  such  superior 
numbers.1' 

The  occurrence  is  thus  related  by  Colonel  Shanklin  in  a 
letter  hastily  written  with  a  pencil,  and  on  a  scrap  of  paper: 

"  I  was  taken  prisoner  this  morning  about  daylight  while 
out  on  picket  duty.  I  was  advancing  my  line  of  picket  ac 
cording  to  orders,  till  I  got  too  far  ahead,  and  was  close  to 
one  of  the  enemy's  batteries  before  I  knew  it.  The  regi 
ment  nearly  all  got  away.  I  was  in  the  fight  all  day  Wed 
nesday.  It  was  a  terrible  battle.  My  horse  was  shot  under 
me  early  in  the  day,  and  I  was  on  foot  all  day.  The  whole 
responsibility  devolved  on  me.  I  know  I  did  my  duty.  At 
night  my  feet  were  so  sore  that  I  could  scarcely  walk.  ,  The 
night  was  sleepless.  The  next  day  we  continued  skirmish 
ing.  The  next  night  we  had  no  sleep.  Friday,  the  same 
until  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  Rebels  made 
their  attack  on  our  left,  and  we  were  heavily  repulsed.  At 
half-past  ten  our  regiment  was  ordered  on  picket  with 
orders  to  keep  advancing  and  feel  the  enemy's  lines.  The 
men  had  eaten  nothing  for  two  days.  It  rained  steadily  all 
night.  We  were  always  wet  through.  At  dawn  the  enemy 
commenced  shelling  us  and  throwing  grape.  We  could  do 
nothing  but  leave  the  woods.  I  could  not  keep  up.  I  was 
utterly  worn  out.  My  feet  were  so  sore  that  I  was  almost  in 
different  whether  I  was  taken  or  shot.  Rebel  skirmishers, 
supported  by  a  whole,  brigade,  surrounded  Lieutenant  Schcr- 
merhorn  and  eight  of  our  men,  with  myself.  I  ordered  the 
men  not  to  fire,  as  resistance  would  be  useless,  and  surren 
dered.  The  Rebels  seemed  perfectly  satisfied,  made  no 
attempt  to  pursue  our  regiment,  and  their  cannon  ceased 
firing.  Had  they  followed  to  the  edge  of  the  woods  they 
could  have  shot  down  our  men  as  they  passed  over  the  open 
field,  half  mile  wide,  by  the  dozen.'1 


168  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  day  was  rainy.  The  ground  was  soaked  with  water. 
Both  armies  were  so  weary  that  but  little  of  either  skirmish 
ing  or  cannonading  occurred.  Batteries,  however,  were 
posted  on  the  left,  within  gunshot  of  Murfreesboro. 

In  the  rear,  Wheeler,  who  had  left  the  Rebel  front  at  nine 
the  previous  evening,  attacked  a  heavily  guarded  ordnance 
train,  but  was  defeated  and  driven  off. 

At  night  Thomas,  with  a  sharp  fire  of  artillery,  followed 
by  the  charge  of  four  regiments,  cleared  the  cedars  in  his 
front  of  skirmishers,  and  captured  a  number  of  prisoners. 
Our  Eighty-Eighth,  which  was  one  of  the  charging  regiments, 
suffered  heavily.  Colonel  Humphrey  received  a  severe  bay 
onet  wound.  Sunday  morning  no  advance  was  made,  and 
no  enemy  appeared.  Cavalry  was  sent  out  to  reconnoitre, 
and  burial  parties  were  detailed. 

It  war  soon  evident  that  the  enemy  had  retreated,  and  that 
the  victory,  or  at  least  the  battle  ground,  was  incontestably 
our.^.  It  was  bought  at  a  terrible  price.  The  army,  through 
the  mouth  of  its  leader,  humbly  ascribed  the  glory  to  one 
higher  than  man:  "Not  unto  us,  O  God,  not  unto  us,  but 
to  Thy  name  give  the  glory." 

The  total  Union  loss  on  Stone  river  was  eleven  thousand 
six  hundred  and  fifty-eight.  The  total  Rebel  loss,  as  given 
by  General  Bragg  in  his  official  report,  was  fourteen  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  men.  The  Union  killed  were  one  thou 
sand  five  hundred  and  thirty-three ;  wounded,  seven  thousand 
two  hundred  and  forty-five;  missing,  two  thousand  eight 
hundred.  Of  this  loss  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  fell 
to  the  share  of  Indiana. 

None  of  our  regiments  numbered  five  hundred  before  the 
battle,  and  some  could  not  count  three  hundred. 

The  Thirty-Ninth  lost  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  killed 
and  wounded.  On  the  morning  of  the  first  day  company  I 
lost  seven  killed,  seventeen  captured,  twelve  of  whom  were 
wounded,  and  nine  wounded  not  captured — total  thirty -eight, 
being  the  heaviest  loss  sustained  by  any  company  in  the 
army  on  that  dreadful  day.  This  company  which  suffered 
so  heavily  was  the  oldest  of  all  Indiana  military  organiza 
tions,  having  been  the  first  to  offer  its  services  to  Governor 


AFTER  THE  BATTLE.  169 

Morton  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  having  removed 
unbroken,  and  with  the  same  designation,  from  the  Sixth,  on 
its  return  from  West  Virginia,  to  the  Thirty-Ninth.  Of 
Lieutenant  Neal,  who  fell  at  the  first  onset  of  the  enemy, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Jones  says:  "No  truer  gentleman,  no 
better  soldier  nor  braver  man  belongs  to  the  great  patriot 
army." 

The  same  officer  speaks  of  Surgeon  Gray  as  having  done 
all  that  mortal  man  could  do  for  the  wounded.  The  Thirty- 
Second  lost  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven. 

Many  of  the  noblest  soldiers  of  the-  Sixth  were  wounded 
or  killed. 

The  Twenty-Ninth  lost  fourteen  killed,  and  fifty-two 
severely  wounded,  beside  many  slightly  wounded,  and  many 
captured.  Lieutenant  Dunn  was  wounded  and  captured. 
Captain  Stebbins,  a  generous  and  manly  officer,  was  killed 
by  a  cannon  ball.  He  was  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  met 
his  death  but  a  few  miles  from  his  once  happy  home. 

The  Twenty-Second  lost  sixty-six.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Tanner,  left  on  the  field  wounded,  was  captured. 

The.  Eighty-First  lost  eighty-eight.  Of  Lieutenant  Mor 
gan,  who  was  killed,  a  comrade  writes:  "  He  was  one  of  those 
mild  and  yet  brave  men,  whom  to  know  is  to  respect  and 
love.  He  was  as  calm  as  a  summer's  morning,  when  a  Rebel 
bullet  struck  him,  and  his  sweet  spirit  passed  away." 

The  Thirty-Seventh  lost  131.  Lieutenant  Holman  was 
killed  by  a  shell.  Colonel  Hull  was  severely  wounded. 

Of  the  Thirty-Eighth,  Colonel  Scribner  says:  "I  am  sat 
isfied  that  it  would  have  suffered  extermination  rather  than 
have  yielded  its  ground  without  orders."  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel  Griffin  commends  its  patient  endurance  of  cold,  hunger 
and  fatigue  during  the  five  days  of  battle,  also  the  soldierly 
deportment  of  Major  Glover  and  Adjutant  Devol,  and  the 
untiring  faithfulness  of  Chaplain  Carson.  Captain  Fonts 
was  killed.  He  was  brave,  true  and  affectionate. 

The  Fifty-Eighth  lost  one  hundred  and  ten.  Lieutenant 
Blackford  was  killed.  Captains  Downey  and  Alexander 
were  badly  wounded. 

The  Eighty-Eighth  lost  fifty-six. 

The  Thirty-First  lost  fifty-five. 


170  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  Thirty-Sixth  lost  one  hundred  and  thirty-two.  Major 
Kinley  was  severely  wounded  early  in  the  action,  and  the 
command  devolved  on  Captain  Woodward,  who  says,  "Not 
a  man  of  the  Thirty-Sixth  flinched  during  the  eight  long 
hours  that  it  assisted  in  maintaining  the  position  against  the 
furious  assaults  of  the  enemy."  Captain  Shultz  was  mor 
tally  wounded. 

The  Fifty-First  lost  forty-nine. 

The  Seventy-Third  lost  one  hundred  and  four.  General 
Rosecrans  complimented  the  regiment  at  the  close  of  the  first 
day  for  its  courage.  * 

The  Fortieth  lost  eighty-five. 

The  Fifty-Seventh  lost  seventy-five.  The  Fifty-Seventh 
was  under  fire,  either  actively  engaged  or  supporting  a  bat 
tery,  during  ten  hours. 

The  Eighty-Sixth  lost  forty-eight.  Major  Dresser  was 
wounded  in  both  legs,  and  had  two  ribs  fractured,  and  his 
shoulder  dislocated  by  the  fall  of  his  horse. 

The  Thirty-Fifth  lost  one  hundred  and  thirty-four.  Captain 
Kilroy  was  killed,  Captain  Prosser  was  mortally  wounded, 
Captain  Crowe  was  also  wounded. 

The  Seventy- Ninth  lost  fifty-one. 

The  Forty-Second  lost  one  hundred  and  four,  including 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Shanklin,  captured. 

The  Forty-Fourth  lost  eighty-five,  including  Colonel  Will 
iams,  captured. 

Of  the  Ninth,  besides  privates,  of  which  the  number  is  not 
given,  Lieutenant  Kesler  was  killed,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Sum  an  was  wounded. 

Swallow  lost  twelve  from  his  battery,  Bush  lost  twenty-six, 
Simonson  Ibst  nineteen,  Cox  lost  five.  Estep's  battery  lost 
so  heavily  that  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  detail  from  in 
fantry  to  assist  in  working  the  guns,  but  the  number  has  not 
been  published.  One  man  in  Klein's  cavalry  was  killed. 

Orderly  Cook  of  the  Second  cavalry  resigned  his  horse  to 
his  General  when  the  horse  of  the  latter  was  shot.  Bugler 
Depenbrock,  together  with  a  Michigan  cavalryman,  received 
thanks  for  bringing  to  the  front  on  the  evening  of  the  thirty- 


FAILURE  IN  DUTY.  171 

first,  a  horse  for  Colonel  Minty,  who  was  on  foot  in  rear  of 
dismounted  skirmishers,  running  for  their  horses. 

Lieutenant  Wooten  was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  se 
verely  hurt,  yet  he  pressed  to  the  front  on  foot,  until  he 
obtained  another  horse,  and  remained  on  the  field  through 
out  the  engagement. 

The  following  Indiana  generals  and  colonels  in  command 
of  brigades  received  special  commendation  in  the  report  of 
Rosecrans:  Wood,  Hascall,  Cruft,  Davis,  Miller,  Grose  and 
Wagner.  Captain  Wiles,  of  the  Twenty-Second,  on  his 
staff,  he  also  commended. 

Dr.  Sherman,  a  brigade  surgeon,  distinguished  himself  by 
his  devotion  to  duty  in  circumstances  of  unusual  exposure. 

A  large  proportion  of  losses  from  the  regiments  belonging 
to  the  right  wing,  were  from  capture;  nevertheless,  the 
Thirty-Ninth,  which  lost  the  largest  number  of  prisoners,  two 
hundred  and  thirty-one,  had  also  the  most  killed,  thirty-one. 
The  killed  in  the  Thirty-Fifth  were  twenty-nine,  making  that 
regiment  second  to  the  Thirty-Ninth. 

The  Thirty-Seventh,  Thirty-Eighth,  Eighty-Sixth,  Eighty- 
Eighth  and  Forty-Second,  make  no  mention  of  loss  by  cap 
ture.  In  the  last,  however,  nine  were  taken  with  the  Colonel. 

There  were  one  or  two  little  bits  of  ignominy  in  connec 
tion  with  the  battle  of  Stone  river,  but  it  were  an  ungrate 
ful  task  to  record  them.  If,  to  nerve  himself  for  the  contest, 
the  soldier  drank  from  the  bewildering  bottle,  and  became  a 
senseless  clod,  or  if,  in  the  din,  and  dust,  and  smoke,  and 
death,  and  anguish,  he  dared  not  join  in  the  fell  charge,  and 
skulked  behind  a  rock  or  tree,  or  if  his  scared  and  numbed 
senses  took  no  note  of  orders  in  the  retreat,  and  he  fled  wildly, 
at  least  let  his  weakness  be  forgotten.  He  was  "in  the  ser 
vice."  In  cooler  moments  he  had  the  heart  to  serve  his 
country,  and  even  as  skulker  or  fugitive,  he  was  a  thousand 
times  better  than  the  traitor  who  staid  at  home  and  rejoiced 
in  Rebel  victories.  Moreover,  the  man  who  played  the  pol 
troon  in  one  battle,  was  not  incapable  of  being  a  valiant  sol 
dier  in  another.  So  inconsistent  is  human  nature.  He  who 
never  astonishes  himself  by  failure  in  the  stern  hour  of  trial 
has  reason  to  be  happy. 


172  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Darwin  Thomas,  of  the  Eighty-Sixth,  in  his  letters  home, 
gives  some  interesting  items  of  his  own  experience  in  the 
battle: 

"  We  left  our  camp  to  move  upon  the  enemy  without  tents, 
and  with  as  few  wagons  as  possible,  and  before  the  battle 
was  half  over  the  wagons  had  gone  in  haste  to  Nashville, 
taking  our  blankets  with  them.  So  we  were  left  in  the  rain 
the  remainder  of  the  time,  with  nothing  but  fire  for  shelter, 
and  some  nights,  when  near  the  enemy,  not  even  with  that 
Many  of  the  men  complained  of  such  fare,  but  I  stood  it  all 
with  ease. 

"It  seems  almost  astonishing  that  I  have  been  so  favored 
with  good  health.  I  have  already  passed  through  the  whole 
vocabulary  of  soldiers'  hardships,  and  have  been  sick  no  more 
than  I  should  have  been  at  home.  I  have  had  the  headache 
twice,  once  on  my  way  down  the  Ohio  from  Cincinnati,  and 
once  during  the  battle.  One  night  during  the  battle  we  all 
got  hungry  about  twelve  o'clock,  and  notwithstanding  I  was 
not  well,  I  started  back  to  Nashville  to  find  our  wagon,  and 
have  it  come  up,  but  I  was  so  tired  I  concluded  to  dismount 
and  sleep  awhile  in  a  fence  corner,  as  the  train  of  wagons 
was  moving  up,  and  I  could  wait  for  ours  to  come  along. 
I  took  a  nice  little  sleep  sitting  on  a  stone  with  my  head 
against  the  fence,  and  waked  up  with  my  head  almost  well, 
and  strange  to  say,  just  as  rny  wagon  was  passing.  We 
took  supper  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  slept  till  the 
cannon  waked  us  at  daylight  We  needed  no  other  reveille. 
But  before  night  many  of  our  poor  boys  went  to  sleep  again, 
and  arc  still  asleep  beneath  the  sod. 

"Just  at  twelve  on  the  night  of  the  thirty-first  we  were 
relieved  by  other  troops,  and  inarched  back  to  our  proper 
place  on  the  left,  leaving  our  poor  wounded  boys  calling  for 
help  on  the  disputed  field.  It  was  as  much  as  we  could  bear 
to  leave  companions,  with  whom  we  have  been  so  much  in 
the  long  march  through  Kentucky,  lying  helpless  on  the 
chilly  battle  field.  But  many  of  them  were  past  suffering. 

"On  the  second  Breckinridge  massed  a  force  in  close  col 
umn  thirty  thousand  strong,  and  charged  across  an  open  field 
in  our  front,  with  a  design  to  capture  our  division,  which  was 


"IT  SHALL  NOT  COME  NIGH  THEE."  173 

alone  across  the  river.  Then  came  what  is  said  to  be  the 
hardest  fighting  that  two  armies  can  do.  Bullets  flew  by 
the  bushel  from  artillery  and  musketry.  Fifty-two  of  our 
cannon  opened  upon  the  poor  fellows  who  are  made  to  per 
form  such  deeds  of  valor  through  fear  of  death.  No  field 
was  ever  so  blue  with  flying  lead.  Very  many  of  my  friends, 
and  those  whom  I  esteemed  on  account  of  their  bravery,  are 
among  the  dead.  One  of  the  staff  fell  badly  wounded,  and 
had  his  horse  killed, very  near  me.  Colonel  FyfTe  was  thrown 
from  his  horse,  and  dragged  some  distance.  I  was  with  him 
all  the  time  on  the  field,  but  all  the  little  flying  deaths 
missed  me." 

"Any  man  on  a  horse  was  a  target  for  the  sharpshooters, 
and  any  group  of  horsemen  for  the  artillery.  All  the  time 
we  were  not  in  action,  we  were  compelled  to  keep  behind 
hills,  so  that  we  could  not  be  seen  by  the  enemy's  glasses, 
and  even  then  to  shift  from  place  to  place.  Sharpshooters 
posted  in  trees  shot  at  us  nearly  a  whole  day.  You  can 
form  no  idea  of  such  a  battle  without  being  on  the  field 
where  you  can  see  a  hundred  pieces  of  artillery  posted  on 
all  the  commanding  points  along  a  line  extending  two  or 
three  miles  around  you;  lines  of  infantry  filling  all  the  low 
places,  the  enemy  advancing  in  solid  column  across  an 
open  field,  our  first  line  rising  from  the  ground  and  deliver 
ing  such  a  volley  of  musketry  as  to  make  you  think  every 
thing  under  the  sun  had  burst,  our  artillery  opening,  the 
enemy's  artillery  galloping  up  and  pouring  in  shot  and  shell. 
Why  you  never  heard  such  a  noise!  Any  amount  of  thun 
der  won't  compare  with  it.  But  when  you  are  in  the  midst 
of  the  firing,  you  don't  notice  the  big  noise  so  much  as  the 
meanest  of  all  sounds,  continually  going  past  your  ear,  with 
their  whiz,  whir,  zip,  spat  and  thug!  as  one  of  the  Minies 
hits  some  poor  fellow  and  sends  him  to  the  ground.  I  don't 
know  why  I  was  not  hit,  for  it  seemed  to  me  that  everybody 
was  shooting  at  me,  and  every  time  I  saw  a  man  fall  at  my 
side,  I  thought  the  ball  that  was  to  knock  me  oft'  was  right 
at  hand.  Even  after  the  hardest  of  the  fight  was  over,  and 
I  thought  myself  safe,  here  would  come  a  big  shell  across 
the  country,  and  tearing  up  the  ground,  fall  right  by  the  side 


174  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  me.  I  more  than  once  had  to  laugh  at  men,  who,  when 
walking  along,  would  hear  one  of  these  things  coming,  and 
squat  down  with  their  backs  turned  in  the  direction  of  the 
sound,  just  as  though  they  were  playing  'sock,'  and  run  when 
it  would  light,  but  not  to  pick  it  up." 

"  Many  citizens  were  wounded  in  the  battle.  They  go  limp 
ing  about  the  hospitals.  But  it  is  very  hard  to  distinguish 
citizens  from  soldiers,  as  they  all  wear  the  same  kind  of 
clothes,  such  as  they  are.  Their  clothes  alone  are  enough 
almost  to  declare  war  against  A  line  of  Rebels  marching 
through  the  woods  is  the  ugliest  sight  I  ever  saw.  A  great 
deal  of  the  hatred  entertained  by  our  men  toward  them, 
I  suppose,  arises  from  the  fact  that  they  are  so  dangerous. 
During  battle,  the  skirmishers  that  are  sent  in  front  of  each 
army  when  there  is  no  hard  fighting  going  on,  are  continu 
ally  shooting  at  one  another,  hiding  and  slipping  about  from 
tree  to  tree,  sometimes  to  see  which  can  get  the  advantage 
of  the  other.  In  this,  the  dirty  color  of  the  enemy's  clothes 
enables  them  to  move  about  without  so  much  danger  as  we 
are  in  with  our  light  blue  overcoats,  and  they  often  knock 
one  of  our  boys  over  without  being  seen.  When  the  battle 
comes,  they  are  so  much  better  than  their  appearance,  that 
they  fight  wonderfully,  but  they  are  compelled  to  do  it  by 
officers.  When  a  desperate  charge  is  to  be  made,  such  as 
was  made  upon  us  of  the  left  wing  by  Brcckinridge,  they 
form  their  columns  and  place  a  strong  guard  in  the  rear,  to 
shoot  every  man  who  attempts  to  fall  back  or  leave  the 
ranks.  An  army  that  is  kept  together  is  irresistible  when  it 
moves  with  celerity.  The  great  trouble  in  battles  is  to  keep 
men  together;  so  many  of  them  get  confused  and  don't 
shoot  with  good  effect,  but  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 
Very  few  men  keep  their  presence  of  mind  when  balls  are 
cutting  their  hair  and  tearing  their  clothes. 

"  Our  regiments  are  all  very  small  since  the  battle,  many 
were  wounded,  and  many  arc  sick.  The  four  regiments  in 
our  brigade  average  about  three  hundred  men  for  duty.  If 
the  convalescents  were  all  up  from  Nashville,  and  the  sick 
from  the  other  places  ever  get  well  and  come  up,  the  Eighty- 
Sixth  will,  perhaps,  number  five  hundred  men.  Only  half 


SURGEONS  AND  NURSES.  175 

the  in  en  who  leave  home  are  fit  for  service.  The  officers  re 
sign  and  go  home,  and  the  privates  die.  A  regiment  of  five 
hundred  men,  well  drilled,  which  has  had  all  the  poor  men 
sifted  out  by  service,  is  worth  two  new  regiments  of  a  thou 
sand  men  each. 

"It  made  me  feel  sad  last  night  as  I  was  making  out  the 
list  of  casualties  in  our  brigade,  to  write  'killed'  opposite  the 
names  of  many  of  the  boys  by  whose  side  I  had  so  often 
inarched,  and  eaten,  and  slept,  and  who  had  talked  to  me  so 
often  of  when  the  'war  is  over,  and  we  get  home.'" 

While  the  battle  of  Stone  river  was  still  in  progress,  Gov 
ernor  Morton  despatched  from  Indiana  surgeons  and  nurses 
to  the  relief  of  the  wounded.  Dr.  Bobbs  left  Indianapolis 
Saturday  night,  January  2,  and  left  Louisville  the  next  day 
with  eighteen  gentlemen  of  his  profession  under  his  direction. 
He  pursued  the  line  of  the  railroad,  but  in  consequence  of 
Morgan's  recent  raid,  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  a  passenger  car 
but  a  small  part  of  the  way,  being  compelled  to  resort  first 
to  a  freight  car,  next  to  a  wood  wagon,  and  at  last  to  pro 
ceed  on  foot.  The  company  was  further  prepared  for  sym 
pathy  with  the  soldier  by  reaching  Nashville  near  midnight, 
cold,  hungry  and  unprovided  for.  As  but  a  single  ambulance 
could  be  obtained  the  next  morning,  only  six  of  the  surgeons 
were  able  to  proceed  on  their  journey.  The  day  after,  how 
ever,  the  remainder,  except  Dr.  Bobbs,  who  was  recalled, 
followed  to  Murfreesboro. 

Meantime,  the  nurses,  twenty-eight  warm-hearted  Chris 
tian  women,  chiefly  from  Indianapolis,  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Merritt,  one  of  the  most  devoted  and  able  of  the  Sanitary 
Agents,  traveled  up  the  Cumberland.  Their  smooth  jour 
neying  was  varied  by  an  exchange  of  dinners  with  an  equal 
number  of  soldiers  who  were  aboard  the  same  steamboat. 
The  soldiers  partook  of  the  delicate  and  sumptuous  meal 
usually  prepared  for  passengers,  with  the  unusual  attendance 
of  ladies  behind  their  chairs.  They  then,  with  more  honesty 
than  gallantry,  insisted  that  their  fair  attendants  should  eat 
fat  pork  and  "hard  tack"  off  their  bruised  and  battered  tin 
plates,  and  drink  coffee,  sweetened  with  brown  sugar  taken 
from  a  tin  pan  without  spoons,  out  of  their  tin  cups,  a  lost 


176  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

one  of  which  was  replaced  by  an  old  oyster  can.  The 
"  serio-ludicro-tragico-comico  "  affair  no  doubt  gave  the  ladies 
the  same  lesson  which  the  hungry  and  shivering  doctors 
conned,  while,  with  spectacle  on  nose,  they  ran  around 
Nashville  at  midnight,  seeking  food  and  lodging. 

Seven  of  the  ladies  were  immediately  sent  back  from 
Nashville  on  board  boats  loaded  with  wounded.  The  others 
were  divided  between  Nashville  and  Murfresboro.  As  all 
the  nurses  and  surgeons  were  devoted  in  their  attentions,  as 
hospital  supplies  were  abundant,  and  all  the  churches  and 
other  public  houses  which  could  be  made  comfortable  were 
assigned  to  their  use,  the  wounded  suffered  less  from  neglect 
than  after  any  previous  battle,  at  least  in  the  West. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Shanklin,  who  was  captured  January 
3,  never  returned  to  the  army.  He  was  detained  a  short 
time  at  Chattanooga,  also  at  Atlanta,  and  w^as  eventually 
confined  in  Libby  prison.  He  was  of  an  exceedingly  sensi 
tive,  tender  and  loving  nature,  and  gradually  became  a  prey 
to  melancholy. 

April  19,  1863,  he  wrote  to  his  wife:  "I  have  seen  each 
boat  leave,  with  bitter  disappointment.  It  is  four  months 
and  over  since  I  heard  a  word  from  you.  If  I  get  off,  I  shall 
go  straight  home.  I  want  once  more  to  know  what  home  is." 

He  reached  the  home  which  he  had  remembered  wkbQt"- 
utterable  tenderness  in  the  camp,  on  the  march,  on  the  weary 
field  of  blood,  and  in  the  crowded  prison,  and  he  saw  once 
more  the  gentle  being  who  was  "dear  as  the  ruddy  drops 
which  visited  his  sad  heart."  She  urged  him,  his  mother 
and  other  friends  entreated  him,  to  resign  his  commission, 
not  again  to  expose  a  life  now  more  than  ever  precious. 
"No/'  he  replied,  "in  what  better  cause  can  I  peril  my  life? 
Somebody  must  die,  why  not  I?  Gladly  would  I  die,  if  I 
felt  that  my  death  would  aid  the  cause  of  my  country." 

But  the  choice  was  not  left  him.  A  higher  power  with 
drew  him  from  the  strife  of  earth  to  the  heavenly  Savior  he 
had  learned  in  his  sorrows  to  love.  Disease  attacked  him 
within  forty-eight  hours  after  his  return,  and  his  system,  im 
poverished  by  the  privations  of  prison,  succumbed  without  a 
struggle  on  the  twenty-third  of  May,  1863. 


"THE  MAN'S  THE  GOWD  FOR  A'  THAT."  177 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM  JANUARY  TO  JUNE  IN  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND. 

On  the  fifth  of  January,  1863,  the  army  of  the  Cumberland 
advanced  to  Murfreesboro,  where  it  remained  until  the  last 
of  June,  finding  its  chief  occupation  in  repairing  roads  and 
building  fortifications,  in  scouting,  foraging,  and  escorting 
trains,  while  it  did  not  neglect  the  study  of  the  art  of  war. 
The  new  regiments  were  extremely  diligent  in  drilling,  the 
battle  having  sharply  convinced  them  of  the  value  of  military 
knowledge.  Very  strong  fortifications  were  thrown  up  round 
Murfreesboro,  and  at  other  points  as  they  were  occupied. 
General  Rosecrans  made  use  of  every  means  to  promote  effi 
ciency.  He  was  lavish  of  praise  to  the  meritorious,  and 
utterly  ruthless  toward  the  undeserving.  Before  the  advance 
to  Stone  river  he  sent  to  the  parole  camp  in  Indianapolis, 
with  nightcaps  on  their  heads,  fifty  men  who  had  unjustifia 
bly  surrendered  to  the  enemy. 

v^n  the  morning  of  December  31,  while  the  battle  was  in 
progress,  several  company  commanders  of  the  Eighty-Sixth 
Indiana  requested  Colonel  Fyffe  to  put  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Dick  in  command  of  the  regiment,  stating  that  they  had  not 
confidence  in  Colonel  Hamilton.  Fyffe  rode  immediately  to 
Colonel  Hamilton,  and  desired  him  to  perform  certain  move 
ments  with  his  regiment.  Hamilton  excused  himself,  saying 
that  Colonel  Dick  had  been  in  the  habit  of  drilling  the  men. 
He  was  ordered  under  arrest,  but  he  so  earnestly  entreated  to 
be  allowed  to  remain  on  the  field,  subordinate  to  Colonel 
Dick,  that  the  order  was  withdrawn,  and  his  sword  was 
returned  to  him.  His  deportment  throughout  that  trying 
day  was  heroic.  The  very  men  who  had  complained  of  him 
could  not  refuse  their  admiration. 

When  it  came  to  the  ears  of  General  Rosecrans  that  Ham- 
12 


178  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

iitou  had  been  arrested  on  the  field  for  incompetency,  he 
seized  upon  it  as  an  opportunity  to  show  to  the  officers  of  the 
army  that  he  intended  to  have  them  perform  their  duty  if  it 
cost  half  of  them  their  heads,  and  immediately  issued  an 
order  dismissing  the  Colonel  from  the  service. 

Colonel  Hamilton,  like  nearly  all  his  brother  officers,  was 
inexperienced  and  unlearned  in  military  matters,  when,  with 
a  raw  regiment,  he  was  compelled  to  hasten  to  the  field.  He 
joined  Buell's  army  at  Louisville,  and  had  no  opportunity 
during  the  long  and  hard  march  through  Kentucky  to  instruct 
either  himself  or  his  men.  At  the  end  of  the  march  he  wel 
comed  to  the  second  place  in  his  command  Colonel  Dick,  a 
thorough  military  tactician,  and  an  experienced  soldier,  and 
allowed  the  instruction  of  the  regiment  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  one  so  well  fitted  for  the  work.  Such  was  the  fault  for 
which  he  was  publicly  disgraced.  Whether  it  was  due,  in 
addition  to  the  circumstances  over  which  Hamilton  had  no 
control,  to  deficiency  in  energy  or  to  excess  of  modesty,  it 
was  expiated  in  the  front  line  of  the  bloody  battle  on  Stone 
river. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  February,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  a  Lieutenant  of  the  Thirty- Seventh  Indiana  was 
marched  by  the  guard  to  the  front  of  his  regiment,  which 
had  been  formed  on  the  color  line.  He  was  halted  and  com 
pelled  to  stand  while  he  was  stripped  of  his  shoulder  straps 
and  an  order  was  read  dishonorably  dismissing  him  from  the 
service  of  the  United  States  for  abandoning  his  company  in 
the  midst  of  action. 

General  Rosecrans  endeavored  to  form  a  Roll  of  Honor 
of  men  conspicuous  for  manly  and  soldierly  virtues.  For 
that  purpose  he  issued  an  order  that  two  privates  and  one 
non-commissioned  officer  should  be  chosen  from  each  com 
pany  in  the  army,  one  commissioned  officer  from  each  regi 
ment,  and  one  field  officer  from  each  brigade.  The  order 
was  disapproved  by  the  Department.  The  General  accord 
ingly  relinquished  a  distinct  organization,  but  he  was  unwill 
ing  that  the  men  who  had  been  placed  upon  the  Roll  of 
Honor  should  remain  undistinguished  in  the  common  throng, 
and  he  directed  them  to  wear  a  red  ribbon  in  their  button 


TROOPS  BROUGHT  UP  FROM  THE  REAR.        179 

hole.  They  were  indifferent,  however,  to  the  distinction,  or 
at  least  to  the  device.  The  American  soldier  sometimes 
depreciates  empty  and  useless  honors.  The  power  which 
thrills  his  soul  and  nerves  his  arm  is  not  Glory,  but  Duty. 

The  army  was  reinforced  chiefly  from  the  troops  which 
had  been  guarding  Kentucky.  General  Reynolds  with  the 
greater  part  of  his  division  arrived  early  in  January. 
The  Nineteenth  battery,  after  a  heavy  march,  reached  Stone 
river  the  day  after  the  last  engagement.  With  the  One 
Hundred  and  First  regiment,  which  followed,  it  was  put  in 
Hall's  brigade,  of  Reynolds'  division.  The  Eighteenth  bat 
tery,  which  reached  the  front  nearly  at  the  same  time,  and 
the  Seventeenth  and  Seventy-Second  regiments,  were  put  in 
Wilder's  brigade,  which  included,  also,  the  Seventy-Sixth 
Indiana  and  the  Ninety-Eighth  and  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-Third  Illinois. 

Colonel  Coburn's  brigade,  including  the  Thirty- Third  and 
Eighty-Fifth,  arrived  in  February,  and  was  thrown  forward 
to  Brentwood.  The  Sixty-Eighth  and  Eighty-Fourth  and 
Fourth  cavalry  were  brought  up  from  the  rear  during  the 
course  of  the  spring,  and  the  Eighty-Fourth  was  advanced 
to  Franklin. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  January  the  army  was  divided  into 
three  corps, — the  Fourteenth,  Twentieth  and  Twenty-First, 
commanded  by  Thomas,  Me  Cook  and  Crittenden. 

The  heavy  rains  of  winter  greatly  restrained  the  action  of 
the  army,  and  enforced  the  monotony  of  prolonged  camp  life. 

The  soldiers  pen,  in  letters  home  and  in  his  diary,  portrays 
his  manner  of  living,  and,  at  the  same  time,  unconsciously 
betrays  the  noble  patience  of  his  character. 

Extracts  from  letters  of  Darwin  Thomas: 

"  I  wish  I  could  see  the  faintest  prospect  of  peace.  Every 
time  I  see  the  word  peace  I  look  at  it  as  the  prettiest  word  I 
have  ever  seen.  When  will  it  come?  If  the  war  continues 
long  I  don't  expect  to  see  the  time,  for  such  fighting  as  is 
done  now  will  soon  kill  every  man.  I  don't  know  where  the 
enemy  has  gone.  I  hope  a  good  way  off. 

"  Murfreesboro  has  been  quite  a  place  for  business,  and  has 
had,  I  should  think,  about  two  thousand  inhabitants,  but 


180  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

there  is  no  business  done  now,  and  nearly  all  the  houses 
seem  empty.  As  we  came  through  I  saw  only  about  a  half 
a  dozen  women;  one  of  these  was  in  a  great  rage  on  account 
of  having  to  do  her  own  washing,  since  we  had  coaxed  her 
negroes  away.  She  was  a  nice  looking  woman,  but  consid 
erably  ruffled  as  she  rubbed  away  at  the  wash-board,  growl 
ing  about  the  'blue  coats.'" 

"  We  are  intrenching  vigorously  in  our  front,  and  forward 
ing  with  some  speed  the  fortifications  inside  of  our  lines.  It 
would  surprise  you  to  see  the  works  that  are  begun,  the 
strongest  kind  of  earthworks,  and  inside  of  these  are  block 
houses,  made  of  the  largest  sized  trees,  also,  magazines  and 
water  tanks.  If  we  are  allowed  time  to  finish  them  we  can 
certainly  withstand  the  attack  of  the  whole  Confederacy. 
You  must  remember,  too,  that  away  out  in  front  of  all 
these  works  is  that  same  army  which  gave  the  Rebels  such  a 
pounding  not  long  ago  in  the  open  field,  and  made  them  run 
from  their  own  ground. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  are  uneasy  about  me.  When  you  think 
of  the  hardships  I  am  liable  to,  you  must  remember  that  I 
am  stout  both  in  heart  and  body;  and  of  the  danger,  that  it 
is  inevitable.  Let  your  first  hope  be  that  I  may  do  my  duty, 
and  then,  if  you  choose,  that  I  may  be  spared  to  see  you 
again.  Soldiering  is  not  so  hard  as  it  is  often  represented  to 
the  people  at  home.  A  person  gets  used  to  it,  and  if  he  has 
good  health,  can  get  along  very  well  since  it  must  be  en 
dured.  I  have  not  been  disappointed  in  the  work,  nor  am  I 
in  the  prospect  of  the  duration  of  the  war.  No  dark  hour 
discourages  me,  for  I  think  it  may  be  the  hour  just  before  the 
dawn.  I  believe  the  only  way  of  settling  the  cause  is  by 
war,  and  with  an  army  in  the  South,  and  a  worse  gang  of 
traitors  in  the  North,  to  fight,  there  is  no  telling  what  will 
come  to  pass.  I  should  like  above  all  things  to  be  at  home, 
but  I  should  not  be  contented  there  while  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  man  to  be  in  the  army.  Every  one  can  see  that  the 
country  must  be  saved,  that  it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  the 
human  race  for  us  to  fail  in  this  war.  If  we  do  fail  it  will 
be  because  there  are  more  traitors  than  patriots  in  the  coun 
try,  which  can  scarcely  be  true." 


RIGHTEOUS  WRATH. 

"In  answer  to  your  inquiries.  First,  the  Sabbaths  are 
spent  just  as  other  days  are.  Second,  I  have  but  very  little 
to  eat,  no  fruit  nor  vegetables.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
the  people  at  home  would  send  to  the  army  canned  fruit, 
butter  and  so  forth,  marked,  Sanitary  Stores.  The  sick  often 
die,  I  am  sure,  just  for  want  of  something  that  they  can  eat. 
They  get  low-spirited  when  they  think  of  home,  and  go  right 
down.  You  may  believe  all  you  hear  about  sick  soldiers." 

"The  rain  is  checked  up  for  a  day  or  two,  and  the  weather 
is  pleasant  and  spring  like.  The  grass  is  growing,  the  birds 
are  singing,  the  soldiers  have  nice,  new  clothes,  which  they 
very  much  needed  after  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  week's  fight 
ing,  and  lying  down  flat  in  the  mud,  either  to  hide  from  the 
enemy,  or  at  night  to  sleep.  It  always  rains  half  the  time 
at  least  during  so  long  a  battle,  and  you  can  imagine  how 
much  damage  is  done  to  the  clothes  of  men  who  must  be 
out  night  and  day.  The  paymaster  is  here,  too,  and  by  the 
time  we  are  all  paid  the  army  will  be  in  'never  a  better  con 
dition.'  Our  pickets  are  kept  strong.  Picketing,  foraging, 
and  working  on  the  fortifications  are  regular  employments. 
No  regiment  gets  more  than  one  or  two  days'  rest  in  a  week." 

o  J 

"Our  cavalry  are  doing  fine  business,  scouting  through  the 
country  in  every  direction,  pitching  into  the  enemy  just  as  he 
did  into  us  at  Nashville." 

"  You  ask  how  much  pay  I  get.  I  have  never  inquired. 
I  am  not  particular  what  I  get,  so  that  it  pays  my  expenses. 
A^man  in  the  army,  exposed  to  death  all  the  time,  don't 
care  much  for  expenses  unless  he  has  some  one  at  home  to 
support." 

"How  are  the  sympathizers  in  Indiana  by  this  time?  I 
should  not  be  surprised  if  they  should  get  discouraged  in 
their  attempts  ere  long,-  for  stopping  the  war  is  not  going  to 
be  so  popular  as  they  hoped.  The  men  in  this  army  are 
going  to  make  it  a  regular  business  to  hang  all  who  did  not 
support  them  while  fighting  to  save  their  homes  from  inva 
sion,  and  while  guarding  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  peace; 
and  all  who  have  written  letters  to  soldiers  trying  to  render 
them  discontented  and  insubordinate,  are  to  be  hanged  by 
the  heels.  A  letter  was  received  by  one  of  our  boys  not  long 


182  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

ago,  stating  that  the  object  of  the  war  was  changed;  that  the 
change  of  sentiment  in  the  North  was  surprising;  that  not 
another  recruit  could  be  raised  in  Warren  county,  either  vol 
unteer  or  drafted,  and  many  things  against  the  Administra 
tion  that  are  calculated  to  poison  the  minds  of  those  who  are 
as  weak  as  the  writer  is  traitorous.  The  man  who  wrote 
the  letter  shed  tears  last  spring,  and  said  that  the  time  had 
come  for  every  man  to  do  something.  But  as  soon  as  the 
country  is  saved  from  a  draft,  and  his  sons  are  in  no  danger, 
he  does  everything  he  can  against  the  operations  of  the  army. 
If  such  conduct  is  persisted  in  to  any  considerable  extent,  the 
object  of  the  war  will  be  changed,  and  the  seat  of  war,  too. 

"Put  aside  the  idea  of  closing  the  war  in  a  few  months 
or  a  few  years.  Let  the  time  be  nothing,  and  the  object 
everything.  The  Government  will  be  very  fortunate  if  it 
succeeds  in  putting  down  the  rebellion  in  any  length  of  time, 
or  at  any  cost,  other  than  an  overrunning  of  the  Northern 
States  by  hostile  armies,  and  the  desolation  of  the  homes  of 
good  people  as  the  homes  of  Rebels  are  here.  Even  at  this 
cost  the  Government  will  be  sustained,  for  there  are  now 
enough  men  who  see  that  to  allow  the  States  to  be  divided 
is  to  lose  their  country — to  fight  till  all  learn.  Preparations 
for  war  should  be  as  active  as  when  the  war  began.  I  hope 
none  among  Republicans  will  become  weak-kneed,  and  thus 
consent  to  prolong  the  war." 

"  Sunday  in  this  country  is  hard  to  distinguish  from  other 
days.  Many  soldiers  let  it  pass  by  unnoticed,  but  I  have  not 
been  so  long  in  the  army  but  that  I  feel  a  little  decenter,  and 
fancy,  as  I  did  when  a  boy,  that  the  sun  shines  a  little 
brighter  than  during  the  week.  General  Rosecrans  always 
observes  the  Sabbath  when  it  is  possible.  On  our  march 
from  Nashville  we  rested  on  that  day,  and  after  the  battle, 
on  Sunday  morning,  before  he  knew  that  the  enemy  had 
gone,  he  determined  not  to  renew  the  contest  till  Monday." 

"The  weather  is  quite  cold,  and  I  am  glad  that  I  have  a 
house  to  live  in.  When  we  leave  here  I  shall  have  myself 
to  break  in  again.  Before  I  got  to  Nashville  I  felt  as  if  I 
could  march  all  over  creation  in  a  few  days  if  my  boots  were 
good." 


"WHERE  IS  MY  MOTHER?"  1Q3 

"  It  would  do  me  no  good  to  see  some  one  from  home,  and 
afford  the  one  who  should  come  but  little  pleasure.  I  notice 
quite  a  number  of  ladies  here  visiting  their  husbands.  Colo 
nel  Hawkins'  wife  spent  four  weeks  with  him  just  before  the 
battle,  and  started  home  when  he  started  for  the  field.  He 
was  almost  the  first  man  killed  in  our  brigade.  He  was 
Colonel  of  the  Thirteenth  Ohio,  and  is  one  of  the  men  I  am 
going  to  talk  about  when  I  get  home.  Colonel  Fyffe  sent 
me  to  him  the  night  before  the  battle  to  tell  him  to  be  ready 
to  march  straight  into  Murfreesboro  early  in  the  morning. 
He  replied:  "Some  of  us  may  get  there."  It  was  in  the 
first  of  the  battle  that  I  saw  his  horse  leaving  the  field  with 
out  a  rider." 

"  Mother,  it  pleases  me  very  much  on  opening  a  letter,  to 
see  your  hand-writing.  If  you  could  see  what  I  have  seen, 
you  would  not  think  it  necessary  to  ask  your  son  for  a  prom 
inent  place  in  his  heart.  Every  soldier  thinks  of  his  mother 
first.  The  dying  soldier  never  forgets  to  mention  her.  In 
the  first  part  of  the  battle,  we  rode  past  a  young  man  of  the 
Rebel  army,  who  was  lying  alone  on  the  field.  His  face 
was  covered  with  blood  from  a  wound  in  his  head.  He  was 
calling  for  his  mother.  "Where  is  my  mother?  I  must  see 
my  mother."  We  set  him  up,  gave  him  a  drink,  and  passed 
on.  I  presume  his  troubles  were  soon  ended." 

"  Dear  mother:  How  rich  I  feel  every  time  I  write  the  word 
mother!  After  giving  up  everything  as  I  have  done,  and 
counting  everything  lost,  I  don't  believe  I  could  live  if  1 
were  not  cheered  by  the  thought  that  I  still  have  a  mother. 
I  can  look  ahead  and  face  the  enemy,  but  I  can't  look  back 
to  the  home  of  my  childhood  without  emotion." 

I  am  very  anxious  about  the  success  of  our  arm?,  but  am 
satisfied  to  leave  the  matter  to  those  who  have  the  control 
of  our  affairs,  and  I  will  try  to  be  'patient  of  cold,  of  hunger 
and  of  watching,'  till  peace  shall  come." 

"May  17.  Well,  we  have  been  sorely  defeated  again  in 
Virginia.  I  wish  they  would  stop  fighting  there,  sacrificing 
men  for  nothing.  That  army  had  better  lie  still  a  year  or 
two  yet,  until  the  Administration  can  comprehend  the  mag 
nitude  of  the  work  and  provide  the  necessary  means  to  per- 


184  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

form  it.  I  expect  it  will  be  necessary  to  allow  the  enemy  to 
invade  the  free  States  yet  in  order  to  arouse  the  country  to 
a  sense  of  its  danger.  No  man  ought  to  be  contented  at 
home  now;  but  the  people  have  gone  to  sleep  again  through 
out  the  North,  or  they  are  quietly  wondering  if  this  war  will 
ever  come  to  an  end,  while  their  friends  are  suffering  and 
dying  far  from  home." 

"We  have  all  been  cheered  up  within  the  past  few  days 
by  good  news  from  home,  brought  to  us  by  T.  Buchanan 
Read,  of  Cincinnati.  He  addressed  our  brigade  yesterday. 
He  commenced  by  saying:  "Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  I  come  to  you  the  bearer  of  good  news.  I 
come  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  to  tell 
you  that  you  are  not  forgotten,"  &c.  Then  he  read  the  reso 
lutions  adopted  at  the  mass  meetings  held  in  Cincinnati  and 
Indianapolis,  also  a  letter  which  Governor  Morton  had  writ 
ten  to  him  on  hearing  that  he  was  about  to  start  to  the 
army,  asking  him  to  say  for  him  to  the  soldiers,  that  they 
should  have  the  support  of  Indiana,  whatever  the  conse 
quences  might  be.  You  ought  to  hear  the  shouts  of  the 
soldiers  from  all  States  whenever  Governor  Morton  is  men 
tioned.  The  name  of  Rosecrans  can  scarcely  raise  a  louder 
shout.  Mr.  Read  gave  us  every  assurance  that  we  should 
be  defended  in  the  rear  while  fighting  the  enemy  in  front. 
Our  army  is  daily  becoming  more  efficient  on  account  of 
discipline  and  better  regulations.  But  everything  depends 
on  the  loyalty  of  the  people,  for  bravery  and  discipline  will 
not  shield  the  army  from  bullets  nor  from  sickness,  and  the 
ranks  must  be  recruited." 

It  was  cruel  that  our  self-sacrificing  soldiers  should  be 
offended  and  afflicted  by  disloyalty  in  the  North.  Their  let 
ters  invariably  show  the  keenest  feeling  in  regard  to  the 
subject. 

In  the  previous  November  Henry  Williams  wrote  to  his 
father:  "It  is  galling  in  the  worst  degree  to  think  of  the 
result  of  the  elections.  As  Ed.  Edsall,  of  the  Thirtieth,  re 
marked  to  me  the  other  day:  'The  treason  sympathizers 
have  conquered,'  and  further:  'Old  Abe  will  have  to  end 
the  war  speedily,  or  the  next  Congress  will  do  it  for  him,  and 


"SAIL  ON,  0  UNION,  STRONG  AND  GREAT  » 

in  a  way  of  its  own.'  If  the  soldiers  could  come  home  sud 
denly,  some  men  would  tremble  in  their  shoes.  Soldiers  can 
wish  for  nothing  better  than  to  feast  over  the  political  death 
of  high  traitors  at  home.  With  many  it  should  be  a  social 
as  well  as  political  expulsion." 

Again,  six  months  later:  "I  could  not  rest  quietly  at 
home  until  the  Rebellion  is  entirely  crushed,  or  on  the 
straight  road  to  destruction;  much  less  could  I  live  where 

O  ' 

half  the  people  are  virtually  traitors.  The  army  is  the  nat 
ural  receptacle  for  the  outraged  patriotism  of  young  men. 

"  Many  a  Rebel  has  suffered  from  the  ire  engendered  by 
the  treachery  of  Northern  Copperheads.  Since  opposition  to 
the  war  has  assumed  a  definite  shape,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
our  soldiers  fight  with  more  determination  than  ever  before." 

Palmer  Dunn,  who  was  captured  at  Stone  river,  but  re 
leased  on  parole,  and  was  allowed  to  return  to  his  home  on 
account  of  his  wound,  wrote  on  the  twenty-second  of  Feb 
ruary  to  his  brother: 

"It  is  Washington's  birth  day.  Well  do  I  remember  how 
it  was  celebrated  two  years  ago  at  Miami  University.  And 
to-day  all  the  students  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  that 
celebration  are  in  the  Union  army  to  help  sustain  the  senti 
ments  they  there  uttered.  Truly  did  Professor  Sering  tell  us 
that  we  were  then  living  in  *  stormy  times.'  The  storm  has 
abated  none  during  the  two  years.  It  has  increased  in  vio 
lence.  The  waves  are  larger  and  the  wind  is  blowing  a  per 
fect  gale.  Our  good  old  ship,  now  crippled,  seems  drifting 
at  the  mercy  of  the  wind.  But  there  are  brave  hearts  and 
stout  arms  on  board,  straining  every  nerve  and  muscle  to 
control  the  vessel,  and  with  God's  help  the  good  ship  will 
safely  reach  the  port  with  all  on  board. 

"I  sometimes  feel  discouraged  when  I  find  so  many  of  our 
young  men  apparently  so  little  interested  in  the  war,  seeming 
to  have  no  idea  of  the  greatness  of  the  cause  for  which  we 
are  contending. 

"  I  am  in  hopes  that  the  conscription  act  will  be  passed  by 
Congress  this  session.  I  wish  to  see  every  possible  effort 
put  forth  by  our  Government  to  bring  the  war  to  an  honor 
able  and  speedy  termination.  There  must  be  but  one  way, 


186  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

that  is  to  conquer  the  South,  and  make  it  return  to  its  allegi 
ance.  Let  our  States  assure  their  soldiers  that  their  hearts 
and  prayers  are  with  them.  Let  them  vote  men  and  money. 
Let  each  and  all  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  thus  prov 
ing  to  the  Government  their  undivided  loyalty  and  earnest 
ness.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  Union  be  restored." 

Extracts  from  the  diary  of  Captain  Shook,  of  the  Thirty- 
Seventh  : 

"January  11.  Our  chaplain  preached  the  funeral  sermon 
of  twenty-six  of  the  men  of  our  regiment  who  were  killed  in 
the  action  before  Murfreesboro.  His  text  was :  '  The  last 
enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death.' " 

"January  14.  I  visited  the  battle  ground.  Dead  horses 
were  everywhere.  The  trees  were  torn  and  twisted  by  can 
non  balls.  Bushes  and  limbs  were  shot  to  pieces.  Graves 
of  men  were  thick  over  the  whole  field.  But  a  few  days 
ago  those  who  now  lie  slumbering  here,  were  full  of  life, 
health  and  hope.  In  a  few  moments  they  were  cut  clown, 
their  earthly  career  ended,  their  places  in  our  ranks  left  blank, 
and  their  hearth  stones  at  home  left  desolate.  With  no  mon 
ument  to  tell  the  passer  by,  many  brave  and  noble  boys  rest 
here,  far  away  from  home.  This  was  a  sad  and  dreadful 
contest  for  our  little  regiment.  The  regiment  did  its  whole 
duty.  Although  the  first  fight,  the  men  fought  like  heroes  of 
a  hundred  battles." 

"  Twenty-second.  Our  regiment  had  to  furnish  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  men  for  picket.  It  took  about  all  we  could 
raise.  Our  men  are  much  under  the  weather. 

"Twenty-fifth.  I  visited  the  burying  ground  and  the  grave 
of  Arthur  McCuen.  Poor  Arthur!  He  was  wounded  in  the 
thigh,  the  bone  badly  fractured.  He  bore  his  sufferings  with 
out  grumbling.  He  had  fought  bravely.  There  was  no  bet 
ter,  braver,  nor  more  upright  soldier. 

"  Twenty-eighth.  Ground  covered  with  snow,  air  piercing. 
We  have  to  furnish  pickets  again  to-day.  It  takes  all  the 
privates  to  fill  the  detail.  We  received  to-day  the  Despatch 
of  the  twenty-second,  containing  the  traitorous  resolutions  of 
Ed.  Ferris,  offered  in  the  Indiana  Legislature.  If  the  North 
is  to  be  divided  in  sentiment  and  action,  we  may  as  well 


THE  THIRTY-SEVENTH  ON  PICKET.  137 

give  up  the  old  ship  at  once.  It  makes  the  blood  boil  in  a 
soldier's  veins  to  think  that  he  has  left  his  home,  and  under 
gone  the  privations  and  dangers  of  a  seventeen  months'  cam 
paign,  to  have  all  he  has  done  counteracted  by  those  who 
should  be  his  friends. 

"  February  8.  The  news  from  the  North  is  rather  discour 
aging.  So  much  dissension  and  discord.  It  is  a  deplorable 
thing. 

"  Ninth.  All  the  privates  again  put  on  picket.  The  boys 
are  much  chagrined. 

"  Tenth.  All  able  for  duty  went  foraging.  It  appears  that 
we  are  doing  our  full  share  of  duty.  It  is  very  hard  on  the 
men. 

"  Twenty-fifth.  I  cannot  see  why  more  men  are  not  sick, 
considering  the  amount  of  duty  they  have  to  perform,  and 
the  weather.  At  least  every  third  day,  for  over  two  months, 
they  have  been  completely  drenched  with  rain,  and  have  been 
on  duty,  at  an  average,  every  alternate  day,  and  they  have 
improved  upon  it.  A  man  can  do  almost  anything." 

Henry  Campbell,  a  boy  in  years,  and  almost  child-like  in 
appearance,  yet  as  manly  in  endurance  and  action  as  the 
stoutest  of  his  comrades  in  Lilly's  battery,  describes  the  rainy 
weather  of  Murfreesboro : 

"The  weather  here  is  very  changeable,  raining  almost 
every  other  day.  It  will  be  clear  one  day,  and  the  next  morn 
ing  it  will  look  as  if  we  were  going  to  have  another  clear 
day,  when,  about  nine  o'clock,  it  will  begin  to  get  dark,  and 
about  ten  it  will  commence  raining.  It  commences  just  as 
easy  as  it  can;  first  one  or  two  drops,  then  stop,  then  a  little 
harder  till  it  gets  to  raining  steadily,  which  it  continues  to  do 
all  day  long." 

The  following  letters  are  from  members  of  the  Seventieth, 
which  remained  at  Gallatin  until  June,  when  it  advanced  to 
Lavergne : 

"  I  must  tell  you  about  my  visit  to  Mitchellsville,  and  hunt 
for  the  Captain's  trunk.  As  soon  as  I  heard  it  was  there  I 
proposed,  as  the  surest  and  quickest  way  of  getting  it,  to  go 
for  it  myself.  Getting  a  pass,  I  went  to  the  depot.  The 
morning  train  had  just  gone,  but  there  was  a  train  with  sol- 


188  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

diers  waiting  for  an  engine  to  go  up  to  Munfordsville.  The 
engine  came  just  as  the  tavern  bell  near  by  rang  for  dinner, 
so  I  jumped  on  the  train,  wood  cars,  and  was  off  without 
dinner.  We  passed  the  tunnel,  a  dark,  dismal,  dangerous 
thing,  and  switched  oft'  the  track  about  a  mile  further  on. 
The  soldiers,  Thirteenth  Kentucky,  got  off,  ran  about,  cracked 
hickory  nuts,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  themselves  hugely.  We 
were  waiting  for  the  passenger  train  from  the  North,  but 
three  and  four  o'clock  came,  and  no  train!  At  five  I  began 
to  be  uneasy.  What  under  heavens  was  best  to  be  done! 
It  was  getting  colder,  and  to  sleep  with  the  Kentucky  boys 
was  out  of  the  question.  I  had  overheard  them  say  they 
had  but  few  rations,  and  a  soldier  never  has  a  spare  blanket. 
The  best  thing  I  could  do  was  to  start  full  speed  for  Mitch- 
ellsville,  a  long  twelve  miles!  Passing  the  pickets  I  showed 
my  pass  two  or  three  times,  and  hurried  on,  thinking  what  I 
might  have  done,  and  what  was  best  to  do.  I  might  have 
waited,  and  had  a  comfortable  night's  rest  in  camp,  but  my 
pass  was  dated,  and  a  short  time  to  go  on,  too.  I  might 
have  started  when  the  train  first  stopped,  had  I  known  it! 
The  farther  I  went  the  faster  I  went.  I  grew  more  uneasy 
every  step,  remembering  the  trains  had  been  fired  into  lately, 
notwithstanding  guards  were  all  along  the  road,  and  remem 
bering  Pa's  only  advice,  'Never  wander  off  alone.'  So  I 
resolved  to  try  the  first  house  I  came  to,  but  every  house  I 
passed  looked  deserted;  one  with  fine  cedar  trees  was  all 
dark  and  torn  to  pieces  inside.  At  last  I  came  in  sight  of  a 
large  white  house,  some  hundred  yards  off  the  road,  which 
seemed  occupied.  I  went  to  the  gate;  there  \yas  a  bright 
li^ht  inside,  and  rather  loud  talking.  I  went  to  the  door.  A 
rather  old  looking  man,  hearing  my  story,  asked  me  in  by  the 
fire,  saying,  "Come  in,  I  can't  turn  you  out  in  the  cold!"  I 
sat  down  before  the  fire,  and  a  tremendous  one  it  was,  too — 
some  ten  feet  long,  and  all  ablaze.  The  old  man  sat  down 
in  one  corner,  by  the  bed,  rocking  a  cradle,  a  young  woman 
in  the  other  corner,  picking  away  at  cotton,  and  a  young 
darkey,  black  as  night,  stood  in  the  kitchen  door,  with  a  straw 
hat  on  big  enough  to  sleep  under,  staring  at  me  from  head 
to  foot.  The  conversation,  of  course,  was  on  politics  for  an 


HOSPITALITY.  189 

hour  or  BO,  I  sympathizing  with  their  situation.  Nearly 
everything  had  been  taken  by  one  army  or  the  other. 

"  The  old  man,  when  he  heard  I  was  from  Indiana,  said  he 
loved  Indiana  boys.  They  used  to  come  to  him  to  get  things, 
but  always  paid  for  them,  and  never  took  things  that  he 
wanted  himself.  If  he  could  leave  this  place  he  would  not 
stop  until  he  reached  the  Indiana  shore.  They  didn't  like 
Lincoln's  freeing  the  negroes,  but  I  explained  that  as  well  as 
I  could,  and  they  thought  I  was  right.  They  hadn't  heard 
any  news  for  so  long  that  they  seemed  very  glad  to  hear  what 
little  I  knew.  'I  tell  you,  stranger/  the  woman  said,  cif  this 
war  don't  end  soon  our  children  will  go  about  beggin'.  I 
wish  to  God  there  could  be  an  understandin'  on  both  sides 
among  the  common  soldiers,  and  every  one,  to  a  man,  lay 
down  his  arms,  and  live  in  peace  at  home,  and  let  these  here 
fellers  what's  got  the  war  up,  and  what  don't  jest  keer  how 
long  it  lasts,  jest  so  they  make  money,  fight  as  long  as  they 
please.'  I  told  her  that  would  be  fine,  indeed,  and  I  wished 
the  same. 

"  Here  politics  dropped.  The  next  question  was,  *  Are  you 
a  single  man?'  I  had  to  think  what  he  meant,  then  said  I 
was;  that  I  was  yet  quite  a  young  man,  only  eighteen.  '  The 
girls  all  pester  me,'  the  woman  remarked,  'for  marrying  an 
old  man,  but  I  tell  'em  if  I'd  married  a  young  man  I'd  a  been 
a  widder  long  ago.' 

"  She  then  went  up  stairs,  and  came  back  saying  the  bed 
was  ready.  The  black  boy  took  the  light,  and  we  went  up. 
A  small  feather  bed  was  lying  on  the  floor,  with  quilts,  white 
sheets,  and  everything  quite  civilized.  The  boy  looked  at 
me  as  if  I  were  some  superhuman  being.  When  I  com 
menced  winding  my  watch  he  said,  *  I  don't  see  how  ye  tells 
de  time  ob  a  night  when's  dark.  How  does  ye  tell  de  time 
den?' 

"  The  wind  blew  cold  through  the  cracks,  but  you'd  better 
believe  I  had  a  good  ten  hours  sleep.  I  hadn't  been  well  for 
weeks,  but  it  seemed  to  cure  me.  The  next  morning  I  ate  a 
hearty  breakfast  of  corn  bread,  pork,  and  a  glass  of  butter 
milk,  the  first  bite  I  had  tasted  since  the  morning  before.  I 
gave  the  old  man  a  greenback,  thanked  him  for  his  kindness, 


190  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  walked  on  three  miles  further  to  a  water-station.  In 
half  an  hour  the  same  train  of  soldiers  came  along,  and  I 
reached  Mitchellsville  about  noon.  I  went  to  every  sutler — 
to  every  grocery — to  the  express  office,  to  the  post  office — 
and  back  to  the  express  office,  when,  at  last,  much  to  my  joy, 
I  found  the  trunk.  I  jumped  on  a  freight  train  and  reached 
Gallatin  about  dark. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  you  the  woman  was  standing  in  the  door 
of  the  house  when  I  passed  on  my  way  back,  and,  recogniz 
ing  me  as  I  touched  my  hat,  she  waved  her  hand  and  called 
the  old  man  and  darkey  to  the  door.  In  passing  the  place 
which  had  made  me  so  uneasy  the  night  before,  I  felt  more 
like  putting  my  thumb  to  the  end  of  my  nose  than  tipping 
my  hat. 

Your  loving  brother,  LEWIS." 

"  GALLATIN,  March  — .  The  funeral  of  a  poor  soldier  who 
died  in  his  tent  last  night,  reminds  me  of  Bowling-Green,  as 
it  is  the  first  funeral  I  have  seen  or  heard  since  we  left  there. 
Everything  is  the  same  except  an  ambulance  in  place  of  the 
army-wagon,  and  the  slow,  soft  music  of  a  few  fifes  and 
muffled  drums  sounds  sadder,  more  distinct  and  melancholy 
here  in  the  woods.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  sickness  in  our 
company.  Strange!  We  were  the  pride  of  the  regiment 
for  awhile  in  health,  our  men  the  largest  and  strongest.  Bob 
is  back  from  the  hospital  and  is  progressing  finely.  His  three 
merry  ha!  ha!  ha's!  sound  so  natural  I  have  to  laugh  every 
time  I  hear  them. 

"  Bob  Langsdale  is  wasted  away  to  almost  nothing.  It  is 
painful  to  look  at  him. 

"  I  took  John  Cleland's  things  to  him  in  the  hospital.  He 
looks  wretchedly,  and  has  suffered  very  much.  I  wish  his 
father  would  come  for  him. 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  scouting  expedition  about 
twenty  of  us  made  before  we  left  Pilot  Knob  one  dark  night 
under  our  Lieutenant? 

"  We  went  to  a  Mr.  Taylor's  house  intending  to  surround 
it  without  any  notice.  We  moved  rapidly,  but  unfortunately 
we  ran  over  no  less  than  forty  negro  huts,  with  forty  negroes 
in  each  hut,  and  forty  dogs  at  least  to  each  negro.  Every 


SEARCHING  FOR  GUERILLAS.  191 

negro  wanted  to  know  what  was  up,  and  every  dog  set  to 
barking!  So,  you  sec,  the  surrounding  of  Taylor's  house 
was  at  once  known  miles  around,  and  the  old  squire  had 
time  to  barricade  his  doors.  Through  the  keyhole  I  could  see 
an  old  rusty  sword  on  the  table,  and  chairs  without  number 
piled  against  the  opposite  door.  The  Lieutenant  in  vain 
entreated  to  be  let  in.  At  last  he  said :  "  Mr.  Taylor,  you 
are  a  very  unreasonable  feller,  sir!  If  you  don't  open  this 
door  immediately,  sir,  I  shall  be  under  the  painful  necessity 
of  bustin'  the  door  in,  sir!  Men,  fetch  a  rail."  Mr.  Taylor 
defied,  and  at  the  same  time  entreated,  while  the  Lieutenant 
kept  repeating  his  address,  putting  in  a  single  sentence, 
'You  are  an  unreasonable  feller,  painful  necessity  of  bustin' 
the  door,  men,  fetch  a  rail,'  with  his  name,  position,  business 
and  determination  to  search  the  house.  Certainly  the  long 
est  rigmarole  ever  anybody  got  up  at  an  enemy's  door  in  the 
dead  of  night.  Mr.  Taylor  conquered,  however,  and  we,  sul 
len  and  silent,  marched  back  to  camp. 

"How  I  long  to  hear  the  bells  sound,  'Returned  soldiers 
and  Peace!'  Their  music  will  be  sweeter  to  me  than  the 
great  Parliament  bell  in  London!  L." 

"GALLATIN,  April  27. — About  day-break,  General  Paine 
told  me  to  detach  four  wagons  and  follow  him  on  a  side 
road,  while  the  rest  of  the  train,  twenty-six  wagons,  went 
on  to  Hartsville.  We  pulled  up  at  a  grass  widow's  house — 
husband  in  the  Rebel  army — took  breakfast,  and  loaded  our 
teams  with  corn,  leaving  her  just  enough  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  her  door.  I  was  then  sent  back  to  surround  a  Mr. 
Smith's  house,  and  allow  no  one  to  escape  until  the  Gener 
al's  return.  There  we  remained,  cooping  up  a  house-full  of 
chattering  females  until  two  o'clock,  while  he  went  on  and 
told  the  patriotic  citizens  of  Hartsville,  that  on  his  next  visit 
their  town  would  be  burned,  and  every  soul  would  be  driven 
South,  if  they  suffered  any  more  Rebels  to  cross  the  river. 

"  The  windows  and  doors  of  every  other  house  throughout 
this  entire  region  are  nailed  up,  and  the  women  have  united 
their  families  in  inhabited  dwellings,  so  that  the  senti 
mental  soldier  has  scarcely  ceased  moralizing  over  a  deserted 
home  before  he  beholds  a  house  with  nine  gaunt  women  in 


192  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  door  and  countless  hordes  of  youngsters  at  the  broken 
windows. 

An  old  man  (a  few  octagenarians  are  left)  asked  me  where 
General  Paine  was  from,  when  his  pretty  niece  flashed  out, 
"  From  the  devil,  uncle ;  what  makes  you  ask  such  a  ques 
tion?  S." 

The  mail  constantly  brought  to  the  army  letters  which 
were  full  of  consolation  and  strength;  but  in  the  West,  as 
in  the  East,  it  also  disseminated  seeds  of  evil.  A  letter 
written  on  the  twenty-second  of  January  by  Mr.  Buskirk,  a 
Democratic  politician  of  Vigo  county,  to  his  brother,  who 
was  in  the  Eighty- Fifth,  furnishes  the  following  paragraph: 

"There  is  a  determination  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of 
the  Northern  States  that  the  proclamation  shall  not  take 
place.  The  revolution  is  complete.  I  think  there  will  be  a 
committee  appointed  in  this  State  to  take  charge  of  the 
management  of  the  Indiana  troops  from  the  Governor,  and 
then  Old  Abe  will  have  to  withdraw  his  proclamation,  or 
they  will  withdraw  the  troops.  This  will  end  the  matter  in 
some  way." 

The  soldier  deserted,  as  did  another  to  whom  Mr.  Buskirk 
also  wrote.  Influenced  by  letters  of  similar  character,  fifty 
men  deserted  from  the  Eighty-Fifth  before  the  winter  was 
over. 

January  13,  Wagner's  brigade  made  an  ineffectual  pur 
suit  of  Rebel  cavalry,  which  had  captured  several  steamers, 
loaded  with  wounded,  on  the  Cumberland. 

January  31,  General  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  with  his  division 
of  infantry  and  two  brigades  of  cavalry  under  Colonel  Minty, 
started  west  to  intercept  Wheeler  on  his  return  from  a  raid 
into  Kentucky.  The  cavalry  captured  one  hundred  and  forty- 
one  of  Wheeler's  men,  including  two  Colonels,  and  joined 
the  infantry,  which,  without  opposition,  had  taken  possession 
of  Franklin.  After  a  twelve  days  march,  the  whole  force 
returned  to  Murfreesboro  with  little  loss.  The  Twenty- 
Second  Indiana  accompanied  its  division. 

March  2,  General  Gilbert,  who  was  in  temporary  com 
mand  at  Franklin,  ordered  Colonel  Coburn  to  move  his  bri 
gade  from  Brentwood  to  that  point,  as  the  enemy  was  de- 


RECONNOISANCE  FROM  FRANKLIN.  193 

monstrating  in  the  vicinity,  and  had  made  an  attack  on  his 
southern  outposts.  Coburn  promptly  obeyed.  His  brigade 
consisted  of  four  regiments,  the  Thirty-Third  and  Eighty- 
Fifth  Indiana,  respectively  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Hen 
derson  and  Colonel  Baird,  the  Twenty-Second  Wisconsin, 
Colonel  Utley,  and  the  Nineteenth  Michigan,  Colonel  Gil 
bert,  with  the  Eighteenth  Ohio  battery,  Captain  Aleshire. 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  fourth,  Coburn  set  out  from 
Franklin  on  a  reconnoissance.  His  force,  increased  by  the 
addition  of  the  Hundred  and  Twenty-Fourth  Ohio  and  six 
hundred  cavalry  under  Colonel  Jordan,  amounted  to  two 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven  men.  He  was  pro 
vided  with  four  days'  rations,  and  was  accompanied  by  some 
eighty  foraging  wagons.  He  was  ordered  to  proceed  to 
Spring  Hill  the  first  day,  and  there  to  divide  his  command, 
sending  one  portion  to  Raleigh  Hill  and  the  other  portion  to 
Columbia.  The  latter  was  to  return  to  Spring  Hill  the  same 
day.  The  former  was  to  join  at  Raleigh  Hill  a  force  coming 
from  Murfreesboro,  or,  in  the  event  of  the  non-arrival  of  that 
force  by  nightfall,  it  was  also  to  return  to  Spring  Hill.  No 
information  was  given  him  as  to  the  forces  or  numbers  that 
were  to  meet  him,  or  move  in  concert. 

Four  miles  out  from  Franklin,  Rebel  horsemen  were  dis 
covered,  apparently  a  thousand,  with  a  section  of  artillery. 
Coburn  brought  up  his  troops  at  once,  deployed  his  cavalry 
on  the  right  of  the  road,  and  advanced  it,  posted  the  Thirty- 
Third  Indiana  and  Twenty-Second  Wisconsin  on  the  right, 
with  a  section  of  the  battery,  the  Michigan  and  Ohio  regi 
ments,  with  two  sections  of  the  battery,  on  the  left,  and  the 
Eighty-Fifth  Indiana  about  a  half  mile  in  the  rear,  with  the 
train.  His  guns  were  on  slight  elevations,  and  had  a  range 
of  nearly  a  mile  directly  down  the  road.  In  every  other  di 
rection  the  range  of  fire  and  even  of  vision  was  restricted  t( 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  by  the  long,  and  in  many  places  precipi 
tous  swells  and  ridges  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet  in 
height,  into  which  the  face  of  the  country  is  broken.  The 
enemy  opened  fire.  Coburn  replied.  A  brisk  cannonade 
was  kept  up  an  hour,  resulting  in  no  injury  to  Coburn,  and 
13 


194  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

in  the  loss  of  fifteen  men  and  several  horses  to  the  enemy. 
Before  it  ceased  three  regiments,  with  a  portion  of  the  cavalry, 
advanced.  The  enemy  disappeared  before  them,  but  soon 
after  showed  himself  on  high  hills  to  the  left,  and  was  reported 
a  mile  further  to  the  left  on  the  Louisburg  road,  moving 
toward  the  rear,  with  a  force  of  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred. 
Coburn  withdrew  his  advanced  infantry  to  its  first  position, 
sent  his  cavalry  to  reconnoitre  on  the  left,  and  despatched  a 
courier  to  Franklin. 

General  Gilbert  received  the  courier's  tidings  with  incred 
ulous  surprise.  He  would  not  believe  that  the  enemy,  in 
strong  force,  had  advanced  so  far  within  the  range  of  Rose- 
crans'  cavalry,  and  so  near  his  own  headquarters.  "  Coburn 
must  be  scared!"  he  sneeringly  remarked.  However,  he 
ordered  the  return  of  the  forage-train,  while  leaving  the  re- 
connoissance  to  pursue  its  way  unencumbered. 

Colonel  Coburn,  who  had  waited  three  hours  for  orders, 
immediately  sent  back  the  forage  wagons,  half  of  which  had 
already  been  loaded,  and  resumed  the  advance,  skirmishing 
slightly.  He  lost  one  gun,  disabled,  and  three  men  slightly 
wounded  in  the  skirmishing  on  the  left.  At  night  he  halted, 
and  apprehending  an  attack,  put  the  command  on  the  alert, 
a  considerable  force  sleeping  under  arms.  Artillery  ammu 
nition  was  sent  for  and  obtained,  and  a  portion  of  the  cavalry 
was  newly  armed  with  Spencer  rifles. 

Soon  after  daylight  two  negro  boys,  about  twelve  years 
old,  were  brought  into  camp.  They  said  that  they  had  been 
with  Van  Dorn's  army,  and  that  it  was  out  on  the  road  north 
of  Spring  Hill  and  moving  up  to  take  Franklin.  Coburn 
despatched  the  boys  with  a  messenger,  and  some  mounted 
men  to  headquarters. 

General  Gilbert  made  no  reply.  He  probably  thought 
Coburn  was  more  scared  than  ever.  The  latter  sent  patrols 
out  on  the  flanking  roads  right  and  left,  and  scouts  to  scour 
the  country  in  every  direction.  At  eight,  no  force  having 
been  discovered  on  his  immediate  flanks,  he  moved  on,  his 
cavalry  and  one  piece  of  artillery  in  advance,  with  a  line  of 
skirmishers  extending  about  a  half  mile  each  side  of  the  road. 
The  skirmishers  of  the  enemy  in  the  road,  and  in  the  woods, 


THOMPSON'S  STATION.  195 

fields  and  hills  on  either  flank,  retired  slowly  before  the  slow 
advance. 

Meantime  scouts  reported  a  small  party  of  the  enemy,  ap 
parently  an  outpost,  on  the  Louisburg  road,  and  a  small  force 
of  cavalry  was  detached  to  test  the  hostile  strength  in  that 
direction. 

After  an  hour's  march  the  expedition  reached  a  range  of 
hills  running  at  right  angles  with  the  road,  and  forming  the 
northern  boundary  of  a  plain  or  valley  which,  on  the  south, 
is  also  bounded  by  a  range  of  irregular  hills.  As  the  advance 
entered  a  depression  which  allows  the  passage  of  the  turn 
pike  and  railroad,  the  enemy  opened  a  fire  of  artillery  from 
woods  immediately  in  front,  raking  the  road.  Coburn  posted 
two  guns,  with  his  Indiana  regiments,  on  the  right  of  the 
road,  and  three  guns,  with  his  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  reg 
iments,  on  the  left,  on  the  ridge,  which,  at  that  point,  is  about 
fifty  feet  above  the  fields  in  front;  he  stationed  dismounted 
horsemen  on  a  cedar  knoll  on  the  extreme  left,  the  main  cav 
alry  on  the  rear  of  the  left,  and  the  Ohio  regiment  a  third  of 
a  mile  in  the  rear  to  guard  the  ammunition  train.  The  mo 
ment  his  arrangements  were  complete  a  troop  of  his  cavalry 
made  a  demonstration  on  the  left,  and  his  Indianians,  under 
cover  of  a  steady  artillery  fire,  advanced  to  charge  the  battery 
on  the  right  of  the  road.  They  moved  forward  regularly  and 
steadily  in  the  face  of  shell  and  canister,  as  well  as  musketry 
from  a  brigade  which  stood  behind  a  bank  and  a  stone  fence. 
They  had  reached  a  depot  building,  called  Thompson's  Sta 
tion,  in  the  middle  of  the  plain,  when  large  numbers  of  the 
enemy  appeared  on  their  left,  rallying  to  the  threatened  bat 
tery.  At  the  same  moment  scouts  reported  the  advance  of 
a  thousand  horsemen,  a  mile  to  the  left,  on  the  Louisburg 
road. 

Coburn  being  now  fully  convinced  that  he  was  pressing 
against  an  overwhelming  force,  determined  to  return.  He 
directed  Colonel  Jordan,  on  the  left  flank,  to  make  a  feint 
attack,  to  resist  every  attack,  and  to  report  the  enemy's 
movements.  He  then  proceeded  to  withdraw  his  Indiana  reg 
iments.  They  were  pursued  by  the  enemy  with  loud  cheers 
and  a  galling  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry,  but  they  rallied 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

on  the  ridge  in  good  order,  and  repulsed  three  successive 
charges  of  threefold  their  own  strength,  at  one  time  driving 
the  assailants  back  beyond  the  station.  Captain  Seaton, 
with  two  companies  of  the  Thirty- Third,  posted  on  an  emi 
nence  some  distance  to  the  right,  kept  back  all  approaches 
in  that  direction. 

Aleshire's  battery  on  being  ordered,  as  the  troops  fell  back, 
to  fire  more  slowly  and  carefully,  ceased  altogether,  and  be 
gan  to  withdraw  on  the  plea  that  the  ammunition  might  be 
exhausted.  Staff  officers,  however,  examined  the  chests, 
and  found  that  the  supply  was  ample  for  retreat.  Shortly 
afterward,  Coburn  sent  back  for  ammunition  for  his  infantry. 
To  his  indignation  and  dismay  he  learned  that  his  wagons 
were  gone,  and  that  his  cavalry,  his  artillery  and  his  reserve 
had  also  left  the  ground.  Colonel  Jordan,  the  sentinel  who 
had  been  put  out  on  the  left  flank  with  orders  to  watch  it 
well,  had  turned  his  back  on  the  field,  and,  without  fighting, 
without  resisting,  without  reporting  what  the  enemy  was 
doing,  or  what  he  himself  was  doing,  had  made  off  toward 
Franklin  with  every  man  and  horse  of  his  command.  With 
out  orders  and  against  orders,  he  had  directed  the  reserve  and 
the  ammunition  train  to  follow  him,  thus  robbing  of  their 
only  chance  of  safety  the  troops  who  valiantly  held  the  front 
while  he  pursued  his  ignominious  flight.  The  battery  had 
also  fled  without  the  loss  of  a  horse  or  a  man,  and  notwith 
standing  the  repeated  efforts  of  staff  officers  to  halt  it  and 
turn  its  fire  on  the  enemy. 

Deprived  of  the  two  most  formidable  arms  in  retreat,  cav 
alry  and  artillery,  and  hotly  pressed  by  a  constant  foe  in 
front,  the  harassed  commander  was  constrained  to  hold  his 
ground.  Retreat  could  but  end  in  a  disgraceful  and  fatal 
flight.  A  heavy  force  bore  down  upon  his  right.  A  heavy 
force  appeared  on  his  left,  planting  guns  as  it  gained  posi 
tions,  enfilading  the  Michigan  regiment,  and  at  last  making  a 
furious  assault  on  the  whole  left.  It  was  repulsed.  It  re 
turned  to  the  charge.  The  Nineteenth  Michigan  fell  back 
to  the  rear  of  the  Twenty- Second  Wisconsin,  but  again  the 
enemy  was  repulsed.  He  charged  up  the  road  to  gain  the 
space  between  the  Thirty-Third  and  Twenty- Second.  All 


COBUR^'S  SURRENDER.  197 

the  troops  on  the  right  of  the  Thirty-Third  were  swung  round 
to  its  left.  The  Twenty- Second  was  sorely  pressed.  It 
gave  ground.  Lieutenant- Colonel  Bloodgood  ran  away  with 
two-thirds  of  the  men.  The  remaining  third,  driven  back 
across  the  road,  retired  to  the  left  and  rear  of  the  Eighty- 
Fifth. 

The  enemy  in  repeated  unsuccessful  assaults  on  the  Thirty- 
Third,  Nineteenth  and  Eighty-Fifth  lost  several  prisoners 
and  the  battle-flag  of  Armstrong's  brigade.  At  length  he  was 
driven  from  the  front.  Coburn  quickly  moved  into  woods 
on  the  right  and  rear.  It  was  of  no  avail.  Van  Dorn's  game 
had  been  successful,  and  a  flanking  force  was  thrown  round 
the  brigade.  The  enemy  had  come  through  gaps  in  the  hills 
on  the  left.  He  occupied  the  entire  opposite  slope  of  a  deep 
ravine,  and  was  in  position  behind  trees  and  fences,  and 
across  the  road.  He  raked  the  road  with  his  batteries.  He 
poured  a  galling  fire  on  the  new  line.  He  hung  in  thousands 
on  every  advantageous  post.  He  thronged  along  the  route 
of  retreat.  And  there  was  no  sign  of  the  reinforcements  so 
eagerly  and  so  reasonably  looked  for. 

Two  hours  after  Jordan's  flight  the  faithful  band,  reduced 
to  a  thousand  and  fifty  men  without  a  shot  in  their  cartridge- 
boxes,  formed  in  line,  fixed  bayonets,  and  made  ready  for  a 
desperate  charge  up  the  stony  and  broken  steep.  Through 
the  whiz  and  whistle  of  the  enemy's  bullets,  and  the  scream 
and  crash  of  his  shells,  every  beating  heart  listened  for  the 
word  of  command.  That  word  was  not  uttered.  It  would 
have  been  massacre. 

Coburn  had  seen  a  fourth  of  his  comrades  fall.  He  could 
witness  the  sacrifice  of  no  more.  He  surrendered,  with  what 
shame  and  grief  and  wrath  only  they  can  know  who  have 
been  abandoned  by  friends  to  the  contumely  of  defeat,  ruid 
the  bitterness  of  captivity. 

Not  only  had  many  of  his  subordinates  failed  him.  his 
very  commanding  officers  had  apparently  played  him  £ilse. 
General  Gilbert  had  thrown  him  forward  unwarned  in  the 
face  of  overwhelming  numbers,  had  sent  him  no  assistance 
though  fully  informed  of  his  situation,  and  had  refused  to 
move  to  his  rescue,  though  he  had  force  enough  and  was  beg- 


198  THE  SOLDIER  OF^INDIANA. 

ged  to  do  it  by  his  subordinates,  though  he  was  distant  but 
nine  miles,  and  the  contest  raged  five  long  hours.  General 
Rosecrans,  thirty  miles  away  and  with  no  information,  had 
sent  orders  for  Coburn  to  move  on,  and  had  halted  the  co 
operating  forces,  a  brigade  under  Steed  man,  and  a  division 
under  Sheridan,  when  they  were  almost  within  sight  and 
were  well  within  sound  of  the  battle. 

Up  to  Lavergne  and  over  to  Murfreesboro  the  roar  of 
cannon  was  heard.  In  many  a  camp  in  a  long  stretch  of 
miles  our  troops  anxiously  listened  and  waited  for  orders  to 
move.  None  were  issued. 

Coburn  went  down  as  the  noble  ship  sinks  which  has 
breasted  the  storm  and  swung  off  from  the  rock,  but  whose 
long-boat  and  life-boat  have  been  stolen  by  a  cowardly  part 
of  the  crew,  and  whose  distressful  minute  guns,  resounding 
far  over  sea  and  shore,  fail  to  elicit  any  response. 

Van  Corn's  entire  army  was  engaged,  six  brigades  under 
Generals  Martin,  Cosby,  Starns,  Jackson  and  Armstrong,  and 
Colonel  Whitefield,  numbering  from  twelve  to  fifteen  thou 
sand  men,  armed  with  good  carbines,  Mississippi  and  Enfield 
rifles,  and  with  twelve  pieces  of  artillery, — six  and  twelve 
pound  guns.  Van  Dorn  had  ferried  Duck  river  at  Columbia  two 
weeks  before,  and  had  been  encamped  at  Spring- Hill  a  week. 

The  officers  and  men  of  the  Indiana  and  Michigan  regi 
ments,  and  such  of  the  Wisconsin  regiment  as  remained 
with  its  Colonel  on  the  field,  were  perfectly  observant  of  their 
duty.  Advancing  boldly,  retiring  steadily,  assailing  fiercely, 
withstanding  firmly  in  unflinching  line,  with  fixed  bayonets 
waiting  the  order  to  rush  upon  death,  they  were  true  soldiers; 
but  at  no  time  were  they  more  heroic  than  vrhen  they 
patiently  laid  down  their  arms  and  gave  themselves  up  to  a 
cruel  imprisonment.  Rebel  newspapers  acknowledged  their 
merit,  saying  that  by  their  courage,  pertinacity  and  manhood 
they  had  redeemed  all  that  was  lost  in  the  routs  at  Bull  Run 
and  on  the  first  day  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh. 

The  very  day  of  the  battle  of  Thompson's  Station,  the 
name  of  John  Coburn  headed  a  list  of  officers  presented  to 
the  Senate  for  confirmation  as  Brigadier-Generals.  But  it 
was  not  heard  afterwards.  The  captive  and  defenceless  offi- 


FIGHT  ON  VAUGHT'S  HILL.  199 

cer  had  no  "friend  at  court,"  and  his  superiors,  General 
Granger  and  General  Baird,  whose  absence  from  duty  had, 
in  part,  occasioned  the  disaster,  had  not  the  magnanimity  to 
defend  his  honor.  Neither  had  Rosecrans,  whose  interference 
had  saved  Van  Dorn  from  the  heavy  flanking  forces  of  Sher 
idan  and  Steedman.  So,  with  all  his  other  griefs,  Coburn 
bore  with  him  to  Libby  the  sting  of  a  slandered  name.  The 
battle  of  Thompson's  Station  was  the  death-blow  to  his  pro 
motion.  Though  in  command  of  a  brigade  since  the  winter 
of  1862,  and  though  on  every  occasion  shown  to  be  efficient, 
he  ended  his  military  career  as  he  began  it,  a  Colonel. 

It  is  a  consolation  to  know  that  at  least  the  unworthy  offi 
cer,  who,  "dressed  in  a  little  brief  authority,"  and  occupying  a 
place  of  safety,  could  coldly  sneer  at  the  caution  of  the  com 
mander  in  the  field,  met  his  desert.  He  was  brought  clown 
from  the  region  of  stars  to  the  level  of  the  Captain,  and  is 
said  to  have  mightily  bewailed  the  i  Irish  hoist.' 

On  the  sixth  of  March  Lieutenant- Colonel  Jones  of  the 
Thirty-Ninth,  in  command  of  his  brigade,  encountered  a 
heavy  cavalry  force  on  the  Middletown  road.  After  a  spir 
ited  engagement  he  retained  possession  of  the  field.  Rose 
crans  addressed  a  letter  of  thanks  to  Jones  for  the  "handsome 
service"  performed  by  the  brigade. 

March  18,  Colonel  Hall,  with  a  force  of  thirteen  hundred 
and  twenty-three  men,  including  the  One  Hundred  and 
First  Indiana,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Doan,  and  a  section  of 
Harris'  Nineteenth  Indiana  battery,  moved  north-east  to  sur 
prise  a  Rebel  camp.  He  soon  met  opposition,  but  he  pushed 
on  until  he  was  convinced  that  he  was  largely  outnumbered 
by  the  resisting  force,  when  he  slowly  fell  back.  On  Vaught's 
Hill,  near  Milton,  twelve  miles  north-east  of  Murfreesboro, 
he  made  a  stand  and  skillfully  posted  his  men  to  resist  an 
attack  which  he  could  no  longer  avoid, — three  regiments  in 
the  front  line,  the  Hundred  and  First  forming  the  left,  the 
Hundred  and  Fifth  Ohio  as  reserve  in  support  of  the  artil 
lery.  The  enemy,  cavalry  under  John  Morgan,  advanced  at 
a  gallop,  but  being  checked  by  Harris'  guns,  which  were  ad 
mirably  handled,  dismounted,  and  moved  on  foot  more  cau 
tiously  and  with  frequent  halts.  Approaching  close,  he 


200  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

threw  himself  in  full  force  on  the  left  wing.  The  Hundred 
and  First  swerved  at  the  first  encounter,  but  almost  instantly 
regained  its  steadiness,  and  twice  hurled  him  back.  The 
enemy  repeated  the  effort  on  the  right,  his  artillery,  mean 
time,  keeping  an  incessant  fire  on  the  centre.  The  result 
was  the  same.  He  then  attacked  the  rear,  and  was  again 
discomfited.  He  continued  the  struggle  three  and  a  half 
hours,  and  withdrew  only  when  he  was  thoroughly  defeated. 
Morgan  and  nearly  three  hundred  of  his  men  were  wounded, 
and  sixty-three  were  killed, — while  Hall  lost  but  fifty-five. 

On  the  twenty-fourth,  Scribner's  brigade  marched  to  the 
assistance  of  Colonel  Wilder,  who  was  engaged  in  a  severe 
skirmish  at  Hoover's  Gap.  Throughout  the  next  day  he 
was  subjected  to  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell.  On  the  follow 
ing  day  Wilder  pushed  the  enemy  out  of  the  Gap,  and  as 
far  as  Winchester.  The  Thirty-Eighth  lost  one  killed  and 
fifteen  wounded  in  the  affair. 

Wilder's  brigade,  or  the  "  Lightning  Brigade,"  as  it  was 
more  frequently  called,  was  provided  with  Spencer  rifles.  It 
was  famous  for  the  celerity  and  boldness  of  its  operations, 
and  was  a  terror  to  the  enemy.  Traversing  almost  every 
road  and  by-path,  in  a  circuit  of  many  miles,  about  Murfrees- 
boro,  it  captured  horses  and  mules  enough  to  mount  the  en 
tire  brigade,  and  to  equip  a  light  battery  of  four  twelve-pound 
howitzers. 

Lilly's  mountain  howitzers  were  capable  of  throwing  shell 
one  thousand  yards.  They  could  be  taken  to  pieces  and 
transported  on  the  backs  of  mules.  Consequently  they  were 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  roads  of  the  region. 

On  the  evening  of  the  first  of  April  Colonel  Wilder  started 
out  to  scour  the  country  north,  north-east,  and  south. 

Henry  Campbell,  in  a  letter  to  his  mother,  partially  describes 
the  expedition: 

"  MURFREESBORO,  April  13,  1863. 

"  We  left  Lebanon  for  a  place  called  Big  Spring,  a  fine 
large  farm  belonging  to  a  brother-in-law  of  General  Ander 
son's.  All  along  the  road  the  negroes  were  plowing.  The 
wheat  looked  well.  In  some  places  it  was  six  or  eight  inches 
high.  We  camped  on  a  hill  near  a  large  barn,  in  which  we 


THE  LIGHTNING  BRIGADE.  9Q1 

put  all  our  horses.  While  feeding  them  we  found  a  box  full 
of  hams  that  had  been  hid  under  the  straw.  We  took  pos 
session  of  them,  and  brought  them  home  for  our  mess.  We 
left  camp  at  eight  in  the  morning.  Five  miles  from  camp 
we  captured  about  five  thousand  cigars,  and  about  two  thou 
sand  dollars  worth  of  tobacco  that  was  stored  in  a  tobacco 
manufactory  by  the  roadside.  The  tobacco  and  cigars  were 
given  out  to  the  troops  who  were  with  us.  We  arrived  at 
Rome  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  staid  there  all  the  afternoon  and 
night.  Rome  is  a  small  town  on  the  Cumberland  river.  It 
is  surrounded  by  seven  high  hills,  the  river,  a  small  creek,  and 
a  bluff  about  one  hundred  feet  high.  There  is  only  one  way 
to  get  in  and  out  of  the  place,  that  is  by  a  road  over  a  high 
bridge  across  the  creek.  The  most  of  the  town  was  burnt 
last  year  by  the  gunboats  when  they  first  came  up  the  river. 
We  started  the  next  morning  to  Carthage.  The  last  two  or 
three  days  we  have  been  marching  over  classical  ground — 
journeying  from  Lebanon  to  Rome,  and  from  Rome  to  Car 
thage.  After  a  few  miles  of  very  bad  roads  we  entered  a 
beautiful  little  valley,  with  green  wheat-fields  all  the  way  up 
the  hillsides.  The  ground  is  very  rich  on  these  hillsides. 
The  wheat  was  about  twelve  inches  high.  The  farmers  here 
plow  hills  that  are  almost  straight  up  and  down.  At  Car 
thage  we  found  a  brigade  which  had  been  there  for  the  last 
month,  and  a  steamboat  which  was  loading  up  hogs  and 
cattle.  We  went  on  over  very  bad  roads  to  Cany  Fork,  and 
camped  for  the  night.  The  next  day  we  marched  over  a 
very  high  mountain  and  rough  roads  to  Middleton,  where  our 
forces  were  divided.  The  infantry  and  one  section  of  our 
battery  was  sent  on  to  Alexandria,  to  go  from  there  to  Lib 
erty,  while  the  other  section  and  all  the  cavalry  turned  off, 
and  went  through  the  woods  by  a  cow-path,  for  it  was  not 
anything  better.  It  was  the  worst  road  I  ever  saw.  It  was 
up  one  side  of  a  mountain  and  down  the  other,  so  steep  that 
eight  horses  could  hardly  pull  a  gun  up,  and  so  rocky  that  it 
was  like  stairs,  two  feet  deep.  We  marched  about  t\vrelve 
miles,  and  halted  for  the  night  at  a  place  called  Smith's  Mill. 
The  boys  started  the  mill,  and  ground  up  a  great  lot  of  (lour. 
"  Tuesday  morning,  we  had  marched  about  five  miles  when 


202  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

we  passed  the  residence  of  Colonel  Stokes,  of  the  First 
Union  Cavalry.  He  is  greatly  feared  by  the  Rebels  on  ac 
count  of  his  knowledge  of  them  and  the  country.  We  have 
passed  a  great  many  Union  people.  Just  after  we  had  passed 
Stokes'  house,  we  were  ordered  to  keep  closed  up  with  the 
cavalry,  as  the  Rebels  were  reported  to  be  ahead  in  force. 
After  marching  about  a  mile  farther,  the  report  was  con 
firmed  by  our  advanced  guard  capturing  five  Rebels — miser 
able,  dirty  looking  fellows,  dressed  in  the  usual  dirty  manner 
and  belonging  to  the  "Third  Confederate  Regulars."  They 
looked  worse  than  negroes,  and  were  mounted  on  horses  that 
looked  as  if  they  hadn't  seen  corn  for  a  month.  One  of  them 
had  on  a  United  States  infantry  overcoat,  A  little  farther 
on,  we  captured  a  company  of  Rebels  and  a  Lieutenant. 
Then  we  were  ordered  to  the  front  on  a  gallop.  We  gal 
loped  for  three  miles  over  the  worst  roads  in  the  State,  till 
we  reached  Snow  Hill.  Here  we  went  in  battery  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  as  the  Rebels  were  on  the  top,  and  captured  an 
other  company  with  the  officer  commanding.  We  waited 
here  until  the  Seventeenth  regiment  had  time  to  get  in  the 
rear  of  the  Rebels  by  a  different  road,  and  then  we  advanced 
three  miles  from  the  bottom  of  the  hill  to  the  top.  The 
Rebels  had  piled  rocks  up  for  breastworks,  but  they  retreated 
before  the  Seventeenth  got  behind  them.  This  hill  is  a  very 
strong  position,  as  there  is  but  one  way  to  get  up  to  the  top, 
which  is  very  narrow,  something  like  a  "backbone,"  where 
two  hills  are  connected  by  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  which 
could  be  held  by  our  cannon  against  any  force.  When  we 
found  that  the  Rebels  had  gone  to  Southville,  we  turned 
round  and  went  back  to  Liberty,  where  we  met  the  rest  of 
the  forces.  The  next  morning  we  started  for  Murfreesboro. 
One  man  out  of  our  battery  was  captured  this  morning. 
He  straggled  off  from  the  road,  and  a  little  afterward  we 
heard  two  shots  fired.  That  was  the  last  we  ever  saw  of 
him.  We  captured  a  good  cow  on  the  last  day's  march,  and 
we  now  have  fresh  milk  for  our  coffee." 

In  this  expedition,  Wilder  captured  five  hundred  horses 
and  mules,  eighty-six  tons  of  hay  and  forage,  four  thousand 


REMARKABLE  ESCAPE  FROM  DEATH.  203 

bushels  of  corn,  and  a  quantity  of  flour,  meal  and  yarn,  be 
side  rendering  assistance  to  many  suffering  Union  families- 

One  night,  when  the  brigade  was  in  bivouack,  near  Smoky 
Hill,  two  men,  Benjamin  Montgomery  and  John  Vance, 
were  captured  while  picketing  an  extreme  outpost.  They 
were  taken  into  a  wood,  tied  to  a  tree,  and  shot  three  times. 
They  were  then  cut  loose  from  the  tree,  and  as  they  fell  for 
ward  on  their  faces  were  shot  a  fourth  time.  Montgomery 
was  killed,  but  Vance  retained  life  and  self-control.  He  lay 
quiet  until  the  murderers  were  gone,  when  he  crept  away 
from  the  spot.  He  dragged  himself  eight  miles  and  met  a 
detachment  of  Union  troops,  who  carried  him  to  Murfrees- 
boro.  Two  balls  had  passed  through  his  right  cheek,  carry 
ing  away  several  teeth  and  a  fragment  of  the  jawbone.  A 
third  ball  which  had  entered  the  right  side  of  the  neck  lodged 
inside  the  left  lower  jaw.  A  fourth  ball  entered  behind  the 
left  ear  and  came  out  at  the  eye,  taking  the  eye  with  it. 
Vance  was  discharged,  but  he  recovered,  and  as  Sanitary 
Agent,  collecting  stores  in  Tippecanoe  county,  did  excellent 
service  for  his  old  comrades. 

April  10,  General  Gordon  Granger,  in  command  of  Frank 
lin,  with  a  force  of  four  thousand  five  hundred  men,  repulsed 
Van  Dorn  with  larger  numbers,  inflicting  on  him  a  loss  of 
two  or  three  hundred,  and  losing  thirty-seven.  Klein's  bat 
talion  lost  one  killed  and  one  wounded. 

Ten  days  after  the  repulse  of  Van  Dorn  from  Franklin, 
Reynolds,  with  Starkweather's,  Wagner's  and  Wilder's  brig 
ades,  reconnoitred  to  McMinnville.  He  scoured  the  country 
many  miles  on  both  sides  of  the  main  route,  and  put  to  flight 
a  force  of  seven  hundred,  chiefly  cavalry,  in  McMinnville, 
captured  five  or  six  hundred  horses,  and  protected  to  Mur- 
freesboro  fifty  families  of  refugees  who  wished  to  go  North. 
John  Morgan  barely  escaped  capture.  Dick  McCaim,  an 
other  bold  raider,  was  captured,  but  effected  his  escape. 
Reynolds'  cavalry  pursued  and  captured  one  hundred  and 
thirty  without  loss. 

The  following  letter,  written  by  Sidney  Speed,  a  boy  of 
sixteen,  in  Lilly's  battery,  gives  the  movements,  especially  of 
Lilly's  battery: 


204  TTiri  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"  MURFREESBORO,  April  30,  1863. 

"DEAR  SISTER: — We  started  on  the  twentieth,  with  twelve 
days  rations,  and  went  to  Woodbury  the  first  day.  We 
left  the  turnpike  the  second  day,  and  went  over  worse  roads 
than  I  ever  saw  before,  to  get  in  the  rear  of,  and  attack  Mc- 
Minuville.  The  Rebels  got  wind  of  our  movements,  and 
when  we  made  a  dash  into  the  town,  got  on  a  train.  But  a 
regiment  which  we  had  left  where  we  crossed  the  road  made 
all  aboard  the  train  prisoners,  then  burned  it  and  came  in  on 
the  railroad,  burning  five  bridges,  and  tearing  up  the  track 
nearly  all  the  way.  John  Morgan  and  Dick  Me  Can  n  were 
both  in  the  town,  but  neither  got  on  the  train.  They  waited 
until  we  were  within  gunshot  of  them,  then  got  on  their 
horses  and  left.  Morgan  made  his  escape,  for  the  officer 
that  was  in  command  of  our  advance  would  not  let  the  men 
go  ahead  of  him.  But  his  Secesh  friend,  Dick  McCann,  did 
not  meet  with  such  good  luck,  for  as  soon  as  Wilder's  scouts 
saw  that  Morgan  was  out  of  their  reach,  they  pressed  on  after 
McCann,  regardless  of  the  advance  officer's  threats.  They 
were  soon  up  with  him,  but  he  did  not  surrender  until  he 
was  knocked  off  his  horse.  That  night  we  burned  two  large 
cotton  factories,  the  depot,  the  court  house,  several  houses  of 
leading  Rebels,  and  seven  grist  mills.  The  next  morning  we 
went  to  Smithville,  and  the  next  to  Alexandria.  We  camped 
on  the  place  of  a  man  who  helped  to  kill  those  boys  on  the 
last  scout.  We  took  everything  that  was  eatable  and  wear 
able,  then  burned  his  house.  We  went  on  through  Tubtown 
to  Lebanon,  where  wre  staid  a  day,  and  got  to  go  where  we 
pleased.  So  two  of  the  boys  and  I  mounted  on  mules  and 
went  out  about  three  miles  to  a  Rebel  settlement,  where  they 
refused  to  take  Lincoln  money,  so  we  bought  their  hams, 
turkies  and  chickens  with  fac  simile  Confederate  notes.  I 
laid  out  thirty  dollars  in  hams  at  thirty-five  -cents  a  pound,  and 
with  five  dollars  bought  two  turkies  and  four  chickens.  The 
other  boys  did  as  well,  so  we  returned  to  camp  well  loaded. 
The  Seventy-Second  regiment  and  one  section  of  the  battery 
returned  to  Murfreesboro  together  over  a  by-road  as  far  as 
Statesville,  where  we  struck  the  turnpike." 

In  one  of  the  expeditions  in  which  Lilly's  battery  was 


STREIGHT'S  RAID.  205 

engaged,  Sidney  Speed  performed  an  act  which  would  have 
done  credit  to  an  older  soldier.  The  battery  was  stationed 
on  a  hill,  and  just  in  front  of  a  log  cabin,  and  the  men  were 
rapidly  working  their  guns,  when  a  big  Rebel  shell  fell  in 
their  midst  without  exploding.  Speed  coolly  picked  it  up 
and  threw  it  over  the  cabin,  thus,  at  imminent  personal  risk, 
saving,  no  doubt,  the  lives  of  many  of  his  comrades. 

The  middle  of  April,  Colonel  A.  D.  Straight,  with  a  pro 
visional  brigade  composed  of  the  Fifty-First  and  Seventy- 
Third  Indiana,  Third  Ohio,  Eightieth  Illinois,  and  two 
companies  of  Tennessee  cavalry,  with  two  little  mountain 
howitzers,  in  all  amounting  to  eighteen  hundred  men,  was 
despatched  by  Rosecrans  to  western  Georgia  to  cut  the  rail 
roads  which  supplied  Bragg's  army  by  way  of  Chattanooga, 
and  incidentally  to  destroy  depots  of  supplies  and  manufac 
tories  of  guns,  ammunition,  equipments  and  clothing  for  the 
Confederate  army ;  his  route  to  be  directed  by  circumstances, 
his  supplies  to  be  drawn,  and  his  command  to  be  kept  well 
mounted  from  the  country.  General  Dodge,  with  a  force 
withdrawn  from  Corinth,  or  from  an  encampment  near  that 
place,  was  to  distract  Rebel  attention  by  a  raid  through  north 
ern  Alabama.  Boldness  and  celerity  to  the  highest  degree 
were  essential  to  the  success  of  an  expedition  which  must 
carry  men  through  the  heart  of  a  hostile  and  armed  country. 
Of  the  former  there  proved  to  be  no  lack,  while  to  a  de 
ficiency  of  the  latter  was  due  the  ruin  in  which  the  adven 
ture  resulted. 

A  portion  of  the  command  went  by  way  of  Nashville  to 
Fort  Henry,  whence  it  went  up  the  Tennessee  to  Eastport, 
while  the  residue  of  the  brigade  went  down  the  Cumberland 
to  the  Ohio  and  then  up  the  Tennessee.  At  Nashville, 
Streight  was  provided  with  several  hundred  horses  and 
mules,  which  were  either  young  and  unbroken,  or  old  and 
broken  down.  At  Fort  Henry  he  added  to  these  several 
hundred  more  which  were  in  good  condition  but  unshod. 
At  Eastport,  in  the  confusion  of  landing,  he  lost  nearly 
three  hundred  of  his  best  animals,  and  nearly  two  days  in 
search  of  the  runaways,  at  the  same  time  exhausting  a  large 
number  of  the  feebler  remnant.  On  the  morning  of  April 


206  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

22,  he  joined  Dodge,  in  whose  rear  he  proceeded  several 
days.  The  appearance  of  his  brigade  was  more  ridiculous 
than  formidable.  Some  of  his  men  were  on  foot,  some  were 
on  bare-backed,  bony  beasts  which  moved  with  difficulty, 
while  others  strove  to  retain  their  seats  on  capricious  crea 
tures,  which  reared,  and  ran,  and  halted,  moving  sideways 
and  backward  without  reference  to  spur  or  rein.  At  Tus- 
cumbia,  Streight  and  Dodge  separated.  The  former  pro 
ceeded  toward  Moulton,his  advance  accomplishing  thirty-four 
miles  the  first  day,  and  the  next  evening  attacking  and  cap 
turing  Moulton,  which  was  defended  by  Roddy's  Rebel 
cavalry. 

The  entire  command  was  by  this  time  mounted,  a  suffi 
cient  number  of  horses  having  at  length  been  captured,  but 
unremitting  activity  was  required  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
exhausted  animals  which  fell  along  the  route.  The  thirtieth 
of  April,  Streight  having  then  cleared  Day's  Gap  in  Sand 
Mountain,  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  under  General  Forrest 
began  a  series  of  annoying  and  almost  uninterrupted  attacks 
on  his  rear,  and,  notwithstanding  every  effort  on  his  part  to 
avoid  battle,  twice  on  that  day  forced  him  to  severe  engage 
ments.  The  Rebels,  after  firing  upon  the  rear  a  short  time 
with  musketry,  opened  with  artillery  in  so  decided  a  manner 
that  it  was  impossible  to  refuse,  or  any  longer  to  avoid  the 
challenge.  Decoyed  by  retreating  skirmishers,  they  came 
unexpectedly  in  contact  with  Streight's  line,  and  recoiled  be 
fore  a  close  -  fire  directly  in  their  faces.  Before  they  could 
recover,  Streight's  infantry  was  upon  them  in  a  bayonet 
charge,  while  his  artillery  opened  a  steady  and  deadly  fire. 
Captain  Sheets,  commanding  the  Fifty-First,  was  mor 
tally  wounded,  Lieutenant  Wilson  was  severely  wounded, 
twenty-nine  others  were  wounded,  killed  or  captured.  The 
Rebels  lost  upward  of  one  hundred  men,  and  two  pieces  of 
artillery. 

The  wounded  Union  men  were  left  here  in  a  field  hospital, 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Spenser,  of  the  Seventy-Third.  Late 
in  the  afternoon,  after  having  been  hardly  pressed  two  hours, 
Streight  halted,  faced  about,  extended  his  line  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  and  awaited  a  threatened  attack.  He  was  assaulted 


COLONEL  HATHAWAY.  207 

on  the  left,  on  the  right  and  the  front,  with  variety  of  move 
ment  on  the  part  of  the  enemy,  but  with  unvarying  boldness 
and  cunning.  He  met  courage  with  courage,  and  cunning 
with  cunning,  holding  his  ground  until  ten  at  night,  when 
Forrest's  withdrawal  enabled  him  to  continue  his  march. 
He  spiked  and  left  on  the  field  the  guns  he  had  taken  in  the 
morning.  His  rear  continued  to  be  painfully  harassed,  but 
no  general  attack  was  again  attempted  until  May  2,  when, 
after  crossing  Black  creek,  burning  behind  them  the  bridge  arid 
destroying  a  quantity  of  Rebel  stores,  the  troops  had  halted 
for  rest  and  food.  The  engagement  which  followed  was 
severe.  Colonel  Hathaway  supported  the  two  mountain 
howitzers,  which  the  Rebels  were  resolved  to  capture.  Nearly 
every  gunner  fell,  and  at  last  the  good  and  gallant  Hathaway 
received  a  mortal  wound.  "Let  me  die  in  the  front!"  he 
entreated,  as  his  men  carried  him  from  the  field. 

The  enemy  fell  back,  and  the  little  Union  force  spurred 
on.  Sixty  miles  lay  between  it  and  Rome,  where  it  hoped 
to  cross  the  Coosa,  and  check  Forrest's  pursuit  by  burning 
the  bridge.  Captain  Russell,  of  the  Fifty-First,  and  two 
hundred  men  on  picked  horses,  moved  in  advance,  with  all 
possible  speed,  to  surprise  and  take  possession  of  the  import 
ant  point.  What  was  their  dismay  as  they  drew  near,  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  third,  to  find  Rome  and 
the  bridge  so  strongly  defended  as  to  leave  not  a  ray  of  hope. 
A  courier,  despatched  by  Forrest,  had  arrived  six  hours  pre 
viously.  .  » 

About  nine  the  same  day,  and  not  more  than  fifteen  miles 
from  Rome,  the  main  force  surrendered.  It  had  halted  for 
breakfast,  when  the  hard  pressure  of  Forrest,  with  three  thou 
sand  men,  drove  in  the  pickets.  Our  weary  soldiers  formed 
once  more  in  line  of  battle.  The  little  howitzers  opened  fire. 
But  there  was  no  strength  to  support  the  demonstration. 
Men  and  horses  were  alike  jaded,  and  scarcely  a  round  of 
ammunition  remained.  Surrender  was  proposed  and  accepted, 
the  regiments  retaining  their  colors,  the  officers  and  men 
keeping  their  private  property. 

Scouts  and  skirmishes,  and  detached  expeditions  of  vari 
ous  kinds,  continued  through  May  and  part  of  June. 


208  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

The  following  letter  is  from  S.  K.  Fletcher,  Adjutant  of  the 
Thirty-Third,  a  small  portion  of  which,  with  a  few  members 
of  the  Eighty-Fifth,  was  detained  at  Franklin,  principally  in 
the  hospital,  during  the  expedition  to  Spring  Hill,  and  in 
consequence  escaped  capture: 

"HEADQUARTERS  THIRTY-THIRD  INDIANA,  I 
ROPER'S  KNOB,  near  Franklin,  Tennessee.       j 

"DEAR  BROTHER:  So  much  has  happened  since  the  first 
of  June,  that  I  shall  have  to  go  back  to  that  time  and  come 
up  to  this  date,  day  by  day.  On  the  thirtieth  and  thirty-first 
of  May,  the  whole  army  left  here  for  Triune,  a  little  town  nine 
miles  east,  except  the  fragments  of  the  Thirty-Third  and 
Eighty-Fifth  Indiana,  Seventy-Eighth  Illinois,  Seventh  Ken 
tucky  cavalry,  and  the  convalescents  of  all  other  regiments, 
in  all  about  twelve  hundred,  or  nearly  that  number  of  men. 
Our  regiment  was  left  away  out  by  itself,  with  no  pickets 
outside  at  all.  Of  course  we  had  to  move,  although  we  dis 
liked  very  much  to  leave  our  nice  camp.  On  the  first  of 
June,  orders  came,  and  as  Captain  Freeland  was  quite  sick, 
and  Captain  McCrea  had  gone  to  Nashville,  I  had  to  offici 
ate  as  commander  and  everything  else. 

"Colonel  Baird  was  in  command  of  the  post.  He  had 
picked  out  a  very  nice  place  to  camp,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  to  the  left  of  the  big  fort.  We  found  bake  ovens,  beds, 
&c.,  in  abundance.  The  old  camps  were  a  sight  worth  see 
ing.  There-  were  beds  and  houses  of  all  descriptions,  chairs, 
stools,  boxes,  lumber  without  end.  One  would  have  no  idea 
that  so  much  lumber  could  be  gathered  up  from  the  old 
houses  and  fences  within  the  limits  the  soldiers  are  permitted 
to  rove.  It  will  take  a  whole  army  of  negroes  one  season  to 
pull  the  stakes  out  of  the  ground  after  this  war,  before  it  can 
be  cultivated.  Just  to  look  over  the  old  camps,  you  would 
think  there  wasn't  a  forked  limb  left  on  any  tree  within 
many  miles.  Every  regiment  had  a  lot  of  Irish  wheelbar 
rows,  and  our  boys  got  about  two  dozen  of  them.  We  have 
but  four  wagons;  so  when  we  moved,  there  was  an  un 
broken  string  of  wheelbarrows  passing  to  and  fro  between 
the  old  and  new  camp.  After  we  had  hauled  the  first  load, 


FRANKLIN  THREATENED.  209 

orders  came  from  Granger  to  fill  the  wagons  with  forage  and 
send  them  immediately  after  the  army,  but  we  hurried  our 
wagons  back  and  hauled  a  second  load  before  letting  them 
go.  I  had  just  got  my  tent  up  and  my  bed  fixed,  and  the 
boys  were  working  away  hard,  flooring  their  tents,  making 
extension  roofs,  &c.,  when  an  officer  came  riding  up  full  tilt 
and  ordered  us  to  fall  in  and  march  to  the  fort  immediately 
Everything  was  dropped,  and  in  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
we  were  in  the  fort,  ready  for  any  emergency,  but  none 
seemed  to  appear.  Some  officers  in  the  lookouts  reported  a 
few  Rebels  on  the  distant  hills.  So  we  lay  round  in  the 
shade  of  the  parapets  until  nearly  dark,  when  we  were  or 
dered  to  camp,  leaving  one  company  to  remain  all  night. 
Next  morning,  Tuesday,  June  2,  just  after  the  boys  had  got 
everything  fixed  up  in  the  best  of  style,  orders  came  to  move 
inside  our  abatis  at  the  fort.  Captain  McCrea  had  returned 
from  Nashville,  but  was  field  officer  of  the  day,  so  I  had  to 
take  command  again.  I  got  on  my  horse,  went  to  Colonel 
Baird,  found  where  he  wanted  us  to  camp,  and  went  and  laid 
out  the  ground,  just  to  the  right  as  you  go  into  the  fort.  I 
went  back  and  informed  the  boys  that  we  had  to  move  im 
mediately;  we  had  no  wagons  now,  and  you  may  know 
there  was  some  tall  cussing1  done.  Wheelbarrows  were  soon 
put  into  running  order,  and  by  night  we  had  a  pretty  re 
spectable  looking  camp.  I  put  up  my  quarters  just  around 
the  west  corner  of  the  fort,  backed  right  up  against  the  ditch, 
just  under  the  mouth  of  a  big  sixty-pound  howitzer.  All 
the  convalescents  and  the  Eighty-Fifth  got  moved  in  and 
fixed  up  by  Wednesday  evening.  The  Seventy-Eighth  Illi 
nois  was  then  camped  on  this  knob,  where  we  are  now. 

"Thursday  the  fourth,  a  little  after  noon,  our  pickets  were 
fired  on  in  front,  and  we  were  soon  all  ordered  into  the 
fort.  I  took  possession  of  a  splendid  little  glass  which  ha  / 
been  lying  in  my  tent  for  some  time,  and  by  that  mean? 
could  see  the  whole  performance.  You  remember  the  old 
cotton  gin,  and  the  large  field  to  the  left  and  right  of  the 
turnpike,  and  you  remember  the  little  house  on  the  road 
away  beyond  the  cotton  gin,  where  we  saw  one  lone  picket. 
14 


210  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Right  by  that  house  they  had  one  cannon,  and  over  to  the 
right  of  that,  across  the  road,  they  had  another;  right  there 
their  cavalry  came  in  and  had  their  first  fighting.  Our  in 
fantry  were  at  the  cotton-gin.  They  ran  our  cavalry  in,  and 
then  our  cavalry  ran  them  back  again,  and  made  several 
charges,  our  big  guns  lighting  a  shell  in  among  them,  now 
and  then  making  them  scatter  in  every  direction.  A  lot  of 
Rebels  ran  in  along  the  railroad  and  formed  behind  the  yel 
low  cottage  and  high  hedge,  just  beyond  the  railroad  and  the 
house  where  the  negro  was  setting  out  cabbage  plants  the 
morning  we  were  there.  Our  boys  tried  to  throw  some  shells 
right  through  the  house,  and  came  near  doing  it,  One  shell 
just  passed  the  left  side,  bursting  right  among  the  Rebels; 
another  struck  the  ground  just  to  the  right,  making  them 
skedaddle  in  a  hurry.  All  this  time,  a  large  force  of  cavalry 
was  passing  around  to  the  right,  away  beyond  the  town, 
coming  in  and  forming  their  line  near  the  college,  which 
stands  out  by  itself  to  the  right  of  the  town.  A  force  of 
about  fifteen  hundred  crossed  the  river,  coming  in  just  be 
tween  our  old  camp  and  the  range  of  hills  beyond.  They 
did  not  attack  at  all,  but  cut  the  wire  and  tore  up  a  very 
little  of  the  track.  About  this  time,  the  Rebels  which  first 
approached  had  got  their  cannon  into  position  and  were  get 
ting  the  range  of  our  guns  well.  Most  of  their  shell  burst 
in  air.  We  could  see  the  smoke  from  the  cannon,  and  then 
see  the  little  ( volume  from  the  bursting  shell  away  up  in  the 
air,  long  before  we  could  hear  the  report  of  either.  Many 
fell  in  the  rear  below  the  fort,  and  some  struck  tiic  parapet, 
making  heads  dodge  down  and  dirt  fly  up.  Several  passed 
over  the  fort,,  three  within  twenty  feet  of  me.  They  were 
very  near  spent,  and  made  a  noise  just  like  a  quail  flying. 
The  boys  would  watch  where  they  struck,  and  then  go  out 
and  get  them.  None  of  them  burst.  Sharp  skirmishing  was 
going  on  all  the  time,  just  at  the  edge  of  the  town,  but  they 
finally  drove  our  infantry  and  cavalry  through  town  and 
across  the  river.  They  threw  solid  shot  down  the  street, 
breaking  some  of  our  horses'  legs.  They  then  came  into 
town,  and  our  boys  let  into  them  with  some  shells  and  solid 
shot.  They  knocked  one  chimney  off  the  court  house,  one 


A  DISTURBED  NIGHT. 

solid  shot  went  into  a  parlor,  struck  a  centre  table,  smashing 
miniatures,  &c.  In  another  house,  a  woman  had  put  a  loaf 
of  bread  into  the  stove,  and  taken  her  baby  out  of  the  cradle, 
to  go  into  the  cellar,  for  fear  a  shot  would  strike  the  house, 
when  just  as  her  head  passed  below  the  floor,  smash  came  a 
shell  right  into  the  kitchen,  bursting  and  smashing  everything 
to  pieces. 

"Just  about  dark,  we  heard  sharp  skirmishing  out  to  the 
East,  and  soon  three  regiments  of  cavalry  came  in  to  rein 
force  us.  Part  of  the  Sixth  Kentucky  took  in  around  the 
Rebs  and  got  into  a  nice  little  fight,  taking  ten  or  twelve 
prisoners. 

"  Everybody  was  ordered  to  go  into  the  fort  to  sleep,  after 
supper.  It  was  very  dark  and  looked  very  much  like  rain, 
and  I  concluded  to  go  to  my  tent  after  we  got  the  boys  all 
straight.  It  was  about  ten  when  I  got  in.  but  I  had  not 
been  in  bed  long  before  I  heard  some  one  asking  for  the 
Adjutant's  tent.  An  order  came  for  three  men  and  one  cor 
poral  to  relieve  the  gunners  who  were  standing  guard  at  the 
magazine.  This  was  a  job  I  did  not  fancy,  as  the  men  were 
scattered  all  over  the  fort,  but  I  got  up,  and  in  about  half  an 
hour  had  them  all  right.  About  two  o'clock,  again  I  heard 
some  one  asking  at  the  next  tent  for  "  Fletcher."  He  wanted 
to  know  where  those  other  two  guards  were,  who  were  to 
stand  at  the  gate.  I  told  him  I  knew  nothing  of  them, 
Captain  M'Crea  detailed  them,  he  must  go  to  him.  He 
swore  he  did  not  know  where  M'Crea  was,  and  the  man  who 
was  on  had  been  on  nearly  four  hours.  The  thunder  was 
roaring  and  the  lightning  flashing,  and  the  rain  just  com 
mencing  to  come  down.  It  was  hard  work  to  get  out,  I  tell 
you.  I  had  to  tramp  the  old  fort  from  A  to  Izzard  before  I 
could  find  the  men.  It  took  me  about  an  hour.  This  is 
some  of  the  fun  of  a  soldier's  life. 

"Just  at  this  time  our  pickets  started  out  again.  They 
went  clear  out  to  the  edge  of  town  and  took  their  old  post. 
Next  morning  about  eight  the  fighting  commenced  again. 
It  did  not  last  long,  for  by  this  time  we  had  plenty  of  cav 
alry.  The  Rebels  hovered  about  all  day,  but  nothing  partic 
ular  happened.  The  prisoners  we  took  were  all  well  dressed 


212  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

in  butternut,  and  had  good  shoes  on.  On  Sundayythe  sev 
enth,  we  received  orders  to  move  to  Roper's  Knob  and  take 
the  place  of  the  Seventy-Eighth  Illinois,  and  complete  the 
works  on  the  Knob.  This  made  the  boys  rip  and  charge 
more  than  ever,  but  we  got  the  wagons  and  at  it  we  went, 
with  wheelbarrows,  carts,  old  running  gears  of  wagons,  &c. 
We  soon  landed  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  about  a  mile  from  the 
fort.  We  encamped  on  the  bench  which  extends  clear 
around  the  hill  about  three-fourths  of  the  way  up.  It  is  a 
real  curiosity.  You  know  how  round  the  hill  is.  The  bench 
is  just  wide  enough  for  two  rows  of  tents  and  a  pass-way  in 
front  wide  enough  for  a  wagon.  Right  on  the  edge  all 
round  is  the  abatis.  It  is  a  beautiful  place  to  camp,  not  a 
bit  of  dust,  all  nice  sod.  I  have  my  tent  fixed  splendidly. 
A  long  table  on  one  side,  with  my  desk  on  the  end.  A  num 
ber  one  bed  on  the  other  side.  A  good  floor  nailed  down 
and  carpeted  with  coffee  sacks — who  could  have  a  better 
house?  I  would  rather  live  in  it  than  in  any  parlor, 

"  Captain  Freeland  got  worse  every  day  after  we  left  campy 
and  on  Monday  last  was  sent  to  Nashville  to  the  officer's 
hospital. 

"On  Monday  evening  I  rode  down  to  Colonel  Baird's 
quarters  to  make  arrangements  about  our  picket.  As  I  rode 
up  to  his  tent  and  halted  my  horse,  I  saw  standing  in  front 
of  it,  just  arrived,  two  individuals  on  horseback,  who  looked 
very  much  like  the  pictures  of  two  Knights  of  old.  They 
rode  large  bay  horses.  Each  had  on  a  nice  white  Havelock 
out  of  some  fine  material.  One  was  a  large,  portly  man, 
with  black  overcoat  on,  with  light  complexion,  light  stubby 
whiskers,  and  bright  grey  eyes.  The  other  was  a  young 
man  about  twenty-four,  with  fair  complexion  and  slight 
curled  mustache.  With  his  Havelock  on  he  looked  rather 
effeminate.  He  held  his  overcoat  across  his  saddle,  was  in 
his  shirt  sleeves,  with  a  nice  colored  shirt,  neat  white  stand 
ing  collar  fastened  with  a  red  button.  Both  had  swords  on. 
The  older  one,  about  forty,  was  talking  with  Colonel  Baird. 
I  inquired  of  his  adjutant  who  they  were.  He  said  the  older 
one  was  a  Colonel,  an  inspector,  the  other  a  Major.  They 
said  they  had  started  from  Murfreesboro  that  morning  for 


STRANGERS  SUSPECTED.  213 

Nashville,  that  they  had  missed  their  road  and  got  away 
down  by  Eaglesville;  while  eating  dinner  at  a  house,  a  squad 
of  Rebels  came  on  to  them,  capturing  their  two  escorts, 
and  that  they  merely  escaped  with  their  lives.  As  it  was 
very  warm  their  coats  were  off,  which  they  had  to  leave  be 
hind  with  some  other  things  in  their  flight.  The  Colonel 
got  off,  went  into  Baird's  tent,  showed  his  papers  from  the 
War  Department,  and  pass  from  Rosecrans,  his  orders  to 
report  to  Nashville,  &c,,  all  seeming  correct.  He  wanted  to 
borrow  fifty  dollars  from  Baird  to  help  get  them  an  outfit. 
Being  a  Mason,  the  Colonel  loaned  him  the  money,  taking 
his  note.  He  examined  a  map,  showing  them  the  road  they  had 
-come,  &c.  Baird's  Adjutant,  Quartermaster,  Sergeant  and 
myself  stood  and  talked  with  the  young  man,  the  Major,  ask 
ing  about  affairs  in  Murfreesboro.  They  said  they  were 
obliged  to  report  at  Nashville  before  morning.  Colonel  Wat- 
kins,  of cavalry,  told  him  it  was  very  dangerous  to  travel 

the  road  alone  after  night,  and  offered  them  an  escort.  The 
Colonel  said  it  would  be  a  very  great  accommodation,  but 
when  Colonel  Watkins  told  him  it  would  take  some  little 
time  to  get  ready,  he  said  they  must  be  going,  guessed  there 
would  be  no  danger,  they  would  try  it  alone. 

"  They  got  on  their  horses,  bade  good  evening,  and  off  they 
went.  As  soon  as  they  were  gone  Colonels  Baird,  Watkins 
and  all  present  expressed  great  suspicion  that  they  were  not 
all  right  Colonel  Baird  told  Watkins  to  ride  to  his  camp, 
and  send  a  few  men  after  them  immediately — they  could  tell 
them  they  were  an  escort,  so  off  he  went. 

"  They  had  been  so  engaged  that  I  could  get  no  answer 
about  my  pickets  at  all.  I  was  holding  my  horse  waiting  for 
an  answer,  when  Baird  said,  'Get  on  your  horse  and  ride  to 
Watkins,  and  tell  him  to  arrest  those  men,  and  bring  1hcm 
back  immediately,'  His  suspicions  were  increasing,  and  he 
was  becoming  quite  excited.  I  was  not  many  minutes 
going  to  Colonel  Watkins'  quarters',  I  tell  you,  for  I  had 
strongly  formed  my  opinion  that  the  strangers  were  Rebel 
spies.  I  told  Colonel  Watkins  the  order,  and  started  back. 
At  the  gate,  (for  he  was  quartered  in  a  yard.)  his  orderly 
stood,  holding  four  horses.  He  said  two  of  them  belonged 


214  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

to  those  men;  that  the  Colonel  had  overtaken  them,  and 
brought  them  to  his  quarters.  I  immediately  rode  back  to 
Colonel  Baird  to  report.  Soon  up  rode  a  troop  of  horsemen, 
with  the  two  knights  in  front.  About  a  dozen  carbines  on 
each  side,  and  in  rear,  were  ready  for  action.  Colonel  Baird 
was  at  the  telegraph  office  at  the  moment.  So  the  Major  in 
charge  of  the  squad  told  them  to  alight.  They  said  they  had 
not  time,  they  must  be  getting  on  to  Nashville,  and  asked 
for  Colonel  Baird.  The  Major  told  them  he  guessed  they 
wouldn't  start  for  awhile.  So  after  sitting  silent  a  moment 
they  got  off,  took  seats,  and  never  said  a  word  until  Baird 
and  Watkins  came  up,  when  they  went  into  the  tent.  Their 
papers  were  again  examined.  There,  standing  near  them, 
I  got  a  better  view  of  them.  They  were  both  refined,  intelli 
gent  looking  men.  The  young  man  said  never  a  word.  The 
Colonel  got  very  indignant  at  being  suspected  and  arrested ; 
said  he  had  great  cause  for  complaint.  Watkins  told  him 
he  knew  every  man  on  Rosecrans'  staff,  and  the  name  of 
every  Inspector  in  this  army,  and  he  had  never  heard  either 
of  theirs.  The  Colonel  said,  'Don't  understand  me  to  say 
that  I  am  on  General  Rosecrans*  staff,  for  I  am  not.  I  am 
sent  here  by  the  War  Department  as  Inspector  over  all  of 
Rosecrans'  Inspectors — over  the  whole  army  of  the  Cumber 
land.'  But  he  contradicted  himself  so  much  that  suspicion 
was  becoming  greater.  So  they  proceeded  to  examine  them. 
They  pulled  out  the  sword  of  the  young  Major.  On  it  was 
C.  S.  A.  Then  the  Colonel's  sword.  On  it  was  his  name 
and  regiment,  and  P.  C.  S.  A.  Colonel  Baird  said,  ;  Gentle 
men,  you  came  very  near  playing  your  game  and  escaping/ 
4  Yes,'  they  said,  *  We  came  very  near  accomplishing  our  ob 
ject,'  and  owned  up,  making  a  confession  of  alL  Their  papers 
were  all  forged,  of  course.  The  Colonel  had  on  dark  pants, 
with  the  staff  stripe,  (gold  cord.)  The  Major  had  on  our 
blue  army  pants,  nice  boots  and  spurs.  They  said  they  could 
not  get  blue  caps  without  going  to  Charleston  or  Savannah. 
So  they  wore  havelocks  over  the  grey  Secesh  cap  as  a  dis 
guise.  I  came  to  camp  before  their  examination  was  over. 
"  Next  morning  I  saw  all  the  cavalry  formed  in  square  be 
fore  the  long  commissary.  Some  of  the  boys  were  reporting 


EXECUTION  OF  SPIES.  215 

that  two  spies  were  to  be  hung,  and  I  thought  there  must  be 
something  of  it  from  the  movements  below.  So  I  jumped  on 
rny  horse  and  rode  down.  All  stood  silent,  gazing  at  one 
spot.  Many  were  standing  on  their  horses  to  get  a  better 
view.  I  rode  up,  and  there  I  saw  that  awful  sight,  two  men 
dangling  in  the  air,  suspended  by  the  neck,  from  the  same 
scaffold.  The  Colonel  was  just  making  his  last  struggle. 
The  other  was  motionless,  except  that  he  was  slowly  swing 
ing  round  and  round  as  any  heavy  body  will  when  suspended 


•s 

in  air. 


"  Rosecrans,  on  being  telegraphed  to,  ordered  them  to  be 
hung  at  daylight.  They  begged  to  be  shot.  Baird  wanted 
to  transfer  them  to  some  other  point  to  be  hung,  but  all  the 
answer  he  could  get  from  Eosey  was,  '  Hang  them  at  day 
light.' 

"  The  Colonel's  name  was  Lawrence  Otley  Williams.  He 
commanded  a  brigade  which  attacked  us  on  the  fourth.  The 
other  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Aid  to  General  Wheeler.  I 
can't  remember  his  name.  They  walked  to  the  scaffold  and 
stepped  up  into  the  cart  apparently  with  as  much  coolness  as 
if  they  were  going  to  make  a  speech.  They  requested  that 
their  hands  might  not  be  tied,  embraced  each  other,  and  the 
cart  was  pulled  from  under  them.  The  Lieutenant  jumped, 
broke  his  neck,  and  died  instantly.  The  rope  did  not  slip 
down  over  the  Colonel's  neck  tight.  He  tried  to  hold  his 
hands  down  awhile,  then  threw  them  up,  grasped  the  rope, 
pulled  himself  up,  and  called  for  some  one  to  pull  the  rope 
down  tighter  on  his  neck.  They  did  so,  and  pulled  his  hands 
loose,  so  he  choked  to  death.  There  is  a  civilized  way  of 
hanging  a  man,  but  that  was  the  most  barbarous  affair  I  ever 

o        O  ' 

heard  of.     Good-bye. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

S.  K.  FLETCHER." 


216  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  X. 

IN  THE  LIBBY. 

"  Within  these  walls,  stifled  by  clarap  and  stench, 
Does  hope's  fair  torch  expire." 

After  the  exchange  of  Colonel  Coburn  and  his  return  to 
the  army,  he  wrote  a  detailed  report  of  the  battle  of  Spring 
Hill,  appending  to  it  an  account  of  his  imprisonment.  The 
latter  is  here  inserted: 

"I  append  a  statement  of  occurrences  during  the  time  the 
officers  were  prisoners,  believing  it  a  legitimate  matter  of 
report.  After  our  capture  we  were  marched  to  Columbia, 
Tennessee,  and  remained  there  during  the  night  and  the  most 
of  the  next  day,  having  very  little  to  eat  and  that  meat  alone. 
The  next  night  we  bivouacked  in  the  woods,  and  in  the 
morning  received  a  small  ration  of  bad  bread.  This  was  the 
only  bread  famished  us  till  we  arrived  at  Shelbyvillc,  two 
days  after.  There  we  waited  one  day  before  receiving  a 
ration  of  heavy  foul  bread.  Thanks  to  the  Union  women 
there,  they  courageously  fed  the  famishing  men  notwithstand 
ing  the  continual  insults  and  threats  of  Southern  officers  and 
gentlemen.  We  got  regularly  a  small  ration  of  meat.  Two 
days  march  from  Shelby  ville  brought  us  to  Tullahoma.  The 
march  was  a  terrible  one.  The  rain  fell  in  torrents,  the 
streams  were  swollen,  and  very  deep  wading,  the  water  was 
chilling,  and  the  night  air  cold  as  early  March  is  in  its 
most  inclement  moods.  Arriving  at  Tullahoma  at  sunset, 
we  passed  through  the  Rebel  army  and  by  General  Bragg's 
headquarters,  and  were  marched  to  a  muddy  spot  of  ground, 
used  as  a  mule  pen  formerly,  upon  which  were  scattered  some 
ercen  oak  lo^s  for  fuel.  There  was  no  shelter,  nothing  to  sit 

O  o  '  o 

down  upon,  no  place  for  rest  but  the  cold  mud.     There  were 
buildings  and  woods  near  by,  but  the  men  were  denied  their 


PRISONERS  ON  THE  JOURNEY.  217 

use.  There  was  dry  wood  to  be  had,  but  it  was  also  denied. 
The  officers  were  put  in  an  old  building  which  shielded  them 
from  the  pelting  storm,  that  had  raged  all  day  and  continued 
through  the  night.  A  ration  of  raw  meal  and  meat  was  is 
sued,  but  vessels  were  not  furnished  to  cook  the  meal,  and  it 
was  thrown  away.  Early  in  the  morning  we  were  waked, 
and  without  food  were  started  for  the  cars.  All  overcoats, 
leggins,  knapsacks,  blankets  and  extra  clothing  were  taken 
from  the  officers  and  men.  I  demanded  to  know  by  whose 
order.  ;By  order  of  General  Bragg,  in  retaliation  for  an 
order  of  General  Rosecrans  stripping  Federal  uniforms  from 
our  soldiers.'  I  replied,  '  Strip  off  any  Rebel  uniform  found 
on  us  and  I  will  not  complain;  but  that  this  was  a  cow 
ardly  and  barbarous  course,  and  the  men  engaged  in  it  de 
served  hanging.'  I  demanded  an  interview  with  General 
Bragg,  whose  headquarters  were  within  two  hundred  yards, 
saying,  'that  I  believed  it  impossible  that  a  man  of  his  stand 
ing  would  enforce  such  a  brutal  order.'  This  was  refused, 
Colonel  McKinstry,  his  Provost  Marshal,  saying  that  the 
General  would  not  listen  to  anything. 

The  men,  shivering,  half  starved,  without  sleep  or  rest, 
were  crowded  into  box  cars  without  seats,  and  filthy  with 
manure,  and  started  for  Chattanooga.  They  were  denied 
even  the  privilege  of  getting  sticks  to  sit  upon.  Thus  we 
traveled  that  day  to  Chattanooga.  On  arriving  there  we 
were  placed  for  the  night,  without  rations,  in  a  large  frame 
building,  just  erected  for  a  hospital,  and  were  crammed  in 
almost  to  suffocation.  The  next  day  about  noon  rations 
were  dealt  out  to  us  in  abundance.  We  all  remember  the 
hard  bread  of  Chattanooga  as  our  only  feast  in  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  From  this  place  we  were  conveyed  by  rail  to 
Knoxville.  For  a  few  hours  the  Union  people  of  Knoxville 
were  allowed  to  bring  provisions  to  us  and  converse  with 
us,  but  the  Rebel  citizens  became  infuriated  at  this,  and  the 
soldiers  drove  the  Union  men  away.  We  were  then  guarded 
in  a  muddy  open  space,  where  part  of  the  prisoners  lay  or 
stood  all  night,  although  there  was  shelter  in  abundance  near 
by,  consisting  of  large  sheds  and  depots.  Here  the  exposure 
and  cruelties  of  our  march  began  to  tell  fearfully  on  the  men. 


218  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Some  could  go  no  further,  and  were  left.  Others  by  their 
haggard  looks  and  decrepit  gait  testified  that  the  hand  of 
death  would  soon  remove  them  from  us.  Inexorable  as  the 
gallows  that  for  two  years  has  stood  by  the  railroad  in  the 
city  of  Knoxville  for  the  execution  of  Union  men,  were  the 
hearts  of  the  Rebel  officers. 

"  From  Knoxville  we  were  carried  by  rail  to  Bristol,  on  the 
Virginia  line.  Here  we  were  again  turned  off  of  the  cars  to 
lie  again  upon  the  damp  ground,  recently  overflowed  by  a 
creek,  although  there  was  ample  shelter  in  the  town  in  the 
large  sheds  and  houses  near  the  railroad.  Such  was  the  bru 
tality  of  the  physicians  that  they  totally  refused  to  visit  our 
sick  men  here.  All  intercourse  with  the  citizens  was  for 
bidden. 

"  We  buried  the  dead,  and  urged  the  sick  to  drag  along  to 
a  more  humane  community.  At  this  place  we  received  a 
small  ration  of  heavy  flour  bread.  We  were  then  taken  bv 
rail  to  Lynchburg,  Virginia.  Here  many  went  to  the  hos 
pitals,  and  not  a  few  died.  Although  the  city  contained  a 
large  number  of  empty  houses,  the  men  were  marched  to  the 
fair-ground,  and  put  into  open  sheds.  After  remaining  at 
Lynchburg  a  few  days  we  were  started,  in  very  inclement 
weather,  in  box-cars,  to  Richmond.  The  snow  fell  to  the 
depth  of  eighteen  inches.  The  trains  were  delayed.  The 
men  had  not  one  day's  rations,  and  were  on  the  road  in  bro 
ken  and  partially  open  cars,  some  two  and  some  four  days, 
without  food  or  rest,  and  chilled  through.  From  these  cars 
they  were  marched  to  Libby  prison,  and  huddled  hundreds 
in  a  room,  without  fires  or  light,  like  hogs  in  a  slaughter  pen. 
Several  died  within  half  a  day  after  their  arrival  at  Richmond ; 
many  more  followed  them  in  the  next  few  days.  Neither 
food,  medical  attendance,  air  nor  water  was  furnished,  as  the 
barest,  sheerest  humanity  would  dictate.  The  iron-hearted 
monsters  who  had  charge  of  the  prisons  had  no  regard  for 
suffering,  nor  for  human  life.  More  than  fifty  men  fell  victims 
in  prison  to  the  series  of  barbarities  inflicted  upon  us  from 
Tullahoma  to  Richmond;  others  survived  but  a  few  days 
their  exchange;  many  others  were  disabled  for  life.  Had  our 
enemies  given  to  those  who  fell  by  their  cruelties  the  deadly 


<I  WAS  IN  PRISON.'  219 

and  instant  cup  of  poison,  it  would  have  been  a  mercy  com 
pared  to  the  treatment  inflicted.  Their  conduct  toward  men 
in  Libby  prison  is  such  as  only  malignant  and  devilish  pas 
sions  could  suggest. 

"  The  needless  discomforts  of  cold,  of  crowded  rooms,  of 
filth,  of  vermin,  of  foul  food,  were  added  to  the  shameful  and 
fatal  brutalities  of  the  march.  The  season  was  bitter  cold; 
not  a  window  in  the  room  was  closed  with  glass.  Our  food 
consisted  of  a  scanty  ration  of  bread,  and  of  putrid,  starvel 
ing  meat,  totally  unfit  for  use,  filling  the  room  with  a  foul 
stench  on  being  brought  in.  In  addition  an  occasional  ration 
of  rice  or  black  beans  was  given  us.  No  sugar,  nor  coffee, 
nor  good  meat,  nor  vegetables,  ever  appeared  as  rations. 

"  Two  wretched  blankets  were  given  to  each  officer,  and 
one  to  each  man.  They  were  lousy,  filthy  and  foetid.  The 
prison  swarmed  with  vermin.  No  opportunity  was  furnished 
to  wash  blankets,  not  even  soap  and  tubs  in  which  to  wash 
our  wearing  apparel.  We  became  unhealthy  by  the  use  of 
the  foul  food,  and  the  filthiness  of  our  bedding.  Scurvy,  itch, 
erysipelas,  inflammatory  sore  throats,  rheumatism,  fever,  lock 
jaw,  delirium  and  death  in  its  most  horrid  forms  were  the 
result.  The  unrecorded  catalogue  of  barbarities  must  remain 
for  the  final  account  of  the  insatiate  monsters  who  gloat 
upon  the  anguish  of  defenceless  prisoners. 

"  Earnestly  pleading  for  the  privilege,  I,  with  other  officers, 
was  denied  a  visit  to  the  faithful  and  dying  men  who  had 
followed  us  during  the  war,  though  but  the  distance  of  ten 
feet  separated  from  us.  No  intercourse  was  allowed.  A 
list  of  the  dead  was  refused,  though  asked  for  in  the  most 
respectful  terms.  The  only  account  we  have  of  them  is 
from  their  fellow  sufferers  in  the  hospitals. 

"  I  have  hesitated  to  add  this  list  of  atrocities  to  the  casual 
ties  of  war,  and  to  record  them  against  their  perpetrators, 
but  a  sense  of  duty  compels  me  to  expose  the  shameful  and 
horrid  malignity  of  the  traitors  who  have  added  to  the  high 
est  crime  against  their  country  the  cowardly  and  cruel  tor 
tures  of  savages  upon  their  enemies. 

"  Exchanged  at  City  Point  May  5,  1863,  we  were  ordered 
upon  a  steamboat,  the  State  of  Maine,  by  Colonel  Ludiow, 


220  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

(lousy  from  stem  to  stern)  and  fed,  like  dogs  in  a  kennel,  witn 
bread  and  meat  cut  up  and  cast  into  two  long  boxes  until  our 
arrival  at  Annapolis.  Here  ended  our  imprisonment  and  oc 
curred  our  restoration  to  duty  on  the  eighth  of  May,  1863," 

Eighty-five  of  Coburn's  small  command  died  of  exposure 
and  cruel  treatment  during  captivity.  Of  these,  nine  belonged 
to  the  Thirty-Third,  and  thirty  were  members  of  the  Eighty- 
Fifth  Indiana. 

To  know  them  suffering  and  dying, — men  whom  he  loved 
and  who  loved  him, — to  be  almost  within  earshot,  almost 
within  touch,  and  yet  unable  to  lift  a  finger  to  their  rescue 
or  for  their  consolation,  or  to  express  to  them  a  word  of 
sympathy,  was  the  most  cruel  of  tortures  to  their  high-spir 
ited  leader.  He  who  can  read  Coburn's  report  without 
taking  part  in  his  noble  wrath  and  sorrow,  is  not  to  be  envied. 

So  much  has  been  published  in  regard  to  Colonel  Streight's 
imprisonment  that  a  detailed  narrative  is  here  unrequired. 
His  men  were  treated  as  other  prisoners  of  war,  and,  accord 
ing  to  the  terms  of  surrender,  received  an  early  exchange. 
He  and  his  subordinate  officers  reached  Richmond  and  en 
tered  Libby  prison  on  the  sixteenth  of  May.  In  the  expec 
tation  of  being  sent  North  on  the  arrival  of  a  boat  from 
Fortress  Monroe,  they  submitted  with  patience  to  the  first 
days  of  imprisonment.  Boat  after  boat  arrived  and  departed, 
and  they  were  at  length  informed  that  they  were  to  be  re 
tained  and  treated  as  felons  on  the  charge  of  inciting  slaves 
to  rebellion,  the  proof  being  that  negroes  in  uniform,  and 
bearing  arms,  had  been  found  in  the  force  at  the  time  of  the 
surrender.  The  accusation  was  denied,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  was  asserted  that  the  negroes  in  the  force  were  offi 
cer's  servants,  of  whom  one  bore  arms,  he  carrying  the  sword 
of  his  employer  on  account  of  its  weight.  No  trial  was 
afforded,  and  the  officers  remained  in  the  prison,  which  re 
ceived  additions  almoat  daily.  Nearly  eleven  hundred  United 
States  officers  at  one  time,  cooked,  and  washed,  and  slept  in 
six  rooms,  each  of  which  was  one  hundred  and  five  feet  long 
.  by  forty-five  feet  wide.  These  rooms  were  in  the  second 
and  third  stories.  The  ground  floor  was  divided  into  a  pris 
oners'  hospital,  Rebel  Commissary  Department  and  offices 


CASTING  LOTS  FOR  DEATH. 

for  the  Confederate  officials  connected  with  the  prison,  ex 
cept  during  the  summer,  when  one  of  the  lower  rooms  was 
used  as  a  prison  for  privates.  The  amount  of  food  furnished 
the  officers  was  insufficient,  and  the  quality  of  the  food  was 
poor.  The  food  provided  for  the  men  was  disgusting.  Lieu 
tenant  A.  C.  Roach,  of  the  Fifty-First,  says:  "The  rations 
of  the  privates  consisted  of  a  small  slice  of  bread  and  about 
a  pint  of  broth,  in  which  spoiled  bacon  had  been  boiled,  and 
which  was  sometimes  thickened  with  a  small  quantity  of 
rice  or  beans,  twice  each  day.  The  soup  was  brought  to  the 
prisoners  in  wooden  buckets,  and  I  have  frequently  noticed 
it  when  the  top  was  covered  with  white  maggots,  which  the 
process  of  cooking  had  forced  out  of  the  meat  and  beans. 
They  were  not  allowed  to  purchase  anything  whatever,  but 
we  were  allowed  to  send  out  and  make  a  few  purchases  of 
bread,  meat  and  vegetables,  so  that  we  were  sometimes  able 
to  drop  a  few  crusts  to  them  through  a  crack.  They  would 
stand  on  tip  toe,  their  long,  bony,  skeleton-like  arms  out 
stretched  to  grasp  any  morsel  that  we  could  spare  them." 

July  6,  all  the  Federal  officers  of  the  rank  of  Captain,  sev 
enty-eight  in  number,  were  summoned  to  a  room  on  the 
lower  floor.  They  obeyed  the  order  with  delight,  fancying  it 
the  precursor  of  some  change,  perhaps  of  release  and  return 
home.  Major  Turner,  the  commandant  of  the  prison,  stood 
in  the  centre  of  the  room,  at  one  end  of  a  little  table  on  which 
was  nothing  but  a  small  box.  The  officers  formed  a  wide 
circle  and  awaited  further  developments  with  curiosity.  Dis 
may  and  horror  paled  their  faces  when  they  were  told  that 
two  of  their  number  were  to  be  chosen  by  lot  for  immediate 
execution,  in  retaliation  for  the  hanging  of  two  spies  by  Gen 
eral  Rosecrans.  The  chaplain  of  the  Ninth  Maryland  in 
fantry,  an  old,  white-haired  man,  drew  a  slip  of  paper  from 
the  box  and  read  the  name  of  Captain  Sawyer,  of  the  First 
New  Jersey  cavalry.  Again  he  drew,  and  again  a  name 
dropped  through  the  deathly  stillness,  Captain  John  Flinn,  of 
the  Fifty-First  Indiana  infantry.  The  two  chosen  by  lot 
were  immured  in  the  cellar,  after  being  informed  that  their 
death  would  take  place  in  ten  days. 


222  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

On  receiving  an  account  of  this  unwarranted  proceeding, 
our  Government  lost  no  time  in  notifying  the  Rebel  author 
ities  that  the  death  of  Flinn  and  Sawyer  would  immediately 
bring  two  prominent  Rebel  officers  to  a  like  fate.  Not  dar 
ing,  in  consequence,  to  inflict  death,  the  Rebels  indulged  their 
malice  by  prolonging  the  dungeon  life  of  the  Captains. 

In  the  winter  the  officers  received  safely  blankets  and 
clothing  from  home.  Their  cast  off  clothes  they  manufac 
tured  into  curtains  and  hung  before  the  bars  of  the  grated 
and  narrow  windows,  regretfully  excluding  light  with  the 
cold  wind. 

Provisions  also  were  received  from  the  North,  and  from 
General  to  Lieutenant  the  officers  studied,  and  under  great 
disadvantages  practiced,  the  art  of  cooking. 

After  eight  months  in  Libby,  Captain  Anderson,  of  the 
Fifty-First  Indiana,  with  Lieutenant  Skelton,  of  the  Seven 
teenth  Iowa,  escaped  on  the  eleventh  of  December  from  the 
hospital  by  the  use  of  bribery,  and  the  exertion  of  activity 
and  boldness.  Several  days  of  hiding  and  nights  of  strug 
gling  through  swamps  and  wildernesses,  in  which  they  were 
assisted  and  fed  by  negroes,  brought  them  to  the  Union  lines. 

A  few  days  after  Anderson's  departure,  Colonel  Streight 
received  an  anonymous  letter  encouraging  him  to  escape. 
He  made  the  attempt,  was  seized,  ironed  and  put  in  a 
wretched  and  disgusting  cellar,  where  he  was  'detained 
twenty-one  days  with  no  food  but  half  baked  corn  bread,  no 
water  for  washing,  and  no  change  of  clothing. 

The  next  preparations  for  escape  were  made  by  a  party 
of  officers,  who  dug  a  tunnel  from  the  cellar,  to  v/hich  they 
gained  access  at  night  through  the  hearth  and  the  flue  of  the 
lower  room  of  the  prison.  The  tunnel  was  sixty  feet  long, 
and  consumed  the  nights  of  three  weeks.  February  9,  at  nine 
in  the  evening,  the  candidates  for  liberty  began  to  squeeze 
themselves  through.  One  hundred  and  nine  saw  daylight  at 
the  further  extremity.  Six  or  seven  hundred,  who  had  impa 
tiently  awaited  a  chance,  remained  within  the  prison  walls 
discomfited,  but  hoping  that  another  night  would  afford  re 
lease.  The  tunnel  was  discovered  and  they  were  again  dis 
appointed. 


CHANGE  OF  PRISONS. 


223 


The  escaped  prisoners,  one  of  whom  was  Colonel  Streight, 
were  concealed  eight  days  in  Richmond,  by  the  kindness  of 
loyal  people.  They  then  ventured  to  start  on  their  weary 
and  perilous  journey.  By  avoiding  public  roads,  the  light 
of  day,  the  abodes  and  the  faces  of  white  men,  and  by  en 
during  hunger,  cold,  fatigue  and  watching,  and  with  the 
faithful  assistance  of  the  blacks,  they  reached  Blackstone's 
Island  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  February  28.  They 
arrived  in  Washington  on  the  first  of  March. 

The  prisoners  remaining  in  Libby  were  removed  to  Macon 
in  May,  suffering  much  ill  treatment  and  hardship  on  the 
journey,  but  more  after  their  arrival.  In  August  they  were 
taken  to  Charleston,  where  the  condition  of  some,  who  con 
sented  not  to  attempt  an  escape,  was  bettered,  while  that  of 
others  was  harder  than  ever  before. 

In  October  the  unfortunate  prisoners  were  removed  to 
Columbia,  where  desperation  drove  many  to  dare  every 
danger  in  efforts  to  recover  liberty. 

In  February,  1865,  they  were  removed  to  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  where  their  imprisonment  ended. 


221  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IUKA,  CORINTH  AND  THE  HATCHIE. 

Death  is  come  up  into  our  windows,  and  is  entered  into  our  palaces. 

— Jeremiah. 

After  the  march  of  Buell  and  Bragg  from  Corinth  and  its 
vicinity,  in  the  summer  of  1862,  the  United  States  forces 
which  lay  along  the  line  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
railroad,  from  Tuscumbia  to  Memphis,  were  compelled  to 
observe  the  strict  defensive.  The  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Mississippi,  reduced  by  the  demands  of  General  Buell  to 
the  divisions  of  Stanley  and  Hamilton,  had  devolved  on  Gen 
eral  Rosecrans.  Hamilton's  divisions  comprised  but  two 
brigades,  of  which  one  was  under  the  command  of  General 
Jere.  Sullivan,  and  the  other  under  General  Buford.  The 
only  Indiana  regiments  remaining  in  the  division  were  the 
Forty-Eighth  and  Fifty-Ninth,  both  in  Buford's  brigade. 
Captain  Roberts,  of  the  Forty-Eighth,  died  on  the  fourth  of 
July.  Captain  Mann  died  a  few  days  afterward.  These 
deaths,  and  the  resignation  of  five  officers,  occasioned  the 
promotion  of  seven  lieutenants.  In  consequence  the  regi 
ment,  as  regarded  officers,  was  almost  reorganized  during 
the  summer. 

General  Hackleman  was  assigned  in  June  to  the  command 
of  the  First  Brigade  of  Davies'  Division  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee.  He  remained  with  his  division  near  Corinth. 
General  Veatch,  in  command  of  the  Second  Brigade  of 
Hurlbut's  Division  of  the  same  army,  spent  the  summer  on 
the  march,  pitching  his  tent  during  the  course  of  it  at  Grand 
Junction,  Holly  Springs,  Lavergne  and  Memphis.  In  his 
brigade  were  the  Twenty-Fifth  and  Fifty-Third  Indiana. 
The  middle  of  September  he  went  to  Bolivar,  marching  from 
Memphis  in  eight  days.  Colonel  Morgan's  regiment  was 


MOVING  UPON  IUKA.  225 

ordered  to  Fort  Hall,  a  mile  and  a  half  above  Bolivar,  on  the 
liatchie  river,  and  commanding  one  of  the  principal  entrances 
to  the  town. 

The  Twenty-Third  Indiana  had  been  in  Bolivar  since 
June,  Colonel  Sanderson  having  command  of  the  post.  The 
Ninth  battery,  at  the  same  point,  finishes  the  roll  of  Indiana 
troops  who  were  brought  into  action  in  the  department  of 
West  Tennessee  in  the  months  of  September  and  October. 

Van  Dorn  and  Price,  with  Lovell  and  other  small  Gener 
als,  confronted  General  Grant  with  a  nearly  equal  force,  and 
having  no  fear  of  his  advance,  annoyed  him  with  desultory 
and  capricious  attentions.  The  last  of  August  their  demon 
strations  assumed  a  serious  character.  While  a  small  body 
of  Rebel  cavalry  busied  itself  near  Bolivar,  and  Van  Dorn 
lay  in  wait  south  of  Corinth,  Price  advanced  toward  luka, 
apparently  with  the  double  purpose  of  crossing  the  Tennes 
see  to  interfere  with  Buell's  movements,  and  of  stripping 
Corinth  of  its  defenders.  Grant,  constantly  on  the  watch, 
was  instantly  on  the  alert.  He  diminished  the  space  over 
which  his  outposts  were  scattered,  withdrawing  troops  from 
Tuscumbia  and  other  distant  points  on  the  railroad  and  river, 
leaving  the  battle  ground  of  Shiloh  to  rest,  undisturbed  by  a 
sentinel's  tread,  for  the  first  time  in  five  months,  and  within 
a  narrower  circuit  redoubling  his  force  and  his  vigilance. 

Ten  days  the  Forty-Eighth  and  Fifty-Ninth  Indiana  kept 
a  sleepless  watch  at  Rienzi.  The  Forty-Eighth  then  marched 
to  Jacinto,  where,  under  General  Rosecrans,  nine  thousand 
troops  concentrated  preparatory  to  moving  against  luka,  of 
which,  with  a  vast  amount  of  basely  abandoned  government 
stores,  the  enemy  had  taken  possession. 

A  joint  attack  on  luka  was  to  be  made  early  on  the  nine 
teenth,  from  the  south  by  Rosecrans,  advancing  along  two 
roads,  the  Jacinto  and  the  Fulton ;  and  from  the  north  by 
General  Ord  with  a  force  numbering  eight  thousand.  Grant 
remained  at  Burnsville,  seven  miles  west  of  luka,  and  kept 
in  readiness  a  train  of  ten  empty  cars  to  hurry  troops  back  to 
Corinth  on  the  first  hint  of  danger  from  Van  Dorn.  Ord 
gained  position  four  miles  north  of  luka,  and  awaited  the 
15 


226  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

sound  of  guns  from  the  South  as  a  signal  to  move  up.  He 
heard  no  guns  throughout  the  day,  and  received  no  intelli 
gence  of  the  movements  or  position  of  his  coadjutor. 

Nevertheless,  Rosecrans  made  his  march  and  fought  his 
battle.  At  three  on  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth  he  moved 
out  in  light  marching  order.  Rain  and  swamp  and  tangled 
wood  obstructed  his  way.  At  noon,  skirmishers  appeared 
and  contested  his  advance  with  a  warmth  and  weight  which 
ominously  increased.  He  made  no  endeavor  to  gain  the 
Fulton  road,  a  dereliction  which,  with  the  condition  of  his 
columns,  was  reported  to  General  Price  by  a  Rebel  spy  who 
had  unfortunately  been  employed  as  a  Union  scout. 

Shortly  after  four,  as  the  head  of  Hamilton's  division  was 
halting  on  the  brow  of  a  densely  wooded  hill,  which  fell  off 
abruptly  to  the  right  and  left,  skirmishers  three  hundred 
yards  in  advance  discovered  the  enemy.  He  was  in  line  of 
battle  in  a  ravine,  down  which  the  road  went  through  oaks 
and  gums,  beeches  and  thick-set  sassafras.  He  instantly 
opened  fire.  Hamilton  threw  forward  the  battery,  and  the 
five  regiments  of  Buford's  brigade, — the  Forty-Eighth  Indi 
ana,  a  little  in  advance,  on  the  left  of  the  road,  and  on  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  and  the  others  in  support  of  the  battery, 
in  the  rear,  and  in  echelon.  Sullivan  pushed  up  with  his 
brigade,  but  finding  no  room  in  front,  he  stationed  one  regi 
ment  on  the  extreme  left,  in  command  of  a  ravine,  approach 
able  by  the  Rebels,  arranged  the  others  in  reserve,  and  setting 
spurs  to  his  horse,  reported  to  General  Hamilton  for  duty  at 
a  more  useful  and  dangerous  post,  which  was  assigned  him 
on  the  right  of  the  narrow  front. 

The  Rebels  poured  a  consuming  fire  upon  our  Forty- 
Eighth,  and  on  the  battery.  Soon  every  artillery  horse  and 
officer,  and  half  the  men  were  disabled,  and  the  guns  were 
captured.  Colonel  Eddy  withdrew  his  regiment  from  the 
front,  but  again  advanced.  "  The  veteran  and  heroic  Sulli 
van,  young  in  years,  but  old  in  fight,"  rallied  the  right  to  the 
rescue.  The  battery  was  torn  from  the  hands  of  the  Confed 
erates,  and  they  were  driven  to  cover.  They  rallied,  returned 
and  regained  the  guns.  Once  more  they  were  beaten  back'. 
Once  more  they  dashed  up  and  seized  the  battery,  now  with 


THE  FORTY-EIGHTH.  227 

three  of  its  guns  spiked,  its  carriages  cut  and  splintered. 
Swaying  up  and  down,  back  and  forth,  the  battle  continued, 
until  at  dark  the  bugle  sounded,  "Cease  firing!"  Suddenly 
as  it  had  risen, the  tumultuous  roar  died  out,  and  silence  set 
tled  down  on  the  forest,  unbroken  except  by  sighs  and  moans 
from  the  belt  of  ground  between  the  lines. 

Early  in  the  morning,  General  Rosecrans  cautiously  pushed 
forward  his  line  of  pickets.  Meeting  no  opposition,  he  ad 
vanced  his  whole  force  one  mile,  two  miles,  into  luka,  where 
he  found  the  six  guns  for  which  so  many  lives  had  been  sac 
rificed,  found  also  Rebel  wounded  and  Rebel  stores,  but  not 
the  Rebel  army.  It  had  fled  unmolested  over  the  Fulton 
road,  and  was  pursuing  a  safe  retreat. 

Hamilton  and  Stanley  followed  about  thirteen  miles  be 
yond  the  town,  and  took  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pris 
oners,  but  they  were  too  tired  to  go  on,  and  they  marched 
back. 

The  battle  of  luka  was  fought  by  Hamilton's  two  brigades, 
and  one  of  Stanley's  regiments.  Consequently  not  more 
than  two  thousand  eight  hundred  men  were  engaged  against 
a  force  of  eleven  thousand.  Rosecrans  reported  the  Rebel 
loss  at  fourteen  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 

The  Union  loss  was  seven  hundred  and  eighty-two.  Gen 
eral  Rosecrans  deemed  it  "an  especial  duty  to  signalize  the 
Forty-Eighth  Indiana"  in  his  report  of  the  battle.  Well  he 
might.  Thirty-seven  noble  young  men,  the  flower  of  the 
regiment,  were  killed,  sixty-six  were  wounded,  ten  were  cap 
tured.  Colonel  Eddy-was  severely  wounded  in  the  arm  and 
shoulder.  His  horse  received  several  balls.  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Rugg's  horse  was  killed.  Captain  Guthridge,  Cap 
tain  Billows  and  Lieutenant  Judkins  were  severely  wounded. 
Lieutenant  Packard  was  slightly  wounded. 

The  wind  carried  the  sound  of  the  battle  from  General 
Ord,  and  he  knew  nothing  of  it  until  during  the  night  reports 
through  negroes  reached  him. 

Hamilton  returned  to  Jacinto,  Stanley  proceeded  to  Cor 
inth.  Ord,  with  Hurlbut  and  Ross,  withdrew  to  Bolivar. 
Grant,  keeping  a  sharp  lookout  for  Van  Dorn,  went  back  to 
Jackson. 


228  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Although  Price's  retreat  was  rapid,  it  was  not  conducted 
with  the  single  aim  of  escaping  pursuit,  and  being  turned 
toward  the  west,  became  an  unmolested  march,  and  termi 
nated  in  union  with  Van  Dorn.  The  latter  officer  assumed 
command,  moved  north,  and  absorbing  Lovell,  reached  Poca- 
hontas,  on  the  Memphis  railroad,  about  twenty  miles  west  of 
Corinth,  with  a  force  of  thirty-five  or  forty  thousand  men. 
Apparently  he  meant  to  pass  by  Corinth,  making,  perhaps,  a 
feint  upon  it.  Nevertheless,  Rosecrans  under  the  direction 
of  General  Grant,  withdrew  his  outposts  from  Jacinto,  luka, 
Burnsville,  Blenzi,  Danville  and  Chewalla,  and  concentra 
ted  nearly  twenty  thousand  men. 

The  fortifications  of  Corinth  were  in  three  lines.  The 
outer  line,  fifteen  miles  long,  built  by  Beauregard,  chiefly  on 
the  east  and  north,  required  so  large  a  force  as  to  be  of  little 
use.  The  second  line,  constructed  by  Halleck,  was  more 
defensible,  but  still  was  too  extensive.  The  third  line,  the 
late  work  of  Grant,  was  in  the  edge  of  the  town,  and  con 
sisted  of  a  chain  of  redoubts,  with  the  guns  on  the  south  and 
south-east,  placed  in  such  a  manner  that  if  they  were  reversed 
their  fire  could  be  united  with  that  of  the  guns  on  the  oppo 
site  sides  of  the  town. 

On  the  morning  of  Friday,  October  3,  Hamilton's  division 
was  on  the  right  in  Beauregard's  intrenchments,  Davies' 
division  was  in  the  centre,  fronting  the  north-west,  and  Mc- 
Kean's  was  on  the  left.  Stanley's  division  was  in  the  town, 
in  reserve.  Skirmishing  the  preceding  day  had  given  warn 
ing  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy  along  the  Chewalla  road 
from  the  north-west.  A  force  moved  out  about  five  miles  to 
meet  him.  He  pressed  up  hard,  and  though  the  force  in  his 
front  was  gradually  increased,  he  outflanked  it,  closely  fol 
lowed  it,  and  opened  a  warm  fire  in  front  of  the  centre. 

Sullivan's  brigade,  on  Hamilton's  left,  changed  front,  and 
occupied  a  ridge,  which  gave  it  an  opportunity  to  move  for 
ward  and  attack  the  enemy's  flank,  could  Davies'  division 
stand  firm.  But  when  Sullivan  began  to  advance  Davies 
began  again  to  falter. 

Hackleman's  brigade  fought  well,  but  its  right,  which  was 
made  up  of  parts  of  several  regiments,  after  having  withstood 


VAN  DORN  MOVES  UP.  §29 

repeated  assaults,  fell  back,  infecting  with  panic  an  approach 
ing  reinforcement.  Hackleman  strove  to  restore  order,  and 
to  bring  the  reinforcement  beside  his  steady  centre  and  left. 
Oglesby,  also  in  command  of  one  of  Davies'  brigades,  sec 
onded  his  exertions.  In  vain  were  all  their  efforts..  They 
but  made  themselves  marks  for  the  enemy.  Both  were  shot. 
At  three  in  the  afternoon  a  ball  passed  through  General 
Hacklernan's  neck  from  right  to  left.  His  chief  of  staff,  Cap 
tain  Randall,  took  him  from  his  horse,  and  carried  him  off 
the  field. 

Dismay  fell  upon  the  hearts  of  his  brigade,  and  spread 
through  the  division.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  Sullivan 
approached,  struggling  in  a  tangled  swamp,  which  was  divided 
in  the  centre  by  the  dry  bed  of  a  creek,  with  banks  six  feet 
high,  serving  as  Rebel  breastworks.  He  took  the  enemy  by 
surprise,  and  captured  eighty-two  prisoners.  He  halted  for 
Buford's  brigade,  which  had  been  promised  in  support  of  his 
right,  but  it  had  been  delayed  by  the  swamp  and  the  distance, 
and  was  so  far  behind  that  when  the  enemy,  rallying,  opened 
on  him  a  heavy  fire  of  grape  and  canister,  he  had  no  choice 
but  to  fall  back. 

When  the  day  closed,  and  fighting  ceased,  Van  Dorn  was 
within  Beauregard's  intrenchments.  Before  he  slept  he  sent 
a  triumphant  despatch  to  Richmond. 

The  niffht  was  beautiful,  a  full  moon  shining  in  a  cloudless 

O  '  o 

sky  until  nearly  four  o'clock.  Fatigue  parties  worked  at  in 
trenchments,  ordnance  officers  distributed  ammunition,  men 
cleaned  their  guns,  artillery  hurried  rapidly  to  newly  assigned 
posts,  cavalry  deployed  as  skirmishers  to  prevent  straggling, 
and  infantry  marched  back  or  forward,  concentrating  on  a 
new  and  short  line,  which  was  drawn  almost  entirely  within 
the  town.  While  these  vigorous  preparations  for  a  bloody 
morrow  were  going  on,  death  dealt  with  many  a  gal!  : nt 
soldier. 

The  faithful  staff  and  comrades  of  General  Hackle  in  nil, 
sorrowing  that  they  should  soon  see  his  face  no  more,  gave 
him  their  last  service,  as  silent  watchers.  Doubtless  thrir 
thoughts  wandered  away  to  the  mountains  and  plains  of 
Virginia,  where  march,  and  camp  and  bivouac  with  but 


230  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  shelter  of  the  soldier's  blanket,  had  been  shared  and 
cheered  by  the  brave  and  kindly  soul  which  was  now  reced 
ing  from  earth.  No  doubt  fancy  carried  them  back  to  Indi 
ana,  when  in  days  of  peace  their  beloved  leader  was  the 
centre  of  a  happy  home,  and  the  powerful  supporter  of  every 
thing  good,  and  where  he  might  have  honorably  remained 
far  from  the  rude  brunt  of  battle. 

"I  am  dying — but  I  die  for  my  country,"  came  brokenly 
from  his  fading  lips.  A  deep  sadness  settled  on  the  noble 
face  as  he  found  that  the  cruel  bullet  had  so  torn  the  organs 
of  speech  that  he  could  utter  no  further  message. 

It  surely  is  as  well.  He  need  give  no  dying  injunction  to 
children  or  country  who  lays  a  true  life  on  the  altar  of  self- 
sacrifice. 

General  Sullivan  had  received  a  very  severe  contused 
wound,  and  he  was  forced  to  resign  to  another  the  disposi 
tion  of  his  regiments.  He  was,  however,  early  the  next  day, 
Saturday,  at  his  post  at  the  head  of  his  brigade. 

Hamilton  continued  to  hold  the  right,  a  fort  on  either  ex 
tremity  of  his  line.  One  of  these  forts  flanked  the  Bolivar 
road,  and  the  other  was  in  direct  range  of  the  entrance  into 
town  of  the  same  road.  His  second  brigade  was  broken  up, 
the  regiments  acting  as  supports  to  batteries,  and  almost 
independently  of  each  other. 

Davies  withdrew  a  little  from  the  front,  joined  the  left  of 
Hamilton,  and  extended  from  Fort  Richardson  to  Fort  Rob- 
inette,  which  was  in  the  centre  and  covered  the  Che  walla 
road.  Stanley  stood  next,  supporting  Fort  Williams.  Will 
iams  and  Robinette  were  on  the  same  ridge,  the  former  com 
manding  the  latter.  McKean  had  the  extreme  left  and  was 
protected  by  another  fort. 

Van  Dorn  occupied  the  centre  of  his  line,  between  the 
Memphis  and  the  Columbus  railroads,  with  a  battery  in  his 
front  about  two  hundred  yards  from  Fort  Robinette.  Price 
had  the  left  wing,  east  of  the  Columbus  road  and  north  of 
the  town.  Lovell  had  the  right  wing,  on  and  south  of  the 
Bolivar  road.  The  Confederate  line  closed  up  within  a  thou 
sand  yards  of  the  new  Federal  works. 

The  Rebels  made  their  movements  with  caution  and  in 


VAN  DORN  ASSAULTS  CORINTH.  231 

silence,  until,  at  three  in  the  morning,  Van  Dorn  opened  an 
artillery  fire.  No  reply  was  made  till  daylight.  The  early 
battery  then  was  shortly  silenced,  and  one  of  its  guns 
captured. 

Heavy  skirmishing  between  the  lines  continued  about  two 
hours,  when  the  Confederate  right  emerged  from  the  woods, 
and  bore  down  steadily  and  straight  along  the  Bolivar  road 
toward  the  Union  centre.  In  the  face  of  a  stream  of  fire  it 
came  on, — a  dark,  unbroken,  swollen  sea, — dashed  up  against 
Davics'  division,  drove  it  back,  went  through  and  over  Fort 
Richardson,  killing  the  commander  and  seizing  the  guns,  and 
rolled  forward,  further  to  the  west,  along  the  roads,  over  the 
fields,  and  up  the  cannon-crowned  steep.  "  The  Rebels  ad 
vanced  not  merely  on  batteries,"  says  an  eye  witness  of  their 
swift  onset,  "but  under  enfilading  and  cross-fires  which  swept 
them  away  as  hail  beats  down  dead  leaves."  Hamilton's 
division  poured  an  unceasing  fire  on  their  flank.  On  they 
came  regardless.  They  were  in  the  forts,  in  the  town,  round 
Rosecrans'  headquarters,  mingled  with  the  Union  troops. 
Now  was  the  time,  when  their  very  success  had  broken  their 
front,  to  seize  them.  There  was  a  sudden  and  swift  rally  to 
the  aid  of  Davies.  A  charge  from  two  regiments  on  the 
enemy's  front;  two  well  directed  volleys;  a  charge  with  a 
cheer  from  two  regiments,  led  by  Sullivan,  on  his  flank,  and 
he  was  sent  reeling  back,  with  the  loss  of  his  colors,  his 
wounded,  and  three  hundred  captured  soldiers. 

During  Price's  assault,  a  force  moving  upon  a  position  held 
by  our  Forty-Eighth,  was  checked  by  a  storm  of  lead.  Again 
and  again  it  moved  up,  but  so  terrible  was  the  fire  which  it 
met,  that  it  retreated  in  confusion.  Lieutenant- Colonel 
Rugg,  commanding,  received  a  painful  wound  in  the  foot 
early  in  the  action,  but  he  refused  to  leave  the  field  until 
his  horse  was  shot  under  him,  and  he  had  limped  several 
times  along  the  regiment,  encouraging  and  cheering  the  men, 
who,  on  their  part,  never  fired  without  a  "Huzza!" 

Twenty  minutes  after  Price  moved  on  Rosecrans'  right 
centre,  Van  Dorn  assaulted  his  left,  his  forces  sweeping  up 
in  the  same  way,  as  if,  like  the  inanimate  forces  of  nature, 
they  knew  neither  pain  nor  fear.  The  Rebel  flag  flaunted  on 


232  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  parapet  of  Fort  Robinettc.  But  the  Rebel  officer  in 
command  was  shot  in  the  moment  of  his  triumph;  and 
two  hundred  men  who  had  followed  close  on  his  heels,  fell 
close  under  the  wall.  Fifty-six  dead  men  were  heaped  up 
together. 

Stanley's  regiment  swarmed  over  the  works  and  drove 
Van  Dorn  back  to  the  woods. 

The  battle  ended.  Rosecrans,  however,  was  led  by  the 
desperate  madness  of  the  last  assault  to  expect  another,  and 
he  stood  until  three  o'clock,  when  his  skirmishers,  pushing 
back  the  Rebel  skirmishers,  found  the  field  occupied  only  by 
dead  and  wounded. 

Van  Dorn  and  Price  were  not  favorites  of  fortune  d urine: 

O 

their  military  career,  but  no  other  time  and  at  no  other  place 
were  they  so  utterly  overthrown  and  cast  down  as  on  the 
fourth  of  October,  before  Corinth.  They  made  haste  to 
leave  the  field,  and  were  far  on  their  way  when  their  retreat 
was  discovered. 

General  Rosecrans  rode  along  his  line  announcing  the 
enemy's  retreat,  and  directing  his  troops  to  "replenish  their 
cartridge  boxes,  haversacks  and  stomachs,"  and  to  take  an 
early  sleep,  in  order  to  start  at  daylight  on  the  pursuit. 
McPherson,  who  arrived  with  a  fresh  brigade,  was  ordered  to 
take  the  advance. 

Early  Sunday  morning  the  army  set  out,  but  by  some  mis 
hap  directing  its  course  above  the  enemy,  it  marched  eight 
miles  out  of  the  way  before  it  reached  the  Tuscumbia,  where 
the  enemy  had  crossed. 

Meantime,  beyond  the  crossing  of  the  Hatchie,  which  is 
about  five  miles  west  of  the  Tuscumbia,  the  head  of  the 
retreating  army  was  firmly  confronted. 

As  soon  as  General  Grant  was  assured  that  Van  Dorn's 
movements,  as  he  advanced,  were  definitely  bent  toward  the 
east,  he  directed  a  division  at  Bolivar  to  move  to  the  assist 
ance  of  Rosecrans,  or  to  the  interception  of  the  enemy's  re 
treat.  Saturday  morning,  before  day  had  fairly  dawned, 
General  Ilurlbut  started.  He  moved  rapidly,  not  hailing  for 
water,  nor  for  rest  until  noon,  and  accomplishing  nearly  thirty 
miles  before  he  encamped.  General  Ord  joined  the  division 


ON  THE  IIATCHIE.  233 

and  took  command  the  next  day.  The  march  was  resumed 
early  on  Sunday  and  in  great  anxiety,  occasioned  by  rumors 
of  defeat  at  Corinth.  The  road  was  difficult,  narrow  and 
dangerous,  leading  through  swamp  and  jungle,  and  over  pre 
cipitous  ridges,  across  which  it  was  necessary  to  drag  artil 
lery  by  hand.  But  tidings  from  Bolivar  of  the  retreat  of  the 
enemy,  received  at  an  early  hour,  lifted  a  weight  from  every 
heart,  and  smoothed  the  asperities  of  the  march.  Immedi 
ately  afterwards  the  firing  of  cavalry  scouts  announced  the 
proximity  of  danger. 

General  Veatch's  command,  which,  at  the  outset  of  the 
march,  had  been  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  a  battery,  a 
battalion  of  cavalry  and  two  infantry  regiments,  and  which 
to-day  was  in  front,  Lauman's  brigade  having  moved  first 
on  the  previous  day,  was  thrown  into  line  of  battle.  Colonel 
Morgan's  skirmishers  took  possession  of  a  house  on  the  left 
of  the  road,  from  which  Rebel  pickets  had  been  driven  by 
Bolton's  battery.  Veatch  pushed  steadily  and  sturdily  for 
ward,  with  musketry  and  artillery  firing.  On  the  edge  of 
large,  open  fields,  which  were,  however,  cut  up  by  gullies,  he 
widened  his  front,  leaving  the  Twenty-Fifth  Indiana,  which 
was  in  advance  at  the  start,  still  in  the  centre,  and  throwing 
the  Fifty-Third,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Jones,  out  on  the 
right  flank,  the  Fifteenth  Illinois  on  the  left.  Moving  across 
the  fields  with  augmented  speed,  he  reached  the  commanding 
rid^e  on  which  stands  a  cluster  of  houses  called  Matamoras. 

O 

His  battery  thundered  up  the  acclivity.  His  regiments 
threw  themselves  down  on  its  summit.  Below,  in  the  centre 
of  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Hatch ie,  with  the  river  a  mile 
or  somewhat  less  in  the  rear,  stood  the  advance  of  Van 
Dorn's  army. 

General  Veatch  formed  his  command  in  line,  directed  his 
cavalry  to  guard  his  right,  and  opened  an  effective  artillery 
fire.  Rebel  artillery  replied  vigorously,  but  inaccurately,  1  he 
balls  striking  the  trunks  of  trees  far  above  the  height  of  a 
man.  The  fire  slackened.  Veatch  pressed  on.  Laura  an 
followed.  A  half  mile  from  the  river,  firing  re-commenced, 
both  artillery  and  musketry.  The  action  became  hot,  the 
Union  troops  fighting  unsheltered,  the  Rebels  availing  them- 


234  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

selves  of  trees,  fences  and  houses.  Little  by  little  the  Rebels 
fell  back.  At  length  having  abandoned  four  guns,  they 
reached  the  river,  a  deep  stream,  spanned  by  a  wretched 
bridge.  They  crowded  over,  planted  their  guns  upon  the 
further  bank,  and  turned  upon  their  pursuers. 

Already  the  Fifty-Third  Indiana  and  the  Fourteenth  Illi 
nois  had  crossed.  The  latter  having  turned  to  the  left,  was 
directly  under  the  bank,  quite  beneath  the  range  of  the  guns. 
The  former,  endeavoring  to  obey  the  order  to  fall  into  line 
on  the  right,  was  thrown  into  disorder  by  the  impossibility 
of  forming  in  the  narrow  and  bushy  space  between  the  river 
and  the  bank,  as  well  as  by  the  unbroken  sweep  of  the  ene 
my's  guns.  The  Twenty-Fifth  Indiana  and  the  Third  Iowa, 
rushing  over  the  bridge  through  streams  of  shot  and  shell, 
also  crowded  over  toward  the  right.  After  a  few  terrible 
minutes  of  confusion,  General  Hurlbut,  General  Ord  having 
been  wounded,  corrected  the  blunder  by  throwing  the  whole 
force  to  the  left,  which  offered,  beside  shelter,  an  opportunity 
to  flank  the  enemy's  position.  The  enemy  made  no  further 
stand,  and  Veatch  halted  his  line  on  the  upper  bank,  to  di 
rect  the  advance  and  position  of  his  batteries.  He  was 
struck  by  a  grape-shot,  and  disabled.  However,  the  fighting 
and  the  firing,  except  of  artillery,  was  over. 

Shut  in  between  the  Tuscumbia  and  the  Hatehie,  with 
Ord  before  and  Rosecrans  coming  up  behind,  the  Rebels  had 
little  stomach  for  fight.  Their  only  hope  was  to  hold  the 
two  crossings  with  small  bodies,  while  the  main  army 
should  move  swiftly  up  the  strip  of  country  between  the 
rivers,  and  six  miles  above  effect  the  passage  of  the  Hatehie 
at  Crum's  Hill.  They  succeeded,  and  burnt  the  bridge  be 
hind  them,  leaving  their  tents,  camp  equipage  and  broken 
wagons,  strewed  over  the  country. 

General  Grant  stopped  the  pursuit  at  this  point,  to  the 
chagrin  of  General  Rosecrans,  who  hoped  not  only  to  cap 
ture  the  Rebel  army,  but  to  go  on  to  Vicksburg. 

General  Hurlbut's  division,  in  the  fight  on  the  Hatehie, 
captured  two  batteries,  many  hundred  small  arms  and  sev 
eral  prisoners.  It  lost  five  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  killed 
and  wounded,  a  greater  loss  than  the  Confederates  suffered, 


HONOR  THE  MEMORY  OF  THE  FALLEN.        235 

on  account  of  greater  exposure.  The  Fifty-Third  Indiana 
lost  one  hundred  and  four.  The  Twenty-Fifth  lost  eighty. 
Major  Rheinlander  was  severely  wounded.  Major  McGrain 
was  slightly  wounded. 

Officers  bore  unanimous  testimony  to  the  excellent  be 
havior  of  the  men.  General  Grant's  words  are:  "  The  troops 
advanced  with  unsurpassed  gallantry,  driving  the  enemy 
back  across  the  Hatchie,  over  ground  where  it  is  almost  in 
credible  that  a  superior  force  should  be  driven  by  an  inferior." 

General  Veatch,  in  a  congratulatory  order,  says:  "  On  no 
field  since  the  war  began,  has  better  fighting  been  done. 
The  forces  of  the  enemy,  greatly  superior  in  numbers,  were 
posted  in  the  very  strongest  positions,  and  commanded  by 
those  veteran  Rebel  Generals,  Van  Dorn  and  Price.  You 
met  them,  you  drove  them,  you  defeated  and  routed  them, 
capturing  a  battery  and  hundreds  of  prisoners.  You  com 
pelled  them  to  seek  shelter  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hatchie. 
Here  the  First  brigade  came  to  your  support,  and,  with  Hurl- 
but's  fighting  Fourth  division  united,  you  drove  them  from 
their  last  stronghold,  and  forced  them  to  a  hasty  retreat. 

"  While  we  rejoice  in  victory,  we  regret  the  loss  of  many 
brave  men.  Let  us  honor  the  memory  of  our  fallen  com 
rades,  and  transmit  to  their  friends  the  story  of  their  noble 
deeds. 

"  The  \vounded  who  survive  will  carry  their  battle-scars, 
which  will  speak  more  eloquently  than  any  words  can  do." 

"It  was  the  first  fight  for  our  regiment,"  says  private  Drum- 
mond  Carse,  of  the  Fifty-Third  Indiana,  "and  we  were  too 
eager  to  get  into  the  Rebels.  We  all  yelled  like  madmen, 
and  not  thinking  about  danger,  pitched  straight  forward. 
When  we  saw  their  infantry  lying  still  waiting  for  us,  we 
fixed  bayonets  and  went  at  them.  The  way  they  ran  was  a 
caution.  At  our  first  charge  we  ran  them  about  a  mile  and 
a  half,  and  sent  them  across  Hatchie  river,  some  of  them 
swimming,  and  lots  of  them  drowning.  The  bridge  was 
right  in  a  bend  of  the  river.  The  General  straightened  out 
the  regiments,  then  we  all  gave  three  cheers,  and  started. 
Our  regiment  was  the  first  over.  But  the  Rebels  had  the 
advantage  soon.  They  were  on  a  hill,  and  poured  grape 


236  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  canister  on  us  like  a  hail  storm.  There  was  no  room 
for  us  to  form  line  of  battle,  for  four  regiments  were  piled  on 
about  a  half  acre  of  ground.  But  when  we  made  the  last 
charge  we  went  clear  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  fight  lasted 
about  seven  hours,  but  it  did  not  appear  to  me  more  than  a 
half  hour." 

Dr.  Thomas,  the  surgeon  of  the  Twenty-Fifth,  writes  in  a 
private  letter: 

"  The  fight  continued  from  eight  in  the  morning  until  three 
in  the  afternoon.  The  sound  of  cannon  and  small  arms  was 
incessant.  Out  of  all  this,  above  the  din  and  through  the 
smoke  of  the  conflict  could  be  heard  the  cheers  of  our  brave 
and  victorious  men.  The  sound  of  the  human  voice  under 
such  circumstances,  so  strong,  cheering  and  triumphant,  was 
strange  beyond  expression.  It  seemed  to  come  out  of  the 
very  'jaws  of  death,  out  of  the  mouth  of  hell;'  as  though 
mortality  had  triumphed  over  the  powers  of  darkness;  and 
flesh  and  blood  had  taken  violent  possession  of  the  man  of 
sin." 

Months  after  the  battle  of  the  Hatchie  a  soldier  told  the 
following  story  to  a  circle  of  friends  in  the  North:  "As  I 
was  running  over  the  bridge,  through  the  storm  of  fire,  a  ball 
took  off  both  legs  of  our  Sergeant  Major,  who  was  beside 
me.  His  name  was  Moore.  He  was  but  a  boy,  only  eigh 
teen.  The  crowd  swept  me  on.  I  could  not  speak  to  him, 
nor  could  I  give  him  more  than  a  momentary  glance.  But 
that  glance  imprinted  his  face  on  my  memory  forever.  It 
was  radiant,  rapturous."  "Did  he  die?"  asked  one  of  the 
group  of  listeners.  "He  was  dying  then."  "How  do  you 
account  for  that  expression?"  "I  cannot  account  for  it," 
replied  the  soldier,  but  added,  after  a  pause,  "  Of  course  the 
shock  deadened  his  nerves.  He  was  unconscious  of  pain, 
but  not  of  death.  It  may  be  that  he  felt  what  poets  sing,  the 
sweetness  of  dying  for  his  country.  I  cannot  tell.  But  I 
never  can  forget  his  glorified  face." 

Moore  was  a  member  of  the  Fifty- Third. 

The  battle  on  the  Hatchie,  though  more  sanguinary  to  the 
Federal  troops,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  engaged,  being 
but  supplementary  to  the  battle  of  Corinth,  was  of  less  com- 


HAMILTON'S  DIVISION.  237 

parativc  importance.  At  Corinth  the  enemy  lost  fourteen 
•flags,  two  guns,  thirty-three  hundred  small  arms,  and  nine 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  men,  of  whom  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-three  were  killed. 

The  loss  of  Rosecrans,  including  the  pursuit,  was  two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-nine — three  hundred  and 
fifteen  killed,  eighteen  hundred  and  twelve  wounded,  and  two 
hundred  and  thirty-two  missing.  The  Forty-Eighth  Indiana 
lost  nineteen.  The  Fifty-Ninth  probably  about  the  same. 

Captain  Harris,  a  member  of  General  Sullivan's  staff,  while 
carrying  orders  on  the  field,  received  a  wound  on  the  hand. 
His  clothes  were  torn  by  bullets.  In  a  private  letter  he  writes: 
"I  am  thankful  to  a  merciful  Providence  for  the  almost  mi 
raculous  escapes  of  the  General  and  myself  from  the  deliber 
ate  aim  of  both  sharpshooters  and  cannon  on  the  third  and 
fourth  instants.  On  the  third  we  both  were,  in  turn,  targets 
for  artillery  practice ;  on  the  fourth  for  the  enemy's  sharp 
shooters.  I  attribute  our  preservation  to  a  special  interposi 
tion  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  has  been,  and  I  feel  will 
be  with  us  to  the  end. 

"  I  think  a  man  is  entitled  to  call  himself  a  veteran  who 
can  sit  on  his  horse  and  observe  the  endeavors  made  to  pick 
him  off. 

"  I  see  little  mention  in  the  newspapers  of  the  part  Ham 
ilton's  division  took  in  the  battle  of  Corinth.  Both  the  First 
and  Second  Brigades  were  engaged  on  both  days,  and  did 
nobly.  On  the  fourth  the  First  Brigade  was  kept  together, 
i.  e.,  the  regiments  were  not  detached,  and  their  line  of  battle, 
firing,  &c.,  was  a  most  magnificent  scene;  while  the -Second 
Brigade  labored  under  the  disadvantage  of  being,  as  it  were, 
broken  up,  the  regiments  acting  as  supports  to  batteries,  &c., 
almost  independently  of  each  other.  But  all  did  well,  and 
to  General  C.  S.  Hamilton's  division  should  be  accorded  the 
honor  of  the  success  of  the  day  on  our  extreme  right. 

"You  have  always  heard  me  assert  that  the  Rebels  would 
fight.  Had  our  men,  as  a  whole,  done  as  well,  exhibited  the 
same  gallantry  and  dash,  the  Rebel  army  would  have  been 
annihilated. 

"You  remember  Marshal   Macdon aid's  charge  across  a 


938  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

wide  plain  under  a  terrible  artillery  fire.  I  thought  of  it  as 
the  Rebels  advanced,  not  merely  on  batteries,  but  under  en 
filading  and  cross-fires,  which  swept  them  away  as  the  hail 
beats  down  dead  leaves. 

"  Our  troops  are  not  credited  with  any  such  charges  as  I 
saw  the  Rebels  make  on  the  third,  when  they  turned  Hack- 
leman's  left,  and  forced  the  action  in  which  he  was  killed, 
although  his  brigade  did,  perhaps,  as  good  fighting  as  has 
been  witnessed  in  this  war. 

"However,  the  result  was  a  grand  success.  The  Rebel 
army  met  with  an  unexpected  and  total  defeat,  and  fled  in 
disorder. 

"  You  know  General  Hackleman  was  an  old  acquaintance 
and  friend  of  mine.  I  was  with  him  but  a  short  time  before 
he  was  killed.  He  was  everything  that  the  army  or  the 
country  could  desire  or  demand,  and  his  loss  is  a  great  calam 
ity.  We  have  but  few  commanders  in  the  army,  unfortu 
nately,  so  modest,  pure  and  competent." 

The  same  gentleman,  in  a  letter  which  is  published  in 
"  Indiana's  Roll  of  Honor,"  writes  further  of  General  Hack 
leman  : 

"  Embracing  the  first  hour  of  leisure  and  relief  from  march 
ing,  business  and  fatigue  since  the  memorable  third  and 
fourth  of  October,  1862, 1  offer  my  grateful  tribute  of  esteem 
and  affection  to  the  memory  of  our  lost  hero  and  friend,  Gen 
eral  Hackleman.  Dead,  but  living,  an  example  to  his  late 
brother  officers;  absent,  yet  present  in  memory;  without  an 
enemy  save  such  as  envy  makes;  the  Chevalier  Bayard  of 
the  army,  without  fear,  and  without  reproach ;  the  courteous 
gentleman,  the  competent  General;  beloved  alike  by  private 
and  officer,  lamented  by  all ;  tears  fill  the  eyes  of  his  soldiers 
at  his  name ;  the  lost  leader  is  mourned  as  men  mourn  for  a 
lost  brother. 

"  On  Friday,  the  third,  I  twice  bore  messages  from  Gen 
eral  Sullivan  to  General  Hackleman,  and  saw  him  at  his 
headquarters,  near  the  intrenchments,  a  short  time  before  he 
was  mortally  wounded,  observing  the  advance  of  the  Rebel 
column  on  the  battery  and  line  to  his  left.  It  was  a  life 
picture,  such  as  only  contending  armies  portray.  Once  wit- 


HACKLEMAN  AND  MILLS.  239 

nesscd,  the  scene  is  never  lost;  memory  but  reverts  to  it,  and 
some  mysterious  camera  spreads  it  out  anew  in  all  its  hide- 
ousness.  The  Rebels  charged  across  an  open  field,  under 
the  well  served  guns  of  the  battery,  near  the  General's  head 
quarters,  and  up  to  the  very  mouth  of  the  guns  attacked, 
with  the  desperation  of  a  forlorn  hope.  Every  discharge  tore 
through  their  ranks;  platoons  fell  as  one  man;  wide  gaps 
were  torn,  but  to  be  closed  by  the  impetuous  rush  of  brave 
men.  Alas!  that  such  bravery  and  devotion  should  die  in 
such  a  cause. 

"  Once  they  falter.  Some  turn  to  fly,  but  the  ringing  call 
of  their  leader  again  moves  the  more  than  decimated  band. 
"Forward!"  The  intrenchments  are  stormed,  the  daring 
charge  successful,  our  troops  fall  back  fighting,  and  Hackle- 
man's  brigade  is  to  face  the  foe.  Observant,  silent  and  col 
lected,  Hacklcman  turns  to  his  staff  and  officers  grouped 
around  him,  and  calmly  issues  his  orders.  I  marked  the 
kindly,  affectionate  tone  in  which  he  gave  poor  Mills  the 
order:  'Bring  up  your  regiment.'  Observing  me  awaiting 
his  orders,  he  directed  me  to  report  the  turning  of  our  flank 
to  General  Sullivan.  I  rode  away  with  apprehension.  The 
roar  of  battle  was  momentarily  stilled,  the  combatants  mov 
ing  into  order  of  battle,  preparing  for  the  hand  to  hand  con 
flict  which  soc/n  recommenced  with  increased  fury;  a  mus 
ketry  duel,  replying  batteries,  howling  shell,  screaming  grape 
and  canister,  death-winged  Minie  balls,  a  hell  of  withering 
consuming  fire,  murderous  bayonet  stabs,  destroying  charges, 
the  rush  of  wounded  horses,  the  repulse,  the  retreat.  Amid 
cheers,  cries,  groans  and  curses,  the  clear,  ringing  voice  of 
Hackleman  is  not  heard.  His  men  bear  him  sadly  away, 
the  life-drops  purpling  the  autumn  leaves.  Pleasant  A. 
Hackleman  laid  down  his  life  deliberately,  willingly,  in  re 
sisting  the  flood  of  wicked  treason." 

"Poor  Mills,"  of  whom  Captain  Harris  speaks,  was  the 
son-in-law  of  General  Hackleman.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Second  Iowa  infantry,  but  he  was  a  native  of  Indiana, 
was  educated  at  Wabash  College,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  before  he  removed  to  Iowa.  His  life  was  spent  mainly 
in  Indiana.  He  was  an  excellent  officer,  and  distinguished 


240  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

himself  at  Fort  Donelson,  and  on  the  field  of  Shiloh  as  \veil 
as  at  Corinth.  He  was  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  assumed 
command  of  his  regiment  on  the  fall  of  his  Colonel,  Friday 
afternoon.  He  at  once  became  a  mark  for  the  enemy,  his 
horse  being  shot  under  him,  his  sleeve  pierced,  and  his  foot 
struck  though  not  injured.  The  next  day,  after  the  falling 
back  of  Davies'  division  before  the  overpowering  assault  of 
Price,  he  seized  his  colors,  rallied  his  men,  and  was  leading 
them  to  a  bayonet  charge,  when  he  was  severely  wounded 
in  the  foot.  Lockjaw  set  in,  and  after  eight  days  of  patient 
suffering,  he  died  Sunday  evening,  October  12. 

General  Tattle  wrote  of  him:  "Colonel  Mills'  death  is  a 
great  calamity.  He  was  truly  a  hero.  I  think  he  was  a 
little  nearer  just  right  than  any  other  man  I  ever  knew,  high- 
minded,  honorable  and  brave  as  a  lion." 

Colonel  Mills  unconsciously  gave  himself  still  higher  com 
mendation:  "In  the  army,  I  have  tried  conscientiously  and 
prayerfully  to  do  my  duty,  and  if  I  am  to  die  in  my  youth, 
I  prefer  to  die  as  a  soldier  of  my  country." 


MARCHES  AND  FIGHTS.  241 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SUMMER  AND  WINTER  IN  MISSOURI  AND  ARKANSAS. 

During  the  winter  and  spring  of  1862,  Missouri  was  kept 
tolerably  quiet,  by  the  pressure  of  a  large  militia  force  and  a 
small  number  of  United  States  troops  left  behind  on  the 
withdrawal  of  Curtis'  army.  In  the  summer,  the  State  again 
fumed  and  foamed  with  strife,  promoted  by  the  devastations 
of  guerilla  bands  and  the  invasion  of  formidable  forces, 
which  were  encouraged  by  M'Clcllan's  failures  in  the  East 
to  the  boldest  demonstrations.  On  the  last  of  June,  the 
Twenty- Sixth  Indiana  regiment  and  the  Third  Indiana  bat 
tery,  formerly  Frybarger's,  now  under  the  command  of  a  se 
cretly  disloyal  officer,  James  Cockefair,  were  released  from 
their  distasteful  inactivity  of  nearly  seven  months  at  Lamine 
cantonment,  and  were  started  on  a  series  of  marches  and 
fights.  During  the  month  of  July,  the  Twenty-Sixth 
marched  three  hundred  and  thirty  miles. 

Rabb's  battery,  which  had  wintered  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
joined  General  Blunt's  command  at  Fort  Scott,  Arkansas, 
early  in  the  Spring,  and  as  part  of  Colonel  Salomon's  bri 
gade,  engaged  in  several  expeditions.  In  the  first  part  of 
June,  it  formed  a  portion  of  a  force  which,  having  marched 
through  lola,  Kansas,  and  Baxter's  Springs,  Indian  Territory, 
routed  General  Coffey  at  Round  Grove,  in  the  Cherokee 
Nation.  About  a  month  later,  Colonel  Salomon  undertook 
to  meet  rebel  Indians  at  the  same  place,  but  he  was  unable 
to  make  them  stand  up  to  a  fight.  [ 

At  Hicksville  on  the  sixth  of  August,  Colonel   McNeil, 

with  one  thousand  cavalry  and  Cockefair's  battery,  engaged 

a  Rebel  force  between  two  and  three  thousand  strong,  under 

Colonel  Porter,  in  a  desperate  four  hours'  fight,  with  signal 

16 


242  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

success,  the  Federal  loss  being  ninety  to  a  Rebel  loss  of  six 
hundred  and  eighty,  and  the  spoils  including  several  wagon 
loads  of  arms. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  the  Twenty-Sixth  regiment 
engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  General  Coffey,  who,  with  four 
thousand  five  hundred  men,  had  entered  the  State  from  Ar 
kansas,  and  penetrated  almost  to  Lexington,  but  had  been 
forced,  by  the  approach  of  Union  troops  from  every  quarter, 
to  turn  again  to  the  South.  The  pursuit  was  hot,  and  con 
tinued  to  Fayetteville,  whence  the  pursuers  re  turned  through 
Cassville  to  Springfield.  Here  they  were  organized  into  an 
army  called  the  Army  of  the  Frontier,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  General  Schofield.  The  Twenty-Sixth,  in  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Clark,  was  put  in  the  First  brig 
ade,  under  Colonel  Wheatley,  and  Second  division  under 
General  Totten. 

October  1,  Schofield  moved  south-west  and  effected  a, 
junction  with  General  Blunt,  who  had  come  up  from  Fort 
Scott.  The  united  force  was  ten  thousand  strong.  Salo 
mon's  brigade,  four  thousand  five  hundred,  encountered 
about  seven  thousand  of  the  enemy  at  Newtonia.  His  ad 
vance  was  beaten,  but  renewing  the  combat  with  his  whole 
force,  he  kept  it  up  several  hours  with  little  loss,  and  retired 
from  the  field  in  no  disorder.  Schofield  moved  up  on  the 
right,  although  rain  fell  heavily  and  mud  was  ankle  deep, 
and  directed  his  forces,  so  that  when  day  dawned,  Blunt  lay 
on  the  north  and  west,  and  Totten  on  the  east  of  the 
enemy.  He  lost  no  time  in  opening  fire.  The  enemy  was 
equally  expeditious  in  taking  to  his  heels. 

The  Rebel  force  was  nearly  twenty  thousand  in  number, 
but  it  was  so  poorly  armed  as  to  have  reason  to  dread  contact 
with  disciplined  troops  of  half  the  number.  Schofield  pur 
sued  rapidly.  At  Pea  Ridge,  after  scattering  the  hostile  rear 
guard,  he  found  it  necessary  to  divide  his  forces  in  order  to 
follow  the  divided  fugitives.  With  one  portion  he  reached 
Iluntsvillc,  only  to  find  that  the  Rebels  were  already  beyond 
the  mountains.  General  Blunt,  with  another  portion,  over 
took  and  routed  a  body  of  the  enemy  at  Marysville,  captur 
ing  four  guns. 


BATTLE  OF  PRAIRIE  GROVE.  243 

Blunt  established  himself  at  Cane  Hill,  where,  during  the 
following  months,  he  had  one  or  two  slight  engagements. 

Schofield  returned  to  Cassville,  and,  having  lost  his  health, 
resigned  his  command.  General  Totten  went  to  St.  Louis, 
leaving  the  Second  and  Third  division  under  the  command 

o 

of  Herron,  an  able  and  spirited  officer.  Colonel  Wheatley 
resigned  and  returned  to  Indianapolis,  leaving  his  regiment 
in  excellent  discipline  and  condition.  Clark  was  promoted 
to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  Twenty-Sixth. 

The  evening  of  Wednesday,  December  3,  Herron  received 
a  summons  to  the  immediate  assistance  of  Blunt,  who  was 
threatened  by  General  Hindman  with  a  force  of  twenty-five 
or  thirty  thousand  men.  Herron  was  at  the  time  on  Wil 
son's  creek,  ten  miles  south  of  Springfield,  and  his  divisions 
were  thirteen  or  sixteen  miles  further  south,  yet  so  prompt 
was  he,  and  so  well  seconded  by  his  subordinates,  that  the 
whole  force  was  on  the  march  the  same  night.  Sunday 
morning,  at  four  o'clock,  he  reached  Fayetteville,  having, 
with  the  entire  baggage  and  commissary  train,  accomplished 
one  hundred  and  ten  miles.  The  rising  sun  saw  him  again 
in  motion,  after  an  hour's  rest.  The  roads  and  weather  were 
fine.  "  I  never  beheld  a  more  beautiful  morning  or  a  grander 
sunrise,"  is  a  line  of  Herron's  report.  In  seven  miles  the  ad 
vance  met  hostile  skirmishers.  Hindman,  having  engaged 
Blunt's  attention  in  front,  was  on  the  move  to  gain  his  rear, 
with  no  conception  of  the  approach  of  Herron,  who,  having 
thrown  his  cavalry,  three  thousand  in  number,  so  far  in  ad 
vance  that  he  was  assured  it  had  reached  Cane  Hill  the  pre 
ceding  day,  had  not  thought  of  finding  the  enemy  across  his 
line  of  march.  Both  Hindman  and  Herron  were  thoroughly 
astonished,  but  both  eagerly  accepted  the  unexpected  situa 
tion,  the  Rebel  General  calculating  that  he  had  a  fair  pros 
pect  of  gaining  double  the  success  he  had  anticipated,  by 
taking  his  antagonists  one  at  a  time;  the  national  com 
mander  hoping  for  the  arrival  of  Blunt  and  confident  of  the 
spirit  of  his  troops.  By  dint  of  hard  pushing,  the  latter 
marched  four  miles  further,  to  Prairie  Grove,  a  beautiful  open 
valley  which  is  watered  by  Illinois  creek.  Following  the 
road,  he  threw  two  guns  across  the  creek.  He  was  forced  to 


244  T1115  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

withdraw  them  immediately  by  the  guns  of  the  enemy,  who 
was  strongly  posted  on  a  long  ridge,  with  magnificent  posi 
tions  for  batteries.  Herron  then  cut  a  road  through  woods 
to  a  position  further  down,  pushed  over  and  posted  a  full 
battery  of  six  guns.  These,  opening  unexpectedly,  threw  the 
enemy  into  some  confusion  and  drew  his  attention  from  the 
regular  crossing,  enabling  fourteen  guns  to  get  into  position 
south  of  the  stream,  and  to  cover  the  advance  of  the  whole 
force,  not  only  over  the  creek,  but  across  an  open  field.  The 
Rebels  were  vastly  superior  in  position,  but  vastly  inferior  in 
artillery,  and  Herron  held  them  in  check  by  an  admirably  di 
rected  as  well  as  heavy  cannonade,  until  he  was  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  the  ridge.  Two  regiments  then  moved  out 
from  the  left,  drove  the  Rebel  skirmishers  home,  advanced 
steadily  and  swiftly  to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  gallantly 
seized  a  battery.  They  were  unable  to  hold  it  and  returned 
shattered  and  bleeding  to  the  lines.  Again  two  regiments, 
the  Twenty-Sixth  Indiana  and  the  Thirty-Seventh  Illinois, 
moved  out  and  up  the  hill,  gained  the  battery,  lost  it,  and, 
shattered  and  bleeding,  returned,  reaching  the  line  just 
twenty  minutes  after  they  had  left  it. 

At  half  past  two,  far  on  his  right,  Herron  heard  Blunt's 
approaching  artillery,  Rabb's  battery,  opening  a  cross-fire  on 
the  two  Confederate  batteries. 

Early  in  the  morning,  Blunt  sent  his  cavalry  along  the 
Fayetteville  road  to  form  a  junction  with  Herron,  and  fol 
lowed  as  fast  as  infantry  could  move.  He  approached  the 
enemy's  left  just  as  that  wing  was  swinging  round  on  Her- 
ron's  flank,  consequently  Blunt  was  immediately  engaged. 
Both  parties  fought  with  a  fierce  determination  and  an  activ 
ity  which  scarcely  left  room  for  the  exercise  of  skill,  and  which 
held  them  with  little  fluctuation  in  steady  lines.  Rebel  sharp 
shooters  engaged  in  picking  out  officers  with  rifles  which 
were  not  apt  to  miss  their  aim.  Rabb's  battery  was  in  con 
tinual  and  effectual  play.  With  Tenny's  battery,  it  saved 
Weer's  brigade  from  destruction.  With  Hopkins'  guns  it 
subjected  a  large  and  impetuously  assaulting  force  to  a  ter 
rible  repulse. 


CURTIS  SETS  OUT  FROM  BATESVILLE.  245 

The  battle  closed  with  the  day.  The  Union  soldiers  slept 
on  their  arms  in  the  open  cornfields.  The  Confederate 
troops  absconded,  while  their  General  remained  on  the  ground 
with  a  flag  of  truce  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  making  ar 
rangements  for  the  burial  of  the  dead  and  the  care  of  the 
wounded. 

The  total  Union  loss  was  one  thousand  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight,  of  which  nine  hundred  and  fifty-three  were  from 
Herron's  force  of  little  more  than  four  thousand.  The  Indi 
ana  Twenty-Sixth  lost  two  hundred  and  three. 

Hindman's  official  report  makes  his  total  loss  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen.  Pollard's  historical  re 
port  places  it  at  three  hundred.  Blunt,  from  the  number  left 
on  the  field,  and  in  the  houses  in  the  vicinity,  judges  it  to 
have  been  at  least  three  thousand. 

The  army  encamped  in  Prairie  Grove,  and  rested  until  the 
twenty-seventh  of  December.  On  that  day,  at  eight  in  the 
morning,  it  started  to  Van  Buren,  Arkansas,  where,  accord 
ing  to  report,  Hindman  was  preparing  for  another  invasion 
of  Missouri.  It  made  fifty  miles  in  two  days,  the  infantry 
crossing  Lee's  creek  on  the  croups  of  the  cavalry  horses,  drove 
the  enemy  out  of  Dripping  Springs  and  Van  Buren,  and 
captured  his  wagons,  steamboats,  provisions  and  ammuni 
tion,  with  one  hundred  of  his  men. 

General  Blunt  and  General  Herron  now  separated,  the 
former  going  to  Fort  Smith,  the  latter  to  Holla. 

From  January  to  June  Vicksburg  drained  Missouri  of  both 
invaders  and  defenders. 

General  Curtis,  as  has  already  been  recorded,  made  a  long 
easterly  march  after  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  on  the  sixth  of 
May,  reaching  Batesville,  in  the  White  river  valley,  where 
he  had  expected  to  meet  gunboats  with  supplies  from  below. 
The  river  was  so  low  as  not  to  be  navigable,  and  after  wait 
ing  seven  weeks  for  a  rise,  he  set  out  again,  directing  his 
course  to  Clarendon,  which  point  boats  were  able  to  reach  in 
any  season.  The  dangers  of  the  march  may  be  inferred  from 
the  following  proclamation : 


246  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"  LITTLE  ROCK,  ARKANSAS,  June  24. 
"  To  the  People  of  Arkansas: 

"The  Yankee  General  Curtis  is  attempting  to  escape. 
His  position  is  untenable.  He  is  appalled  by  the  dangers 
that  surround  him.  In  his  terror  he  resorts  to  the  desperate 
expedient  of  moving  to  the  south,  along  White  river,  trusting 
for  supplies  from  the  Mississippi  by  boats.  The  supplies 
cannot  ascend  White  river.  We  have  already  blown  up  one 
of  his  iron-clad  boats,  crippled  another,  and  can  hold  the  river 
against  his  fleet.  The  question  now  is,  shall  his  army  reach 
the  fleet  below?  Can  you  prevent  it?  The  power  is  in 
your  hands.  The  plan  is  not  a  secret.  I  proclaim  it  to  you 
all.  If  it  is  not  carried  out  the  responsibility  rests  on  you. 

"Take  your  gun  in  your  hand,  and  ammunition,  every 
man  of  you;  mount  your  horse,  or  go  afoot.  Do  not  wait  an 
hour;  lose  no  time  in  holiday  meetings;  move  toward  the 
enemy  by  the  shortest  road ;  join  the  first  company  you  over 
take  on  the  march;  press  upon  the  invader  from  every  direc 
tion ;  attack  him  day  and  night;  kill  his  scouts  and  pickets; 
kill  his  pilots  and  troops  on  transports;  cut  off  his  wagon 
trains;  lie  in  ambush,  and  surprise  his  detachments;  shoot  his 
mounted  officers;  destroy  every  pound  of  meal  and  flour, 
every  ear  of  corn  and  stack  of  fodder,  oats  and  wheat  that 
can  fall  into  his  hands;  fell  trees  as  thickly  as  in  rafts  on  all 
the  roads  before  him;  burn  everything,  and  block  up  the  fords; 
hang  upon  his  front,  flanks  and  rear,  and  make  the  ring  of 
your  rifles  and  shot  guns  the  accompaniment  of  every  foot 
of  his  retreat.  Let  every  man  feel  and  know  that  this  appeal 
is  addressed  to  him  specially,  and  that  it  is  the  appeal  of  a 
bleeding  country  to  her  sons  for  deliverance.  Our  army  in 
the  field  will  do  its  part.  Will  you  do  yours? 

"T.  C.  HINDMAN, 

"Major  General." 

The  Eighteenth  Indiana  regiment  and  Klauss'  battery 
were  the  last  to  leave  Batesville,  which  was  immediately 
occupied  by  the  enemy.  The  weather  was  extremely  warm. 
The  country  afforded  little  food,  and  so  little  water  that  the 
advance  guard  exhausted  the  wells,  and  the  remainder  of  the 


BATTLE  OF  THE  CACHE.  247 

troops  were  forced  to  quench  their  thirst  from  stagnant  cy 
press  swamps.  The  fourth  of  July  was  spent  and  celebrated 
at  Augusta,  whence  Curtis,  turning  from  the  White,  assumed 
a  generally  south-west  direction,  moving  through  cane  brakes, 
swamps  and  woods.  He  approached  the  Cache,  and  en 
camped  near  it,  while  a  detachment  cut  through  a  blockade 
of  felled  timber,  a  reconnoitring  party  of  four  hundred  in 
fantry,  with  a  little  steel  gun,  under  Lieutenant  Danneman, 
of  the  First  Cavalry,  examined  the  route,  and  a  battalion  of 
the  First  Indiana  Cavalry,  with  two  guns,  directed  by  Colo 
nel  Baker,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Fourth  Brigade, 
went  forward  to  save  the  bridge  over  Bayou  de  View,  fifteen 
miles  distant. 

Colonel  Hovey,  in  command  of  the  reconnoissance,  fell  in 
with  a  Rebel  force  of  fifteen  hundred.  Happily  an  hour 
after,  and  while  he  still  held  his  ground,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Wood,  with  the  First  Indiana  and  Klauss'  two  guns,  came 
galloping  to  the  field.  He  was  received  with  cheers.  "  The 
Rebels  are  down  the  road,"  said  Hovey,  "and  there's  plenty 
of  them.  Pitch  into  them."  Wood  pressed  on  at  full  speed, 
and  seeing  the  enemy  with  extended  and  advanced  wings, 
moving  as  if  to  enclose  the  whole  Union  force,  he  instantly 
formed  line  of  battle,  with  guns  in  battery  in  the  centre,  and 
with  one  squadron  on  the  left,  and  the  other  on  the  right, 
poured  canister  on  the  Rebel  front,  and  shell  on  its  rear.  The 
enemy  wavered.  Before  he  could  recover,  Major  Clendennin, 
with  Companies  E  and  G,  made  a  furious  charge  upon  his 
right  flank.  The  Major  was  severely  wounded,  Captain 
Sloan  was  killed,  his  First  Lieutenant  was  thrown  from  his 
horse,  and  the  horse  of  the  Second  Lieutenant  was  shot  un 
der  him;  but  not  the  slightest  confusion  followed  these  dis 
asters.  After  a  twenty  minutes'  fight  with  carbines  and 
pistols,  the  Rebels  were  forced  into  flight,  cavalry  breaking 
through  infantry. 

One  hundred  and  ten  of  the  enemy  were  left  on  the  field. 
The  Union  loss  was  but  eight  killed,  and  forty-five  wounded. 
The  battle  of  the  Cache  was  fought  July  7. 

Colonel  Wood  proceeded,  with  his  command,  to  the  bridge 


248  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

across  Bayou  de  View,  and  reaching  it  just  as  a  fire  had  been 
built  on  its  north  end,  saved  it  from  destruction. 

July  9,  Curtis  arrived  at  Clarendon,  where  he  received  the 
tantalizing  intelligence  that  gunboats  and  transports  with 
supplies  had  been  there  and  had  returned  down  the  river  the 
day  before.  He  had  now  only  to  hasten  eastwardly  to  the 
Mississippi,  which  at  the  nearest  point  was  sixty-five  miles 
distant.  Three  days  more  of  marching,  during  which  the 
men  received  from  the  Commissary  but  three  crackers  each, 
brought  the  army  to  the  highlands  of  Helena,  and  within 
sight  of  the  old  face  of  the  Father  of  Waters,  "which  in 
spired  us  with  as  great  a  joy,"  says  a  member  of  the  Eight 
eenth,  "as  did  its  discovery  the  followers  of  DeSoto."  The 
brigade  encamped  among  the  hills  in  a  beautiful  beach  grove. 
Nearly  seven  months  and  nearly  one  thousand  miles  of  wan 
derings  were  thus  at  last  happily  ended. 

There  had  been  no  lack  of  effort  to  furnish  Curtis  with 
supplies.  Four  gunboats,  a  transport  loaded  with  arrny 
stores,  and  two  transports  containing  the  Forty-Sixth  Indi 
ana,  Colonel  Fitch,  left  Memphis  the  middle  of  June,  with 
the  purpose  of  opening  communications  to  Batcsville.  The 
morning  of  the  seventeenth,  Colonel  Fitch  landed  with  his 
regiment  two  and  a  half  miles  below  St.  Charles,  which, 
with  two  concealed  batteries  and  an  infantry  force,  threat 
ened  the  boats.  Fitch  threw  out  skirmishers,  and  marched 
toward  the  rear  of  the  position,  pushing  the  hostile 
pickets  back  through  a  deadened  wood.  The  gunboats  at 
the  same  lime  moved  up  and  opened  fire.  The  enemy 
.promptly  answered,  struck  the  foremost  boat,  the  Mound 
City,  sending  the  ball  through  her  steam-drum.  An  im 
mense  volume  of  steam  rolling  from  the  front  pipes,  and  a 
frantic  rush  of  men  overboard,  gave  intelligence  that  many, 
if  not  all,  of  the  officers  and  crew  were  scalded.  Firing  in 
stantly  ceased.  Tugs,  cutters  and  yawls  pushed  out  to  the 
drowning  men.  The  enemy  on  both  banks,  regardless  alike 
of  humanity  and  of  gratitude  to  Union  men,  who,  at  Mem 
phis,  had  saved  Rebel  sufferers  in  the  same  situation,  not 
only  continued  his  fire,  but  directed  it  upon  the  scalded  men, 


ATTEMPTS  TO  RELIEVE  CURTIS.  249 

both  in  and  out  of  the  water,  and  on  the  boats  lowered  to 
their  relief. 

Meantime  the  Forty-Sixth  moved  rapidly  up  toward  the 
remaining  battery,  one  having  been  silenced  almost  at  the 
first  fire,  shot  the  gunners  at  their  posts,  and  carried  the 
works  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  Nine  brass  and  iron  guns, 
a  quantity  of  ammunition,  and  thirty  men  with  their  com 
mander,  were  captured. 

The  expedition,  after  the  river  had  been  explored  some 
distance  above,  and  the  country  scoured  for  miles  round  St. 
Charles,  returned  to  the  mouth  of  the  White,  whence  a  por 
tion  of  the  troops  went  up  the  Mississippi  to  Memphis,  and 
another  part,  after  some  delay,  daring  which  it  was  rein 
forced  by  the  Thirty-Fourth  and  Forty-Third  Indiana,  reas- 
cended  the  White,  passing  St.  Charles,  and  stopping  at 
Crockett's  Bluff  during  the  fourth  of  July.  Here  it  was  still 
further  reinforced  by  the  Twenty-Fourth  Indiana.  The  next 
day,  Fitch  landed  at  Aberdeen.  Finding  the  enemy  near, 
he  sent  out  a  reconnoissance  of  about  two  hundred  of  the 
Twenty-Fourth  under  Colonel  Spicely.  At  an  interval  of 
half  an  hour,  he  threw  forward  in  the  same  direction  two 
hundred  of  the  Forty-Third  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Far 
row,  and  at  succeeding  intervals  portions  of  the  Thirty- 
Fourth  and  Forty-Sixth. 

Colonel  Spicely  saw  the  enemy's  pickets  before  he  had 
advanced  a  mile,  but  met  with  no  force  of  consequence  until, 
after  a  march  of  four  miles,  he  reached  an  open  wood  on  the 
border  of  Grand  Prairie.  Sending  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bar 
ter  back  to  hasten  the  movement  of  Farrow,  with  his  skirm 
ishers  he  kept  in  check  cavalry  threatening  his  front.  Sud 
denly  four  hundred  of  the  enemy  dashed  upon  his  rear.  He 
saw  the  movement  in  time  to  face  about,  and  met  it  with 
such  steadiness  that  it  was  broken  in  full  career.  It  was  not 
renewed,  and  after  a  short  pursuit,  Colonel  Spicely,  with  a 
loss  of  twenty-two  killed  and  wounded,  and  the  satisfaction 
of  having  inflicted  a  much  greater  loss,  returned  to  the  river 
in  company  with  Colonel  Fitch,  who  had  reached  the  field 
at  the  close  of  the  engagement.  The  next  day  and  night, 
the  biigade  marched  to  Clarendon,  skirmishing  on  the  way, 


250  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

but  keeping  the  Rebels  at  a  distance  more  by  two  magnifi 
cent  bands  of  music,  which  gave  the  impression  of  a  host, 
than  by  force  of  arms.  The  troops,  as  they  waded  through 
prairie  grass  waist  deep,  cheered  whenever  the  bands  struck 
up  and  when  they  closed  a  tune,  and  sang  sometimes  during 
the  progress  of  the  music,  a  hundred  different  songs  or 
hymns  at  once. 

Finding  no  enemy  and  no  intelligence  of  Curtis  at  the 
end  of  the  march,  Fitch  re-embarked  on  the  eighth,  and  went 
to  Helena,  where  he  was  welcomed  by  the  weary  but  rejoic 
ing  army  of  which  he  had  been  in  search. 

General  Hovey,  with  such  of  his  division  as  had  not  rein 
forced  Fitch  in  his  ascent  of  the  White,  arrived  the  last  of 
July.  Troops  continued  coming  until  the  lowlands  and  the 
bluffs,  which  were  a  mile  back  from  the  river,  were  white 
with  encampments.  As  a  depot  for  recruits  and  supplies, 
Helena  became  important.  By  the  labor  of  the  troops,  it 
was  strongly  fortified,  the  fortifications  being  built  on  the 
bluffs,  which  were  broken,  high  and  woody.  Curtis,  Steele, 
Hovey,  Prentiss,  were  at  different  periods  commanders  of  the 
post,  Hovey  held  command  during  several  months,  and  di 
rected  operations,  which  consisted,  beside  severe  guard  duty, 
in  scouting  and  fortifying,  both  on  a  large  scale.  The  enemy, 
at  a  distance,  threatened  approach  in  large  bodies,  and  hov 
ered  near  in  guerilla  parties.  No  day  passed  in  which  some 
part  of  the  force  was  not  in  a  skirmish  or  on  a  march,  and 
though  no  important  event  occurred  during  the  year  follow 
ing  the  occupation  of  Helena,  constant  vigilance  was  the 
price  of  safety. 

The  first  of  August,  Hovey's  division  marched  to  Claren 
don  and  back  again,  without  finding  a  force  which  was  said 
to  be  concentrating  at  that  point.  The  night  of  the  fifteenth 
of  August,  Captain  Moorhaus  of  the  Forty-Seventh,  with  his 
company  of  forty-five  men,  in  addition  to  thirteen  cavalry, 
while  guarding  cotton  in  Mississippi,  ten  miles  from  Helena, 
was  so  suddenly  and  sharply  attacked,  that  in  three  minutes 
he  lost  sixteen  men  in  killed  and  wounded.  He  seems  to 
have  been  brave  enough  and  prompt  enough  for  ordinary 
occasions,  but  he  was  outwitted  in  this  adventure.  The 


TROOPS  AT  HELENA.  251 

attacking  party  galloped  off  in  ten  minutes  from  the  first 
alarm,  carrying  away  five  captives. 

In  September,  Benton's  brigade  went  on  boats  seventy- 
five  miles  down  the  river  to  Laconia,  whence  it  marched  to 
White  river.  It  destroyed  a  number  of  boats  used  by  Rebel 
mail-carriers  in  crossing  the  river  on  their  route  east  from  the 
trans- Mississippi  department,  and  it  captured  a  large  amount 
of  cotton. 

In  the  middle  of  November,  Hovey  essayed  to  take  Ar 
kansas  Post,  but  was  unable  to  cross  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of 
the  White,  or  to  march  along  the  muddy  roads. 

Helena  was  not  an  agreeable  post.  "  It  is  the  most  God 
forsaken,  little  dried  up  town  my  eyes  ever  beheld,"  says  a 
member  of  the  Eleventh  Indiana,  writing  home  in  August, 
1862,  "  and  as  if  the  town  itself  was  not  bad  enough,  it  is 
bounded  on  every  side  but  one  by  swamps."  The  traveller 
who  during  many  years  has  noted  it  as  one  of  the  dreariest 
spots  on  the  dreary  western  shores  of  the  Mississippi  must 
acknowledge  the  correctness  of  the  soldier's  rough  description. 
The  troops,  especially  such  as  were  stationed  on  the  swampy 
flat,  found  it  sickly.  Of  these  the  Eleventh,  Twenty-Fourth, 
Forty-Sixth  and  Forty-Third  Indiana  infantry,  and  the  First 
cavalry  were  for  the  most  part  below  the  town  and  close  to 
the  river.  But  even  some  of  the  regiments  whose  camps 
were  among  the  hills,  as  the  Eighth,  Eighteenth,  Thirty- 
Fourth  and  Forty-Seventh,  suffered  in  no  small  degree  from 
disease.  The  Forty-Seventh  lost  nearly  a  hundred  men  during 
the  summer  and  fall.  The  Forty-Third  was  so  reduced  as  to 
have  but  two  hundred  for  duty.  The  Eighth,  upon  its  arri 
val  at  Helena  was  so  nearly  exhausted  with  hunger,  fatigue 
and  the  excessive  heat  of  the  weather,  that  in  a  short  lime 
nearly  half  the  men  were  sick  and  unable  to  do  duty.  Nearly 
all  recruits,  of  whom  numbers  arrived,  became  the  victims  of 
disease,  and  more  than  half  died. 

The  First  cavalry  and  the  Eighteenth  infantry  were  com. 
paraiivi;ly  healthy. 

Resignations  and  promotions  made  many  changes  in  offi 
cers.  John  A.  McLaughlin  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel 
of  the  Forty-Seventh  in  place  of  Milton  S.  Robinson,  who 


252  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

was  promoted  Colonel  of  the  Seventy- Fifth.  McLaughlin 
remained  in  command  during  the  war,  receiving  no  further 
promotion,  although  he  was  a  worthy  man  and  an  excellent 
officer.  Daniel  Macauley  became  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
Eleventh  in  place  of  William  J.  II.  Robinson,  resigned. 
Macauley  was  afterward  made  Colonel,  McGinnis  being 
confirmed  a  Brigadier  General.  Major  Holman  became 
Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Eighteenth  in  place  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Thomas,  who  was  made  Colonel  of  the  Ninety- 
Third.  Lieutenant  Colonel  T.  H.  Bringhurst  succeeded 
Colonel  Fitch  in  the  Forty-Sixth,  of  which  he  retained  com 
mand  until  he  was  mustered  out  in  1865. 

These  changes  were  made  chiefly  in  August.  In  October, 
the  Eleventh  and  Forty-Sixth  Indiana,  the  First  Arkansas 
and  Second  Ohio  batteries  were  brigaded  together  under 
Colonel  McGinnis. 

The  troops  built  log-cabins,  provided  them  with  fire-places, 
plastered  them,  and  were  comfortably  housed  before  winter 
set  in.  They  worked  daily  upon  fortifications,  and  performed 
an  excessive  amount  of  guard  duty. 

At  once  an  interesting  and  embarrassing  feature  connected 
with  Helena,  was  the  immense  number  of  negroes  collected 
there.  So  many  were  robbed  and  outraged  by  soldiers  and 
others,  that  the  Chaplains'  Association  drew  up  a  memorial 
detailing  their  wrongs,  and  presented  it  to  General  Gorman. 
The  general  hated  the  negro  intensely,  but  after  various 
threats  to  muster  all  the  chaplains  out  of  the  service  who  had 
signed  the  memorial,  he  thought  better  of  the  matter,  and 
detailed  Mr.  Sawyer,  chaplain  of  the  Forty-Seventh  Indiana, 
superintendent  of  contrabands,  January  8,  1863,  with  the 
promise  of  military  co-operation.  General  Washburn  of 
Illinois,  and  General  Fisk  of  Missouri,  and  all  the  chaplains 
backed  up  the  appointment.  The  position  soon  became  one 
of  importance  to  the  freedmen.  General  Curtis  sent  Colonel 
Shaw  of  Iowa,  to  Helena  to  recruit  a  colored  regiment,  and 
Mr.  Sawyer  turned  him  over  a  good  company  of  men,  but 
General  Gorman  interfered  with  his  enlisting,  and  drove  him 
from  the  District. 

Several  hundred  of  the  colored  men,  who  had  been  work- 


CHAPLAIN  SAWYER  AMONG  THE  NEGROES.  253 

ing  on  Fort  Curtis  for  six  months,  without  pay,  were,  with 
their  families,  gathered  in  the  contraband  camp.  Sickness 
prevailed  among  them.  A  contract  doctor  named  Jack,  had 
employed  two  nurses  to  whip  the  sick  at  the  hospital.  By 
the  influence  of  General  Washburn  his  contract  was  annulled, 
but  General  Gorman's  Medical  Directors  refused  medicines. 
At  length  General  Prentice  came,  and  came  as  a  friend  to 
the  contrabands. 

Adjutant  General  Thomas  .made  a  speech  in  Fort  Curtis 
threatening  to  take  the  shoulder-straps  from  any  officer  who 
discouraged  colored  enlistments.  One  regiment  after  another 
was  formed.  Women  and  children  were  brought  in,  until 
the  number  drawing  rations  through  Mr.  Sawyer's  office 
amounted  to  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty. 

Apprehending  a  battle,  General  Prentice  ordered  Mr.  Saw 
yer  to  embark  with  eight  hundred  of  them  on  board  the  Jesse 
R.  Bell,  and  report  them  to  General  Curtis,  St.  Louis.  It 
was  the  first  load  of  colored  people,  freed  by  the  President's 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  sent  up  the  Mississippi  river. 
After  various  hindrances  they  were  landed  at  Missouri 
Hotel,  and  by  order  of  General  Curtis  Mr.  Sawyer  was  made 
Superintendent  of  contrabands  in  the  Department  of  the 
Missouri.  Other  boat  loads  followed  and  were  thrown  upon 
his  hands.  He  found  homes  in  Iowa,  Kansas,  Illinois,  Indi 
ana,  and  Missouri  for  two  thousand  three  hundred,  and  had 
applications  for  nine  thousand  eight  hundred;  so  that  the  de 
mand  was  five  hundred  per  cent,  greater  than  the  supply. 
General  Curtis  asked  Mr.  Sawyer  to  furnish  General  Pope 
with  two  hundred  and  sixty  colored  teamsters  for  his  expedi 
tion  against  the  Indians,  and  gave  him  orders  for  transporta 
tions.  Accordingly,  Mr.  Sawyer  struck  for  Jefferson  City, 
and  brought  away  over  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  worth 
of  negroes,  old  valuation,  at  one  load.  The  whole  slave 
power  of  the  State  became  alarmed,  and  commenced  an  un 
derground  system  of  trading  to  Kentucky,  which  was  soon 
broken  up  by  lodging  a  few  of  the  leaders  in  jail. 

Mr.  Sawyer  commenced  schools  among  them  in  Missouri, 
and  was  organizing  for  a  grand  emancipation  movement 
throughout  the  State  when  the  Secretary  of  War  ordered 


254  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

him  to  Helena  as  Commissioner  to  lease  abandoned  planta 
tions.  General  Prentice  recognized  him  still  as  Superintend 
ent  of  contrabands.  Nearly  four  thousand  colored  people 
were  thrown  on  his  hands,  over  fifteen  hundred  of  them 
drawing  rations.  Many  of  these  were  sprinkled  over  the 
plantations  as  they  were  leased,  so  that  the  number  drawing 
rations  from  Government  was  soon  reduced  to  two  hundred. 
The  freedmen  were  protected  in  their  contracts,  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  all  their  rights  of  person  and  property.  Schools 
were  started  among  them.  Teachers  were  brought  on  from 
the  North.  Hundreds  of  them  learned  to  read.  Mr.  Saw 
yer  organized  a  large  Methodist  church  among  them  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  members;  and  Rev.  Mr.  Tyler,  Presid 
ing  Elder  of  the  African  M.  E.  Church,  Illinois,  took  charge 
of  it.  They  built  themselves  comfortable  houses  and  econ 
omized  their  earnings.  As  the  result  of  this  early  and  care 
ful  attention,  the  colored  people  of  Helena  and  the  eastern 
District  of  Arkansas  are  now  more  thrifty  than  any  others  in 
all  the  South- West  if  not  all  the  South.  In  1864,  quite  a 
number  of  them  cleared  five  thousand  dollars  each  from  their 
cotton  crop.  They  sold  it  standing  to  some  St.  Louis  men. 
They  can  now  build  their  own  churches  and  school-houses 
and  pay  their  own  ministers  and  teachers. 

Early  in  October,  the  force  at  Helena  was  diminished  by 
the  transference  of  Osterhaus'  and  Steele's  divisions,  the 
former,  including  Benton's  brigade,  to  the  familiar  State  of 
Missouri. 

An  army  congregated  at  Pilot  Knob  made  preparations 
for  a  winter's  campaign,  and,  November  2,  set  out  toward 
the  South,  under  the  command  of  General  Davidson.  From 
Patterson,  Steele,  with  a  portion  of  the  force,  returned  to 
Helena.  A  halt  was  made  at  Black  river,  while  prisoners, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Colonel  Shunk,  built  a  bridge. 
The  work  was  tedious,  but  was  enlivened  by  the  constant 
presence  of  Shunk,  who  could  make  a  joke  and  tell  a  story. 
A  ten  days'  rain  swelled  the  river,  and  in  the  night  of  De 
cember  14,  it  burst  its  bounds,  sweeping  away  the  whole  of 
the  nearly  finished  bridge,  and  threatening  the  camps  which 


"GRAB  A  ROOT."  255 

lined  the  shore.  The  roar  of  the  waters  roused  the  men  at 
two  in  the  morning.  They  fled  for  their  lives. 

When  consternation  had  somewhat  subsided,  a  ludicrous 
incident  occurred  which  is  worth  mentioning,  as  having  given 
rise  to  a  popular  slang  phrase.  A  soldier  mounted  a  mule 
and  returned  to  the  spot  where  his  tent  had  stood,  to  recover 
something  he  had  forgotten  in  his  flight.  When  he  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  flood,  the  capricious  and  stubborn  brute 
seized  the  opportunity  to  resist  the  will  of  his  rider,  and 
ended  a  ridiculous  conflict  which  had  attracted  attention 
from  every  quarter,  by  making  off  unencumbered.  The  sol 
diers  on  terra  firma  forgot  the  danger  of  their  comrade  in  the 
ludicrousness  of  the  scene,  and  cried  out,  "Grab  a  root!" 
A  thousand  voices  repeated  it  with  roars  of  laughter.  The 
phrase,  silly  and  ridiculous  as  it  was,  caught  the  fancy  of 
soldiers,  spread  far  and  wide,  and  continued  for  a  long  time 
in  daily  use,  even  by  men  who  had  no  idea  of  its  origin,  and 
who  exercised  but  little  sense  in  its  application.  "  Grab  a 
root!"  was  the  shout  on  the  Atlanta  campaign,  on  the  coast 
of  Texas  and  in  Virginia  when  a  peacock  screamed,  a  mule 
brayed,  or  a  bullet  came  singing  into  the  lines  from  the  di 
rection  of  the  enemy. 

Words  and  expressions  originating  in  one  part  of  the  army 
and  adopted  in  every  part,  made  a  sort  of  language  which 
was  incomprehensible  to  the  uninitiated.  "To  confiscate" 
or  "  confisticate "  was  boldly  to  take  possession  of  another's 
property.  "To  snatch  bald-headed,"  to  do  the  same  thing 
stratcgetically.  "  To  snake,"  to  get  a  thing  out  of  diffi 
culty.  A  "  Dead-beat,"  or  a  "  D.  B.,"  was  one  exempt  from 
military  duty.  "Spondulix,"  "stamp,"  "shin  plaster,"  and 
"  soap,"  were  synonyms  for  greenbacks  or  Government 
currency.  "  Copperhead,"  "  Contraband,"  "  Grayback,"  ori 
ginated  in  the  army,  but  were  soon  universally  adopted. 
Contractions  were  more  common  than  inventions.  Secesh, 
Commish.,  Reb.,  Vet.,  need  no  explanation.  A  recruit  un 
derstood  the  order,  "  Go  to  the  Suts  and  get  two  bots  of 
whisk,  for  Cap  and  Lute." 

December  21,  Davidson's  army  crossed  the  Black.  After 
a  short  halt  at  Van  Buren,  on  Current  river,  and  another  at 


256  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Alton,  it  arrived  at  West  Plains.  The  march  was  often  over 
flinty  roads.  Though  each  man  on  starting  was  provided 
with  an  extra  pair  of  shoes,  it  was  not  long  before  a  large 
portion  of  the  army  was  nearly  barefoot.  After  marching  all 
day  through  mud  and  snow,  a  man  had  to  stand  on  his 
lonely  beat  during  the  night  without  any  fire,  and  with  bare 
toes  sticking  out  of  his  shoes,  unless  he  were  so  fortunate  as 
to  have  a  piece  of  raw  beef's  hide  to  wrap  round  his  worn 
out  shoes.  The  system  of  picketing  was  especially  rigorous, 
requiring  such  large  details  that  the  men  were  frequently  on 
guard  every  other  night.  The  roads  were  so  bad  that  it  was 
no  uncommon  thing  for  a  regiment  after  getting  into  camp 
in  the  evening,  to  go  back  to  the  road  and  spend  the  greater 
part  of  the  night  assisting  the  baggage  up  to  the  camping 
ground. 

While  Davidson  was  at  Alton,  Marmaduke,  on  the  eighth 
of  January,  made  an  attack  on  Springfield,  where  were  large 
hospitals  and  abundant  army  stores.  He  was  repulsed  by 
a  force  of  three  hundred,  called  the  "Quinine  brigade"  of 
which  a  number  of  convalescents  belonging  to  the  Indiana 
Twenty-Sixth,  formed  a  part,  and  he  escaped  into  Arkansas 
by  passing  west  of  Davidson. 

It  was  impossible  to  subsist  the  army  at  so  great  a  distance 
from  the  railroad,  and  unnecessary,  as  concentration  on  the 
one  side  for  an  advance  on  Vicksburg  had  commenced,  and 
on  the  other  for  the  defence  of  the  city;  accordingly,  Febru 
ary  7,  1863,  the  army  of  South-east  Missouri  commenced  the 
return  march.  Twenty  laborious  days  brought  it  by  way  of 
Eminence  and  Centreville  to  Middlebrook,  whence,  after  a 
short  rest,  it  went  on  to  St.  Genevieve. 

Here  are  some  passages  from  the  diary  of  E.  G.  Burgess, 
private  in  the  Eighth,  of  interest,  as  giving  an  inside  view  of 
one  of  the  hardest  of  the  many  hard  marches  of  the  war: 

"  CAMP  ON  BLACK  RIVER,  ) 

"WAYNE  COUNTY,  MISSOURI,  December  9,  Tuesday,  j 

"After  we  came  off  guard  at  four  this  morning,  Elliott  and 
I  made  our  bed  in  a  pile  of  corn  shucks,  and  never  waked 
till  guard  mounting,  which  was  at  eight.  Word  carne  in 


OUT  IN  THE  COLD.  257 

that  a  band  of  guerrillas  had  captured  some  State  militia. 
Colonel  Shunk  mounted  a  lot  of  our  boys  on  mules,  and  out 
after  them  double-quick  time.  Every  man  that  could  get  a 
mule  or  a  horse  was  along.  It  was  rather  a  cold-looking 
sight — the  boys  all  mounted,  some  with  saddles  and  some 
without,  with  the  long  Minie  rifle  strapped  over  their  shoul 
ders. 

"Eleventh.  Colonel  Shunk  and  his  mule  company  came 
in,  and  but  three  Rebs  with  them,  all  they  had  to  show  for 
their  trip. 

"Thirteenth.  Rainy  all  day.  Got  up  this  morning  at 
four,  and  to  our  surprise  found  the  water  running  into  our 
tent.  We  piled  our  blankets  on  the  cracker  boxes.  It  was 
rather  dismal  to  see  the  boys  perched  upon  the  boxes  like 
chickens  of  a  snowy  day  to  keep  out  of  the  snow.  In  this 
condition  we  staid  till  morning.  At  daylight  we  got  break 
fast,  then  went  to  work  and  filled  up  our  tent  inside  about 
four  inches,  so  that  we  would  be  above  high  water  mark ; 
but  soon  after  we  got  done  it  commenced  raining,  and  in  a 
few  hours  the  water  was  over  all  the  dirt  we  had  carried  in. 
So  we  fixed  our  things  the  best  we  could,  and  deserted  the 
old  tent,  to  look  up  lodging  with  our  neighbors.  The  rain 
continued  to  fall  in  torrents.  At  two  in  the  afternoon  I  was 
sent  out  on  picket.  This  I  thought  was  pretty  heavy,  but 
some  one  must  go,  and  I  was  no  better  than  the  rest.  We 
were  not  out  long  till  we  were  soaking  wet,  for  we  hadn't 
any  shelter,  and  the  rain  fell  faster  and  faster,  and  the  faster 
it  fell  the  wetter  we  got.  I  made  my  supper  on  a  cracker 
and  a  piece  of  boiled  beef,  which  I  took  with  me  from  quar 
ters. 

"Sunday,  fourteenth.  I  went  to  quarters  and  got  my  break 
fast,  and  then  went  back  to  picket  headquarters,  but  did  not 
have  to  stand  on  post.  It  rained  hard  all  day.  The  rivei 
rose  and  run  round  the  island  we  were  on,  and  we  saw  thai 
we  would  have  to  fall  back,  or  else  swim  to  get  out.  We 
fell  back  across  the  bayou,  and  stood  shivering  in  the  cold, 
(for  it  rained  so  hard  we  couldn't  make  any  fire,)  until  relief 
came  at  three  in  the  afternoon.  When  I  got  to  quarters  the 
17 


258  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

boys  had  moved  the  old  tent  from  the  mire  and  clay,  and  had 
placed  it  on  a  high  piece  of  ground,  where  we  all  thought  we 
would  be  safe.  We  went  to  bed  early,  for  I  had  not  slept 
any  the  night  before,  but  we  had  not  come  to  the  worst  yet. 

"Monday,  fifteenth.  After  going  to  bed  we  all  slept  sound 
until  two  in  the  morning,  when  we  were  roused  by  the  alarm 
lhat  the  river  was  rising,  and  would  soon  sweep  us  away  if 
we  did  not  get  out  of  there.  I  was  so  sleepy  that  I  did  not 
care  much,  but  I  got  up  and  stuck  my  head  out  of  the  tent. 
Sure  enough  the  water  was  within  a  few  feet  of  us  on  every 
side.  We  had  to  wade  knee-deep  to  get  out  with  our  things. 
Ugh!  But  the  water  wras  cold!  In  a  few  minutes  the  water 
was  all  over  the  spot  where  we  had  lain  wrapt  in  sleep,  not 
dreaming  of  danger.  About  daylight  the  water  commenced 
falling,  and  it  wasn't  long  till  the  river  was  inside  its  banks 
again.  Colonel  Shunk  hunted  out  another  camp,  and  we 
were  soon  fixed  as  comfortable  as  ever. 

"December  twentieth.  We  have  to  leave  all  our  nice  fire 
places,  as  we  received  orders  to  be  ready  to  march  at  nine 


to-morrow  morning. 


"Sunday,  twenty-first.  The  roads  arc  very  bad,  and  the 
teams  have  not  got  up,  so  we  have  to  sleep  without  tents. 

"Tuesday — Current  river,  near  Van  Buren.  After  making 
coffee  and  eating  crackers,  Dillon  and  I  took  a  shooting  iron, 
and  started  out  to  see  if  we  couldn't  snake  in  a  slow  deer, 
(i.  e.,  a  hog.)  We  crossed  a  branch,  but  could  not  get  over 
the  main  river,  so  we  changed  our  course,  and  took  north. 
We  now  gave  up  hope  of  finding  any  hogs,  for  the  woods 
was  full  of  boys  on  the  same  errand,  but  we  went  on  in 
search  of  any  kind  of  game.  We  were  not  more  than  half 
way  up  the  mountain,  when  some  one  on  the  opposite  side 
shot  at  a  flock  of  turkies,  and  scattered  them  in  every  direc 
tion.  One  lighted  on  the  top  of  a  tall  pine  tree,  some  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  us.  Dillon,  who  was  carrying 
the  gun,  immediately  leveled  on  it.  I  didn't  expect  he  would 
touch  it  at  so  great  a  distance.  But  the  old  gun  cracked, 
and  down  came  Mister  Turkey  kerslash  to  the  ground.  Af 
ter  picking  him  up,  we  started  on  afresh.  We  hadn't  gone 
far,  when  up  jumps  a  deer  out  of  the  weeds  and  grass.  It 


A  SHORT  REST.  259 

took  us  so  on  surprise  that  it  was  gone  before  we  thought  to 
shoot.  Going  on  over  the  hills,  we  could  see  a  turkey  once 
in  awhile,  but  could  get  no  shot.  It  began  to  rain,  and 
we  were  tired,  so  we  turned  back.  We  were  almost  in  sight 
of  camp,  when  we  saw  a  large  deer  coming  toward  us,  down 
a  hill.  We  waited  until  he  was  near,  then  Dillon  fired,  but 
without  touching  him.  He  disappeared  over  the  hill,  his 
cotton-tail  bobbing  in  the  air,  and  seeming  to  say,  '  Farewell, 
you  can't  hit  me!'  We  went  on  to  camp  with  our  turkey, 
the  only  thing  we  had  to  show  for  our  first  hunt  in  Missouri, 
but  we  were  very  well  satisfied. 

"December  24 — Wednesday.  Great  excitement  in  camp. 
A  dispatch  came  that  guerrillas  had  attacked  our  forage 
train,  and  were  burning  it.  Companies  H  and  I  were  im 
mediately  ordered  out.  They  followed  the  guerrillas  ten 
miles,  without  finding  anything  of  them,  for,  as  soon  as  they 
had  done  as  much  mischief  as  they  could,  they  skedaddled, 
taking  with  them  one  of  our  Lieutenants  and  two  or  three 
of  our  boys. 

"  Thursday.  Worked  all  day,  building  a  chimney  to  our 
tent.  We  carried  the  stone  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

"Friday.  Was  detailed  for  fatigue,  cut  timber  and  helped 
to  build  a  coal-pit. 

"  Saturday.  On  duty  guarding  prisoners.  We  took  them 
to  the  woods  once,  and  had  them  carry  up  a  load  of  wood 
to  keep  them  warm. 

"Sunday.  Report  came  in  that  our  forage  train  had  a 
skirmish  yesterday.  Four  Rebels  killed  and  more  wounded. 
One  of  the  Rebels,  a  Captain,  was  killed  near  his  own  house, 
while  in  the  act  of  leading  his  men.  Few  of  our  men 
wounded. 

"January  3 — Saturday.     Raining.     Very  disagreeable. 

"Fourth — Sunday.  Went  on  picket  at  three  in  the  after 
noon. 

Tuesday.  This  has  been  wash-day  with  me ;  a  day  I  al 
ways  dread  above  all  the  rest,  for  washing  is  something  I 
naturally  hate  to  do. 

Wednesday.  Left  camp  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  under 
command  of  Quartermaster  Sergeant  and  Sergeant  Hoyt  of 


260  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

company  G,  to  escort  a  train  that  was  sent  out  to  meet  a 
provision  train.  Roads  very  bad.  Met  some  cavalry  that 
told  us  to  move  with  caution,  as  the  country  was  filled  with 
guerrillas,  and  one  of  their  men  had  been  shot  a  few  hours 
before,  while  on  post.  About  six  miles  from  camp,  the  Ser 
geant  expected  to  meet  the  train,  but  he  was  disappointed. 
He  ordered  the  teamsters  to  unhitch,  and  us  to  remain  while 
he  went  on  to  hurry  up  the  train.  At  midnight,  no  tidings 
of  the  train  or  the  Sergeant. 

"  Thursday.  At  two  the  train  came.  We  reloaded  some 
salt,  sugar  and  coffee  into  our  wagons,  and  started  for  camp. 
It  was  dark  as  pitch,  and  the  roads  were  awful  muddy. 
Alter  plunging  along  until  daylight,  we  reached  camp,  safe 
and  sound. 

Friday.     Our  picket  a  mile  from  camp. 

Saturday.     Relieved  from  guard  at  three  in  the  afternoon. 

"January  13 — Tuesday.  Struck  tents  and  moved  across 
Current  river.  I  was  sent  out  on  picket  guard.  Went  one 
mile  from  camp.  The  way  it  rained  wasn't  slow,  and  we 
had  to  stand  out  there  in  the  woods  and  take  it  without  any 
grumbling. 

"  Wednesday.  Struck  tents  and  marched  at  nine.  Very 
disagreeable  marching  on  account  of  rain  and  snow.  Halted 
about  ten  miles  from  Van  Buren,  on  Current  river,  amongst 
the  pine  timber.  Teams  slow  getting  in. 

Thursday.  When  we  crawled  out  of  our  tents  this  morn 
ing,  it  was  into  a  heavy  snow.  Did  not  march,  as  provision 
train  did  not  get  up.  A  heavy  detail  of  men  was  sent  back 
to  assist  it  in  getting  through  the  mud.  It  is  an  awful  time 
to  move  a  train. 

Friday.  Marched  at  seven  in  the  morning.  Very  rough 
marching.  We  camp  on  a  Rebel  Lieutenant's  farm,  and 
General  Benton  has  given  us  the  privilege  of  burning  the 
rails.  We  had  to  shovel  the  snow  away  before  we  could 
pitch  our  tents. 

Saturday.  Marched  at  seven  in  the  morning.  Bay  pleas 
ant.  Have  plenty  of  good  oak  rails  again  to  burn.  The  boys 
that  went  out  to  forage  brought  in  a  nice  shoatr  so  we  have 
fresh  pork  for  supper. 


MEN  AND  MULES  AT  WORK.  261 

January  18.  Sunday.  We  were  bothered  considerable 
to-day,  crossing  creeks.  At  one  stream  were  delayed  several 
hours,  while  a  bridge  of  wagons  was  constructed.  We 
finally  got  the  old  Eighth  across.  Are  camped  at  the  foot 
of  a  hill  which  the  provision  train  could  not  get  up. 

"Monday.  The  regiment  moved  at  seven;  but  companies 
I  of  the  Eighth  and  A  of  the  Eighteenth  were  left  as  rear  guard 
of  the  provision  train,  and  did  not  start  from  the  river  till 
•afternoon.  I,  with  a  number  of  others  in  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  Torrencc,  was  sent  forward  to  the  hill,  which  is  very 
long  and  steep.  The  mules  were  all  nearly  give  out,  and  it 
was  a  difficult  matter,  that  we  got  two  sections  up  the  hill 
before  dark,  which  set  in  and  put  a  stop  to  any  further  work 
for  to-day.  Here  we  are  in  a  pretty  fix.  But  soldiers  sel 
dom  despair.  We  had  no  tents,  for  our  company  teams 
were  ahead  about  ten  miles.  We  looked  around  amongst 

o 

the  wagons,  and  found  a  large  taupaulin.  We  soon  had  a 
shelter  for  the  whole  company.  The  next  thing  on  the  pro 
gramme  was  to  get  something  to  eat  This  the  Captain  ar 
ranged,  as  it  was  a  provision  train  we  were  guarding,  and 
we  were  soon  cracking  our  jokes  round  a  big  fire,  with  a  cup 
of  coffee  and  a  cracker  to  each  man. 

"About  nine  o'clock,  Colonel  Washburn  brought  his  regi 
ment  back  and  camped  on  the  top  of  the  hill. 

"Tuesday.  A  wet  clay.  The  first  thing  after  packing  our 
blankets,  was  to  help  the  balance  of  the  train  up  the  hill.  It 
was  no  fool  of  a  job.  Before  we  got  it  all  up,  several  of  the 
poor  mules  gave  out  and  dropped  dead  in  their  tracks.  We 
only  moved  about  three  miles,  and  camped  as  soon  as  we 
stopped.  I  was  on  picket  guard.  Stood  where  the  wind 
had  a  fair  sweep  at  me. 

"Wednesday.  Reached  Alton,  and  found  the  regiment  all 
right.  When  General  Davidson  got  to  the  town,  he  found 
about  sixty  Rebels  there,  and  took  them  all  prisoners. 

"Thursday.  I  half-soled  my  boot  this  evening,  out  of  a 
piece  of  a  cartridge  box. 

"Saturday,  twenty-first.  Moved  to  Cave  Springs,  and  as 
soon  as  we  had  dinner,  set  to  work  and  built  a  chimney.  It 


262  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

wasn't  long  till  chimney-building  was  going  on  all  through 
the  camp. 

Tuesday.  Marching  orders.  This  is  rather  working  against 
us,  for  we  don't  like  to  leave  such  a  nice,  comfortable  fire 
place  ;  but  when  orders  come,  they  must  be  obeyed. 

Twenty-eighth.  Marched  at  nine  through  Alton,  sixteen 
miles,  to  a  fork  of  Spring  river.  I  had  to  go  on  guard, 
which  went  against  the  grain,  for  I  was  very  tired,  and 
thought  I  had  to  do  without  my  supper,  but  the  trains  came 
up  in  good  time,  and  the  boys  sent  my  supper  out  to  me. 

"  Twenty-ninth.  Marched  sixteen  miles.  They  won't  al 
low  us  to  burn  rail?.  I  suppose  they  think  a  Union  man 
lives  here. 

Thirtieth.  Marched  eight  miles  to  West  Plains.  Things 
look  about  as  they  did  nine  months  ago,  when  we  were  here 
'before. 

"January  31.  We  draw  only  half  rations.  This  is  what 
I  call,  cutting  the  matter  pretty  slim." 

On  the  nineteenth  of  March,  1863,  General  Carr,  with  ar 
tillery  and  infantry,  embarked  at  St.  Genevieve,  on  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  proceeded  toward  Vicksburg.  On  the  twenty- 
sixth,  he  landed  at  Millikcn's  Bend. 


FIRST  BOMBARDMENT  OP  VICKSBURG.  263 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OPERATIONS  AGAINST  VICKSBURG. 

"Providence,  in  order  to  accomplish  its  doings,  is  prodigal  of  courage, 
virtues,  sacrifices — finally,  of  man;  and  it  is  only  after  a  vast  number  of 
attempts  apparently  lost,  after  a  host  of  noble  hearts  have  fallen  into  dcs- 
paJv — convinced  that  their  cause  was  lost — that,  it  triumphs." — Guizot. 

Shortly  after  the  occupation  of  New  Orleans  and  of  Mem 
phis,  Captain  Farragut  went  up  and  Captain  Davis  went 
down  the  Mississippi,  to  meet  before  Vicksburg,  midway 
between  Cairo  and  the  mouth  of  the  river.  They  approached 
within  three  miles  of  each  other  without  opposition,  and 
after  Farragut  had  landed  four  thousand  troops  under  Gen 
eral  Williams,  who  had  joined  him  at  Baton  Rouge,  they 
commenced  a  bombardment.  General  Williams'  position 
was  opposite  Vicksburg  on  a  peninsula,  which  is  three  miles 
long  and  one  mile  wide.  He  armed  with  pick  and  spade 
more  than  a  thousand  negroes  flocking  to  him  from  the 
vicinity,  and  while  his  coadjutors  bombarded,  he  fell  to  work 
to  dig  a  canal  which  should  lead  the  uncertain  Mississippi 
from  its  bed  and  leave  Vicksburg  an  inland  town,  high  and 
dry  among  its  hills. 

-  The  firing  was  entirely  between  batteries  on  one  side,  and 
boats  on  the  other,  until  the  fourteenth  of  July,  when  three 
boats,  the  Queen  of  the  West,  the  Carondelet  and  the  Tyler, 
the  last  under  Captain  Gwin,  encountered  a  massive  hippo 
potamus-like  iron  clad  vessel,  Hie  Arkansas,  in  the  Yazoo 
river,  six  miles  from  irs  mouth.  It  was  a  monster  of  hideous 
mien,  and  though  they  fired  upon  it,  they  fled  before  it.  The 
Tyler,  the  hindmost  in  the  flight,  and  necessarily  the  foremost 
in  the  fight,  fought  bravely,  until,  after  two  hours'  run,  she 
was  able  to  round  to  under  the  stern  of  the  Essex.  The 
Arkansas  steamed  down  through  the  Union  fleets  which  were 
now  united,  Farragut  having  passed  the  batteries.  Lieutenant 


264  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Gwin  lost  eight  killed  and  sixteen  wounded  in  this  encoun 
ter.  Several  other  unsuccessful  engagements  occurred  with 
the  Arkansas. 

The  bombardment  was  a  failure,  as  was  also  the  canal. 
The  old  Father  of  Waters  not  only  obstinately  refused  to 
turn  out  of  his  bed,  but  fell  to  such  a  degree  that  the  vessels 
were  in  danger  from  sand  bars.  In  consequence  of  these 
various  unfavorable  events  and  circumstances  the  siege,  if 
such  it  might  be  called,  was  relinquished.  The  last  of  July 
Farragut  went  clown  the  river,  and  Davis  went  up. 

It  was  not  until  the  next  November  that  approaches  were 
again  made  to  Vicksburg.  The  delay  was  with  good  rea 
son,  but  it  enabled  the  Confederates  to  strengthen  a  position 
strong  by  nature,  and  already  fortified. 

Vicksburg,  like  Shakspearc's  Helen,  is  little,  but  fierce. 
She  had  proved  herself  capable  to  cope  with  every  emer 
gency  in  the  past.  When  infested  by  a  gang  of  gamblers, 
who  made  the  boats  and  shores  of  the  Mississippi  their  prey, 
rather  than  submit  to  the  delay  of  regularly  instituted  civil 
courts,  she  boldly  resorted  to  lynch  law,  and  hung  twenty 
or  thirty  by  the  neck  until  they  were  dead.  With  Murrcl- 
lites  her  course  was  not  less  summary.  In  duelling',  and 
encounters  in  which  cow-hides  or  bowie-knives  flourished, 
Vicksburg  held  no  mean  rank  among  southern  cities.  Largely 
descended  from  the  old  Tories  of  the  Revolution,  who  were 
glad  to  hide  their  diminished  heads  on  the  verge  of  civiliza 
tion,  she  never  had  any  love  for  the  Union,  and  surrounded 
by  the  richest  cotton  region  in  America,  she  was  devoted  to 
slavery.  Such  a  city  could  not  but  back  every  extreme  of 
the  Confederate  Government,  and  would  not  but  arm  herself 
to  the  teeth  in  her  own  defence. 

Numerous  carefully  posted  and  powerful  batteries  made 
her  river  front  impregnable,  while  fortifications  on  all  her 
countless  hills  rendered  her  land  front  formidable,  if  not,  also 
invulnerable.  Her  position,  if  chosen  in  reference  to  war 
and  a  siege,  could  not,  on  the  Mississippi,  have  been  more 
secure.  A  line  of  hi^h  bluffs  extends  fifteen  miles  above  ;md 

O 

below,  terminating  on  the  north  in  Haines'  bluff,  which  touches 
the  Yazoo.  Rivers  at  different  distances  form  a  whole  circle 


NATURAL  DEFENCES.  265 

of  outer  defences — the  Mississippi,  on  the  west,  close  at  her 
foot;  the  Yazoo,  flowing  in  a  south-west  direction,  and  into 
the  Mississippi  twelve  miles  above  the  city,  protecting  the 
north;  and  nearly  parallel  with  the  direction  of  the  Yazoo, 
and  perhaps,  on  an  average,  fifty  miles  distant,  the  Big  Black, 
forming  an  eastern  and  southern  line,  which  is  made  double 
on  the  south  by  Bayou  Pierre. 

The  Big  Black,  with  its  tributaries,  waters  a  rolling  coun 
try,  which  is  generally  cultivated  in  vast  cotton  fields.  The 
Yazoo  lies  in  a  wilderness,  only  here  and  there  broken  by  a 
plantation.  It  is  formed  by  the  Tallahatchie  and  the  Yalla- 
busha,  and  fed  by  the  Funigusha  and  the  Big  Sunflower. 
Sucked  out  and  filled  up  at  the  same  time,  as  it  is,  by  lazy 
but  persistent  bayous,  and  connected  with  the  Mississippi 
once  or  twice  above  its  mouth,  it  would,  in  any  other  region, 
be  as  peculiar  as  it  is  perplexing.  Here  nearly  all  bodies  of 
water  are  anomalous.  Swamps  are  half  lakes,  and  lakes  are 
bordered  with  swamps.  Bayous,  which  hang  to  all  the  rivers 
like  leeches,  at  intervals  swell  to  independent  rivers  or  inland 
seas,  and  rivers  dwindle  to  the  size  and  assume  the  capricious 
course  of  bayous.  Much  of  the  ground  seems  but  escaping 
from  a  general  overflow.  Vegetation  is  exuberant.  Tall 
trees  are  tied  to  each  other  by  clutching  vines,  which,  finding 
no  support  equal  to  their  ambition,  drop  from  the  topmost 
boughs  again  toward  the  earth.  Misletoe  clusters  on  the  oak, 
and  from  oak,  gum  and  cypress  Spanish  moss  waves  its 
melancholy  gray.  The  country  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
though  more  opened,  possesses  the  same  natural  character. 
These  complications  of  water  and  woods  add  incalculably  to 
the  strength  of  Vicksburg.  Its  relation  to  railroads,  being 
connected  by  rail  with  Jackson,  forty-four  miles  east,  and 
through  Jackson  with  every  important  point  east  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  on  the  west  with  Shreveport,  Louisiana,  made 
it  invaluable  to  the  Confederacy,  even  after  the  loss  of  upper 
and  lower  Mississippi,  as  with  its  distant  out-work,  Port 
Hudson,  it  kept  open  a  long  stretch  of  river  for  the  passage 
of  supplies  and  men. 

The  siege  of  Vicksburg,  with  its  preliminaries,  occupied  a 


260  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

period  of  eight  months,  and  may  be  divided  into  three  parts, 
according  to  the  character  and  direction  of  the  operations. 

First.  Approaches  from  the  north-east,  north  and  west, 
continuing  from  November  2,  1862,  to  March  29,  1863. 

Second.  Approaches  from  the  south  and  cast,  and  at 
tempts  to  effect  an  investment,  from  March  29  to  May  19. 

Third.     The  siege,  from  May  19  to  July  4. 

The  first  period  was  mainly  a  strife  with  nature,  and  con 
sisted,  almost  without  exception,  of  a  series  of  costly  fail  ares. 
The  second  was  marked  by  battles,  which  were  all  cosily 
successes.  The  third  was  occupied  by  the  usual  operations 
of  a  siege. 

General  Grant  hoped,  by  moving  down  the  Mississippi 
Central  Railroad,  to  cause  the  evacuation  of  Vicksburg. 
General  Pemberton,  who  had  superseded  Van  Dorn,  lay  in 
his  way,  strongly  fortified,  on  the  Tallehatchie,  and  with  his 
advance  reaching  as  far  north  as  La  Grange  and  Grand 
Junction.  Of  the  fortifications  General  Grant  knew  nothing. 
The  army  he  expected  and  desired  to  meet.  He  set  out  on 
the  second  of  November,  and  the  enemy  withdrawing  before 
him,  he  took  peaceable  possession  of  La  Grange  and  Grand 
Junction,  and  at  these  points  concentrated  his  forces.  They 
amounted  to  thirty  thousand  men,  General  McPherson  com 
manding  his  right  wing,  General  Hamilton  his  left. 

He  had  five  regiments,  the  Twenty-Third,  Twenty-Fifth, 
Forty-Eighth,  Fifty-Ninth  and  Fifty- Third,  and  one  battery, 
the  Ninth,  of  Indiana  troops. 

He  made  preparations  for  a  long  and  severe  campaign, 
cutting  down  encumbrances  to  such  a  degree,  it  is  said,  that 
his  personal  baggage,  as  an  example,  was  reduced  to  one 
article,  a  toothbrush.  He  gave  orders  for  the  advance  of  co 
operating  forces, — from  Memphis,  under  General  Sherman, 
to  Oxford,  on  the  Tallehatchie;  from  Helena,  under  General 
Hovey,  to  cut  the  railroad  in  Pemberton's  rear,  and  threaten 
Grenada.  He  renewed  his  march  November  28,  repaired  the 
road  as  he  moved,  and  pushed  the  enemy  back  in  spirited 
encounters.  The  next  day  he  reached  Holly  Springs.  Con 
tinuing,  he  crossed  the  Tallehatchie,  the  enemy  having  evac 
uated  his  works,  and  on  the  fifth  of  December  he  reached 


;  VGE.Peri 


MA.J.GEN. 


GRANT'S  ADVANCE.  2(37 

Oxford,  twenty-eight  miles  beyond  Holly  Springs,  while  his 
cavalry  advanced  to  Coffeeville. 

The  march  was  not  without  its  hardships,  as  may  be  seen 
by  the  following  passage  from  a  letter  written  by  private 
Carse : 

"  WATERFORD,  December  5. 

"We  had  t.o  go  on  picket  the  night  we  got  here.  It  v;as 
the  worst  night  I  ever  put  over  in  my  life.  It  rained  me 
hardest,  and  was  very  cold.  We  were  out  in  the  middle  of 
a  cotton  field;  the  mud  was  knee-deep;  we  could  not  find  the 
fences  it  was  so  dark,  and  we  had  no  fire.  I  turned  my  gun 
up  and  stuck  the  bayonet  in  the  ground,  and  sat  down  on 
my  knapsack,  with  my  gum  blanket  over  my  shouldeiv,  and 
done  better  than  you  might  think.  We  were  all  very  iircd, 
and  some  of  the  boys  lay  down  in  the  mud,  and  slept  ncavly 
all  night.  I  could  not  do  that."  He  adds  in  a  note  at  the 
close  of  his  letter,  "  I  would  like  if  the  war  was  over,  and  we 
could  all  meet  again/' 

General  Sherman  left  Memphis,  November  26,  with  about 
twenty-five  thousand  men.  Six  Indiana  regiments  and  one 
battery  were  included — the  Sixth  battery,  Mueller's,  which 
had  been  on  garrison  duty  since  June,  once  during  the  period 
actively  engaging  the  enemy;  the  Ninety-Seventh  regiment, 
Colonel  Catterson,in  Memphis  since  September;  the  Twelfth, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Kempton,  Colonel  Williams  not  having 
arrived;  Ninety-Ninth,  Colonel  Fowler,  the  One  Hundredth, 
Colonel  Stoughton,  which  had  just  arrived,  and  the  Eighty- 
Third,  Colonel  Spooner. 

The  following  passages  from  the  letters  of  Edward  P. 
William?,  Adjutant  of  the  Hundredth,  describe  the  march: 

"  MEMPHIS,  November  25. 

"The  plan  is  to  go  south  to  Grenada,  thence  to  Jackson, 
and  take  Vicksburg  by  taking  Jackson  as  Columbus  was 
taken  by  the  fall  of  Donelson,  With  Grant's  army,  curs, 
and  another  from  Helena,  it  is  expected  that  we  shall  be  able 
literally  to  clean  out  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  sweep  the 
enemy  into  the  Gulf.  We  leave  the  sick  behind.  The  sick 
list  is  now  one  hundred  and  ten.  Three  died  since  we 


268  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

arrived,  -nine  days  ago.  Among  all  the  Secesh  here  there 
are  at  least  a  few  good  Union  women,  as  their  faithful  at 
tendance  at  our  hospital  testifies.  We  take  no  tents,  not 
even  shelter  tents.  Wagons  carry  only  cooking  utensil  •>  and 
provisions.  All  else  the  men  must  carry  on  their  backs." 


,  November  30. 

"We  left  Memphis  Tuesday  morning,  the  different  divis 
ions  taking  different  roads,  and  meeting  the  next  day  about 
ten  miles  out.  First  day  marched  seven  miles  and  encamped 
in  the  woods.  Our  train  was  much  behind,  and  we  all  slept 
in  the  open  air.  With  my  feet  to  the  fire  and  my  saddle  for 
a  pillow,  I  never  slept  warmer,  or  better,  although  it  was  cold 
enough  to  freeze.  Next  day  marched  seventeen  miles  to 
Cold  Water.  Rather  a  hard  march  for  our  green  regiment. 
On  the  way  were  joined  by  Smith's  and  Lawrence's  divis 
ions,  Next  day  marched  about  fifteen  miles  to  Red-Sand 
Bank  Creek.  Excellent  water  and  good  camping  ground. 
Spent  yesterday  at  this  place  resting.  Moved  again  to-day, 
eight  miles,  to  our  present  camp.  Our  brigade  is  to-day  in 
the  lead  of  the  division  (Denman's)  and  of  the  whole  army. 
The  Rebel  pickets  are  daily  retreating  before  us.  Five  hun 
dred  Rebel  cavalry  were  in  the  village  this  morning.  We 
advanced  cautiously,  and  just  before  halting  our  cavalry  dis 
covered  in  the  front  Rebel  horsemen.  We  took  a  strong 
position  and  encamped  in  line.  Have  heard  cannonading 
all  the  afternoon  in  the  direction  of  the  Tallchatchie,  some 
twelve  miles  distant.  Messengers  and  negroes  report  fight 
ing  between  Grant's  and  Price's  forces.  We  subsist  on  the 
enemy.  Our  division  Quartermaster  presses  in  all  the  mules, 
horses,  wagons,  cattle,  &c.,  that  we  need,  and  gives  receipts 
to  be  paid  when  the  owners  prove  loyalty  to  the  Govern 
ment,  which,  of  course,  they  never  can  do.  Contrabands  are 
coming  to  us  in  great  numbers.  We  live  well  on  chickens, 
turkeys,  hogs,  beef  and  everything  that  the  country  affords. 

"  Some  of  the  regiments,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  have  behaved 
badly.  One  burned  down  a  very  nice  little  church,  the  first 
night  out,  also  a  crib  of  corn  sufficient  for  the  whole  division 
one  day.  Colonel  McDowell  says  our  regiment  is  one  of  the 


SHERMAN'S  CO-OPERATION.  269 

best   new  regiments  in  discipline  he  ever  saw.     Water  is 
scarce  and  not  very  good. 

"The  Rebels  have  lately  been  scouring  the  country  burning 
cotton.  Saw  in  several  places  large  piles  of  it  ready  for 
burning,  but  the  Rebels  were  in  too  big  a  hurry  to  attend  to 
it.  The  roads  are  excellent  and  the  weather  everything  we 
could  wish." 

"!N  THE  FIELD,      ; 
"Mississippi,  Decembers.  \ 

"Left  Chullahoma  this  morning,  and  encamped  about  a 
half  mile  from  the  Tallehatchie  a  little  after  noon.  It  has 
rained  nearly  the  whole  day,  and  the  roads  are  getting  very 
bad.  Il  is  quite  cold  and  disagreeable.  Our  men  stood  the 
march  well,  and  have  made  for  themselves  shelter  tents  from 
their  rubber  blankets.  They  are  learning  fast  to  accommo 
date  themselves  to  circumstances.  We  are  on  the  ferry  road, 
some  miles  below  the  railroad  bridge.  The  Rebels  skedad 
dled  from  here  last  Sunday  after  burning  the  railroad  bridge 
and  sinking  the  ferry  boat.  Heard  cannonading  this  after 
noon.  Afterwards  learned  that  Grant  had  crossed  the  river 
and  was  pursuing  the  enemy  near  Abbeville,  some  six  or 
seven  miles  from  us.  Our  troops  are  busy  building  a  bridge. 
The  Twelfth  Indiana  is  encamped  about  a  half  mile  back  of 
us." 

" Friday,  December  5.  Stormed  all  night,  closing  with  a 
sprinkling  of  snow.  Hard  night  on  soldiers.  Marched 
to-day  nine  miles  through  terribly  muddy  roads  to  College 
Hill.  Four  miles  and  a  half  from  here  is  Oxford.  Grant's 
advance  guard  is  there.  It  is  expected  we  shall  have  the 
railroad  finished  and  running  to  that  point  shortly.  We 
shall  then  have  direct  communication  with  the  North. 

"About  two  miles  from  here  we  passed  unfinished  earth 
works  which  the  Rebels  had  thrown  up  only  last  week,  and 
for  which  purpose  they  had  pressed  in  all  the  negroes  through 
out  the  country.  Our  camp  is  upon  the  college  ground. 
The  men  are  making  sad  havoc  cutting  down  the  beautiful 
gum  for  firewood." 

"December  6.  Heard  to-day  that  General  Steele  had 
marched  from  Helena  and  taken  Granada,  driving  out  Van 


270  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Dorn's  forces.  The  Rebel  army  is  therefore  between  Steele 
and  us.  Don't  know  when  we  shall  leave,  nor  where  we  are 
going.  Some  think  we  will  march  across  the  country  to  the 
Mississippi  and  take  boats  for  Vicksburg.  while  a  portion' 
of  Grant's  forces  'move  upon  Jackson." 

The  Helena  force  started  November  27,  and,  crossing  the 
Mississippi,  directed  its  course  to  the  Rebel  rear.  It  con 
sisted  of  seven  thousand  men,  mostly  cavalry,  under  Wash- 
burn.  A  company  of  Illinois  cavalry  was  advance  guard. 
Two  companies  of  the  First  Indiana  formed  the  rear  guard. 
The  Twenty-Fourth  and  Forty-Third  Indiana,  with  the 
Twenty-Sixth  Iowa,  formed  the  infantry  advance.  The  Forty- 
Sixth  Indiana  and  Second  Ohio  battery,  temporarily  under 
Colonel  Bringhurst,  of  the  Forty-Sixth,  moved  next  in  order. 
Two  other  brigades,  with  a  section  of  the  Peoria  battery,  com 
pleted  the  force.  The  cavalry  pressed  on  rapidly,  capturing 
a  Rebel  .camp  and  laying  a  pontoon  bridge  on  the  Cold 
Water,  destroying  many  miles  of  the  Memphis  and  Tennes 
see  railroad,  crossing  the  Mississippi  Central  road  and  tear 
ing  up  the  rails  near  Granada.  The  infantry  pressed  after, 
in  one  day  making  twenty-six  miles  of  swampy  road.  At 
Cold  Water,  General  Hovey  halted,  sending  beyond  the 
Yockency  the  Eleventh  and  Twenty-Fourth,  under  Colonel 
Spicely,  who  marched  on  fifteen  miles.'  After  encamping 
Colonel  Spicely  sent  Major  Darnell  with  a  company  from 
each  regiment,  back  three  miles  to  guard  a  ferry.  The  re 
turning  cavalry  reached  Spicely's  encampment  the  same  day. 
Scarcely  had  it  arrived  when  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction 
of  the  ferry.  The  horsemen  lost  no  time  in  hastening  toward 
the  sound.  The  Eleventh  and  Twenty-Fourth  followed 
with  all  their  speed.  They  found  Darnell  bravely  holding 
out,  and  relieved  him  from  the  pressure  of  a  superior  force. 
Hovey,  to  whom  tidings  had  been  hastily  despatched,  reached 
the  ground  at  the  close  of  the  engagement,  having  ridden 
twelve  miles  in  forty  minutes.  He  brought  up  the  remain 
der  of  his  force  and  held  the  Yockeney  while  the  cavalry  made 
one  more  dash  against  the  railroad  and  an  attack  on  the 
boats  on  the  Tallahatchie.  Hearing  that  Pernberton  was 
alarmed  for  his  communications  and  was  in  consequence  fall- 


DESCENT  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  271 

ing  back,  Hovcy  concluded  his  task  was  accomplished,  and 
returned  to  Helena.  His  men  were  well  satisfied  to  get  back, 
as  ihe  cold,  wet  weather  made  the  march  anything  but  agree 
able.  Captain  Walker,  who  commanded  the  Indiana  cav 
alry  in  the  expedition,  and  who  was  in  the  saddle  day  and 
night,  exposed  to  rain  and  cold,  died  of  pneumonia  shortly 
after  his  return.  He  was  a  gallant  soldier,  a  courteous  gen 
tlemen,  and  a  sincere  patriot. 

General  Grant  being  now  advanced  to  Oxford,  with  a  de 
pot  of  supplies  at  Holly  Springs,  between  which  and  Colum 
bus,  Kentucky,  every  mile  of  the  railroad  was  under  the 
guard  of  our  soldiers,  felt  himself  ready  to  take  the  second  step 
in  his  plan  of  progress.  He  prepared  to  hold  Pemberton  near 
the  Tallahatchie  while  General  Sherman,  returning  to  Mem 
phis,  should  advance  therefrom  and  make  a  rapid  and  heavy 
attack  upon  Yicksburg;  then,  in  the  event  of  Pemberton 
breaking  loose  from  him  and  hurrying  to  the  relief  of  the  as 
saulted  city,  to  follow  him  up  closely.  General  Sherman 
took  back  one  division  of  his  command,  and  adding  rein 
forcements,  which  had  arrived  at  Memphis  during  his  absence, 
he  started  down  the  river  December  20,  with  twenty  thou 
sand  men,  nearly  all  Western  troops.  At  Helena  he  was  re 
inforced  by  twelve  thousand  more.  At  Milliken's  Bend,  on 
the  Arkansas  side,  and  twenty  miles  above  Vicksburg,  he 
landed  Burbridge's  brigade  and  delayed  two  days. 

General  Burbridge,  with  the  Sixteenth,  Sixtieth  and  Sixty- 
Seventh  Indiana,  and  one  or  two  other  regiments,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  made  a  rapid  march  into  the  interior,  incident 
ally  destroying  vast  stores  of  cotton  and  corn  collected  for 
the  Confederacy,  and  directly  attacking  the  Vicksburg  and 
Shreveport  railroad.  He  cut  the  road  at  Dallas,  thirty  miles 
from  the  place  of  landing,  and  -burnt  several  long  trestles 
and  bridges,  making  it  impossible  for  reinforcements  to  pass 
from  the  West  to  the  river.  Having  marched  sixty-five 
miles  in  thirty-six  hours,  swimming  two  bayous,  the  brigade 
re-embarked,  went  up  the  Yazoo  twelve  miles,  and  set  to 
work  at  the  construction  of  rafts  to  cross  Chickasaw  Bayou. 

Sherman  having  landed  on  the  bank  of  the  Yazoo  on  the 
twenty-sixth,  was  already  engaged.  He  had  before  him  a 


272  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

task  whose  difficulties  he  was  to  learn  only  through  defeat. 
First  of  these  difficulties  was  the  bottom  land  between  the 
bluffs  above  Vicksburg  and  the  Yazoo,  a  triangular  swamp 
six  miles  wide  at  its  lower  extremity,  and  nine  miles  long. 
Second,  Chickasaw  Bayou,  which  puts  out  from  the  Yazoo, 
crosses  the  swamp,  and  turning  sharply,  follows  the  base  of 
the  bluffs  to  the  Mississippi.  It  has  but  fifteen  feet  breadth 
of  water,  but  quicksands  are  interspersed  in  the  space  be 
tween  its  banks,  which  are  two  hundred  feet  apart.  Third, 
a  jungle  of  low,  stiff,  tangled  cedars,  which  formed  abatis 
ready  to  the  hand  of  the  Confederates.  Fourth,  was  the 
bluff  itself,  grim  from  foot  to  summit  with  every  appropriate 
work  of  defence,  and  held,  in  addition  to  the  regular  garrison 
of  Vicksburg,  by  the  army  which  Grant  was  to  keep  en 
gaged  on  the  Talluhatchie. 

The  first  attack  was  made  by  gunboats.  On  the  twenty- 
seventh,  six  gunboats,  under  Lieutenant  Commander  Gwin, 
now  of  the  Benton,  cautiously  reconnoitred  the  Yazoo  to 
Haines'  Bluff.  They  removed  five  torpedoes  before  they 
gained  a  position  opposite  three  Rebel  batteries,  placed  at 
different  heights  on  the  bluffs,  which  are  ninety  feet  above 
the  river.  Gwin  opened  fire  at  four  in  the  afternoon.  All 
his  boats  engaged  with  spirit,  but  the  Benton  alone  was 
fully  exposed  to  the  enemy's  artillery.  Twenty-five  shots 
struck  her;  twelve  went  into  her.  At  half-past  five,  while 
her  commander  stood  on  the  hurricane  deck,  looking  through 
a  marine  glass,  a  ball  struck  him  in  the  breast.  The  Benton 
at  once  withdrew.  The  other  vessels  followed. 

Although  the  reconnoissance  developed  the  strength  of 
Haines'  Bluff,  as  entailing  the  death  of  one  of  the  best  offi 
cers  in  the  navy,  it  could  not  but  be  regarded  as  an  unhappy 
affair. 

Lieutenant  Gwin  lingered  in  great  suffering  until  the  third 
of  January.  His  body  was  sent  to  his  relatives  in  Indiana, 
and  afterward  to  New  York,  to  his  wife,  to  whom  he  had 
been  married  but  eleven  weeks.  He  was  thirty  years  old, 
was  a  well-educated,  and,  as  has  been  shown,  a  brave  and 
skillful  officer. 

General  Sherman  laboriously  surmounted  the  natural  ob- 


ASSAULT  ON  CHICKASAW  BLUFF.          273 

stacles,  and  by  the  twenty-ninth  was  ready  for  a  general  ad 
vance  and  assault.  General  Steele  had  his  left,  having 
landed,  and  re-embarked  and  landed  a  second  time,  before  he 
had  been  able  to  find  a  footing.  General  Morgan  had  his 
left  centre.  General  M.  L.  Smith's  division  had  his  right 
centre,  and  General  A.  J.  Smith  his  right.  His  whole  front 
struggled  to  advance ;  some  portions  of  it  gained  the  first  and 
second  lines  of  the  enemy's  rifle-pits.  Our  Forty-Ninth,  de 
tached  from  the  left  of  Morgan's  division  in  support  of  Blair's 
brigade,  found  itself  apparently  broken  from  the  line  of  as 
sault  within  fifty  yards  of  the  enemy's  rifle-pits.  "  Soldiers 
of  the  Forty- Ninth,"  cried  Colonel  Keigwin,  "you  are  in  the 
native  State  of  Jefferson  Davis,  the  slanderer  of  Indiana. 
Vindicate  the  fair  name  of  your  own  State."  The  soldiers 
proudly  moved  on  a  few  paces,  opened  fire,  and  held  their 
ground.  They  were  under  a  deadly  rain  of  lead,  and  fell 
faster  than  the  minutes  passed.  Fifty-six  men  in  forty-five 
minutes. 

Scarce  a  regiment  in  the  uneven  line  but  was  decimated. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-two  fell  from  the  ranks  of  our  Fifty- 
Fourth. 

With  all  possible  speed  the  murderous  struggle  was  ended 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  assailants. 

A  rainy  and  dark  night  followed  this  desperate  assault. 
Without  fire,  which  would  have  exposed  them  to  the  enemy's 
artillery  and  sharpshooters,  and  without  shelter,  the  troops, 
too  wet  and  cold  for  sleep,  watched  and  waited  for  morning. 

General  Sherman,  the  next  day,  communicated  with  Ad 
miral  Porter,  and  made  arrangements  to  land  higher  up  the 
Yazoo  in  the  night,  and  make  a  combined  naval  and  land 
attack  upon  Drumgoulds'  Bluff,  the  attention  of  the  enemy 
to  be  occupied  by  demonstrations  along  the  bayou.  All  was 
prepared,  but  a  heavy  fog  kept  the  boats  immovable,  and 
made  it  impossible  to  discern  any  object  at  the  distance  of  a 
few  paces.  The  next  night  the  moon  lighted  up  land,  and 
swamp,  and  river,  scarcely  less  perfectly  than  the  sun,  reveal 
ing  to  the  enemy  every  object  and  movement.  Accordingly 
,  Sherman  sent  in  a  flag  of  trace,  buried  his  dead,  and  dropped 
18 


274  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  with  his  disappointed  and 
wearied  army.  He  had  lost  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
men  killed,  nine  hundred  and  thirty  wounded,  and  forty-three 
missing. 

Captain  Keck,  of  the  Forty-Ninth  Indiana,  was  shot,  and 
died  on  the  field.  The  Adjutant  of  the  Fifty-Fourth,  Mar 
shall  Hayden,  was  wounded  and  captured.  He  died  in  Rebel 
prison.  He  was  eighteen  years  old,  and  full  of  promise. 
Lieutenant  Ralston  died  of  wounds.  The  Fifty-Fourth,  the 
Forty- Ninth,  Sixty- Ninth  and  Eighty-Third  were  all  in  Mor 
gan's  division.  Burbridge's  brigade  was  in  A.  J.  Smith's 
division. 

Rumors  of  Pemberton's  arrival  at  Vicksburg,  and  of 
Grant's  retreat  from  the  Tallehatchie,  added  to  the  depres 
sion  of  the  army.  All  the  labor  had  been  for  nothing,  and 
all  the  blood  shed  in  vain. 

Grant,  as  has  been  said,  vigilantly  guarded  every  mile  of 
the  Mississippi  Central  Railroad  as  far  as  he  had  advanced. 
He  kept  his  eye  especially  on  Holly  Springs,  his  depot  of 
supplies,  without  which  his  army  could  scarcely  subsist  a  day, 
and  while  he  warned  Colonel  Murphy,  the  commandant, 
that  Van  Dorn  and  Forrest,  with  large  forces,  were  prowling 
along  the  rear,  and  hankering  especially  after  that  post,  he 
promised  him  ample  reinforcements  on  the  first  notice  of  dan 
ger.  The  commandant  was  the  same  who  had  surrendered 
luka  at  the  first  intimation  of  the  enemy's  approach.  He  pur 
sued  an  equally  imbecile  course  in  regard  to  Holly  Springs, 
relinquishing  to  Van  Dorn,  without  an  attempt  at  defence, 
more  than  four  millions  worth  of  stores,  two  immense  and 
finely  furnished  hospitals,  and  all  his  troops  except  his  indig 
nant  cavalry,  which  cut  its  way  out.  It  was  the  twentieth 
of  December,  the  very  day  on  which  Sherman  set  out  from 
Memphis,  and  steamed  hopefully  down  the  Mississippi. 

Encouraged  by  so  signal  an  achievement,  Van  Dorn  has 
tened  northward,  bent  on  destroying  the  railroad  at  every 
important  point  in  Grant's  rear.  He  attacked  Cold  Water, 
Davis'  Mills,  Middleburg  and  Bolivar,  and  at  each  place  was 
repulsed.  The  Twenty-Fifth  Indiana  had  charge  of  about 
fourteen  miles  of  the  road.  Parts  of  six  companies  at  Davis* 


ATTACK  ON  DAVIS'  MILLS.  275 

Mills,  with  the  Fiftieth  Ohio  Cavalry,  guarded  a  trestle  three 
hundred  yards  in  length  over  Wolf  river,  and  the  remainder 
held  a  picket  line  as  far  south  as  Cold  Water.  Van  Dorn 
struck  this  picket  line,  and  though  he  met  a  stout  resistance, 
captured  sixteen  men.  He  then  appeared  before  Davis' 
Mills,  which  he  expected  to  overwhelm  by  mere  force  of 
numbers.  His  troops,  at  least  five  thousand,  approached  the 
river  impetuously  and  with  loud  cheers,  but  their  speed  slack 
ened  and  their  ardor  cooled  as  they  entered  low,  thickly- 
wooded,  uneven  ground,  within  the  range  of  a  destructive 
fire.  The  small  force  opposed  to  them,  not  three  hundred 
men,  was  evidently  prepared  and  resolute. 

On  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Holly  Springs,  Colonel 
William  H.  Morgan,  in  command  at  Davis'  Mills,  fortified 
his  position  as  strongly  as  was  possible  with  the  men  and 
means  at  his  disposal.  With  railroad  ties  and  cotton  bales 
he  converted  an  old  saw  mill  into  a  block-house,  and  by  the 
erection  of  earth-works  at  its  base,  he  made  a  beautiful  In 
dian  mound  into  a  fort  of  no  mean  pretensions.  He  provis 
ioned  the  block-house  for  a  forty-eight  hours'  siege,  and  gar 
risoned  it  with  Company  H  and  a  small  part  of  the  cavalry. 
The  rest  of  his  force  he  stationed  in  the  fort,  except  a  few 
cavalry,  which  guarded  a  distant  crossing  to  the  west.  The 
block-house  and  the  fort  commanded  the  trestle  and  the 
bridge,  on  which  the  railroad  and  the  wagon  road  cross  the 
river. 

Van  Dorn  came  in  sight  shortly  after  noon  on  the  twenty- 
first,  and  directed  his  course  toward  the  bridge.  Once  across 
the  river,  there  was  no  question  of  his  ability  to  demolish 
Morgan's  little  force.  But  he  could  not  get  across.  First, 
he  threw  his  troops  in  a  mass  upon  the  bridge.  Then  he 
extended  his  line,  making  a  front  of  nearly  four  hundred 
yards,  and  poured  an  incessant  shower  of  shot  on  the  block 
house  and  fort;  while  at  different  points,  but  chiefly  at  the 
bridge,  he  endeavored  to  effect  a  crossing.  Then  he  threw 
cotton  balls  saturated  with  turpentine,  against  the  trestle 
work,  while  he  made  a  third  effort  to  pass  the  bridge  and 
gain  a  footing  on  the  farther  side.  He  constantly  met  a  pre 
cise  and  rapid  fire.  At  length  he  made  a  demand  for  sur- 


276  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

render.  "  Such  a  thought,"  says  Colonel  Morgan,  "  had  not 
been  entertained  for  a  single  moment  by  any  officer  or  pri 
vate  of  my  command."  It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  it 
was  refused.  Van  Dorn  retired  about  dark,  thoroughly  baf 
fled,  leaving  under  the  bridge  a  few  of  his  men,  who  had 
successfully  run  the  rifle  fire,  and  under  the  trestle  a  few 
who  had  been  employed  with  the  turpentine  balls.  These 
crept  out  and  gave  themselves  up,  making  twenty  prisoners. 
Twenty-two  Rebel  dead  and  thirty  wounded  on  and  near 
the  ground,  testified  to  the  precision  of  the  Union  fire,  and 
one  hundred  stand  of  arms  to  the  disorder  of  the  withdrawal. 
The  smallness  of  the  Union  loss,  but  three  wounded,  was  to 
the  credit  of  the  block-house  and  the  fort,  for  the  rebel  fire 
was  heavy  and  long  continued. 

Before  Van  Dorn  captured  Holly  Springs,  Forrest,  who 
had  been  detached  from  Bragg's  army  at  Murfreesboro, 
made  his  appearance  in  West  Tennessee,  with  thirty-five 
hundred  cavalry.  General  Sullivan  was  in  command  of  the 
District  of  Jackson,  which  included  all  the  territory  radiating 
seventy  miles  from  Jackson.  His  troops  were  scattered 
along  the  railroad  from  Union  City  to  Davis'  Mills,  a  dis 
tance  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles.  But  as  soon  as  he 
was  apprised  of  Forrest's  approach,  he  concentrated  in  Jack 
son  all  that  were  available,  holding  them  in  readiness  for 
defence,  and  at  the  same  time  threw  out  toward  the  Rebel 
raider  five  hundred  Illinois  cavalry,  Colonel  Ingersoll,  with 
one  section  of  the  Fourteenth  Indiana  battery,  thirty  men, 
in  command  of  Lieutenant  McGuire.  The  reconnoitring 
force  marched  twenty-eight  miles  east  to  Lexington,  and 
there  met  Forrest.  A  brief  but  spirited  fight  was  followed 
by  the  flight  of  Ingersoll's  troop,  at  least  that  part  of  it  which 
was  able  to  get  away.  The  guns  were  captured,  together 
with  Lieutenant  McGuire  and  twenty-seven  men.  Two 
men  were  killed,  two  were  severely  wounded.  But  one  ar 
tilleryman  escaped.  Colonel  Ingersoll,  who  was  also  cap 
tured,  highly  commended  the  gallant  conduct  of  McGuire 
and  his  command. 

Forrest  pursued  until  he  met  General  Sullivan  advancing 
with  a  considerable  force  to  the  relief  of  the  fugitives.  He 


SULLIVAN  IN  PURSUIT  OF  FORREST.  277 

then  fell  back  to  Lexington,  and  thence  proceeded  to  the 
railroad  and  north,  capturing  squads  of  pickets,  tearing  up 
rails  and  burning  bridges.  On  the  26th,  he  began  his  retreat, 
directing  his  course  southeasterly  from  Dresden,  on  a  line 
leading  through  Huntington,  Clarksburg,  Red  Mound  and 
Lexington,  to  Clifton  on  the  Tennessee. 

General  Sullivan  had  received  reinforcements  from  Gen 
eral  Grant,  and  had  now  ten  thousand  or  more  troops. 
Having  repaired  the  road  to  Trenton,  and  proceeded  to  that 
point,  he  divided  his  force  into  three  brigades  under  the  care 
respectively  of  Colonel  Fuller,  Colonel  Dunham  and  General 
Haynie,  and  moved  directly  east,  reaching  Huntington  in 
advance  of  the  enemy.  Major  Atkinson,  with  three  hundred 
of  the  Fiftieth  Indiana,  reconnoitring  on  the  Dresden  road, 
met  Rebel  skirmishers  at  a  bridge,  and  turning  them  back, 
sent  Forrest's  whole  force,  as  was  conjectured  from  its  non- 
appearance,  to  a  more  western  road.  This  last,  however, 
was  a  matter  of  uncertainty;  and  while  Sullivan  remained 
in  Huntington,  with  two  brigades,  on  the  alert  to  march  or 
fight,  according  to  circumstances,  Colonel  Dunham,  with  his 
brigade,  fifteen  hundred  and  thirty-four  men,  including  the 
Fiftieth  Indiana,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wells,  hastened  south 
ward  and  reached  Clarksburg,  twelve  miles  further,  shortly 
after  dark.  He  drove  out  the  enemy's  skirmishers,  and 
learning  that  Forrest  was  in  camp  four  miles  west  on  a  road 
leading  into  the  Lexington  road  a  half  mile  above  Red 
Mound,  he  dispatched  a  courier  with  the  intelligence  to  Sul 
livan.  He  was  on  the  march  again  before  light.  Lieutenant 
Judy,  with  company  A  of  the  Fiftieth,  met  skirmishers  near 
Parker's  Cross  Roads,  as  the  junction  is  called,  but  pushed 
on,  his  men  deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  the  column  follow 
ing.  Colonel  Wells,  with  his  regiment  and  two  guns  turned 
into  the  west  road,  but  almost  immediately  found  it  neces 
sary,  under  an  admonitory  fire  of  the  enemy,  to  turn  back 
and  rejoin  his  brigade  at  the  Cross  Roads.  One  of  his  guns 
lost  two  or  three  horses  and  barely  escaped  capture. 

Having  now  found  the  enemy  and  crossed  his  line  of 
march,  Dunham's  perilous  duty  was  to  hold  him  until  the 
arrival  of  the  main  force.  He  moved  on  accordingly  to  Red 


278  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Mound  and  formed  line  of  battle  on  and  behind  the  crest  of 
a  ridge,  his  left  on  the  road,  his  right  on  a  thick  wood  and 
ravine.  The  wagon  train  he  placed  in  a  hollow  in  the  rear. 
He  sent  out  two  companies  of  the  Fiftieth,  G,  under  Captain 
Carothers,  and  B,  Lieutenant  Davis,  to  skirmish  with  and 
fall  back  before  the  enemy  as  he  advanced  along  the  road 
toward  the  crossing.  G  turned  the  angle  and  both  compa 
nies  opened  fire,  as  did  the  artillery.  The  latter,  however, 
was  inefficient,  and  the  former  was  ineffectual.  The  enemy 
moved  on  in  overwhelming  numbers,  but  with  the  evident 
intention  of  avoiding  a  collision  by  crossing  the  Lexington 
road  and  directing  his  course  toward  the  east.  Colonel  Dun 
ham,  determined  that  he  should  not  escape,  relinquished  his 
strong  position  on  Red  Mound,  and  rapidly  formed  close  in 
the  hostile  front,  the  Fiftieth  Indiana  on  the  right,  resting  on 
an  open  field,  except  company  G,  which,  having  fallen  back 
from  the  west  road,  was  on  the  extreme  left.  The  guns 
again  feebly  firing,  Dunham  learned  to  his  vexation  that 
they  were  almost  out  of  ammunition.  However,  "  he  directed 
the  officer  in  command  to  do  the  best  he  could  with  them, 
while  he  turned  away  to  do  the  best  he  could  without  them." 
The  enemy's  artillery  was  intolerable,  but  just  as  Dunham 
was  prepared  to  charge  a  battery  on  the  right,  his  attention 
was  imperatively  called  to  the  rear.  Under  cover  of  woods 
and  hills  both  his  flanks  had  been  turned.  He  dauntlessly 
faced  about  and  rushed  upon  his  new  assailants,  drove  them 
down  the  Lexington  road,  regaining  and  resuming  his  first 
position  at  Red  Mound.  In  the  rush  the  Fiftieth  made  a 
bayonet  charge  which  carried  it  into  and  through  the  enemy's 
lines.  Dunham's  horse  was  shot  under  him,  but  his  orderly, 
Frederick  L.  Prow,  dismounting  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  fire, 
supplied  the  loss  by  his  own  deprivation. 

Dunham  had  acted  not  only  bravely  but  skillfully;  never 
theless,  he  was  now  nearly  surrounded,  and  forced  to  listen 
to  a  demand  for  surrender.  "The  General  understands," 
said  Forrest's  aid,  "that  you  have  surrendered."  "  The  Gen 
eral  is  entirely  mistaken,"  replied  the  indomitable  Colonel, 
who  had  observed  with  irrepressible  admiration  the  spirit  of 
his  little  force,  "we  have  never  thought  of  surrendering." 


THE  BATTLE  OF  RED  MOUND.  379 

The  aid  departed,  but  soon  returned  with  a  demand  for  an 
unconditional  surrender.  Dunham,  with  rising  indignation, 
replied :  "  You  will  get  away  with  that  flag  very  quickly, 
and  bring  me  no  more  such  messages.  Give  my  compli 
ments  to  the  General  and  tell  him  I  never  surrender.  If  he 
thinks  he  can  take  me  come  and  try."  Dunham's  situation 
was  critical,  but  so  was  Forrest's.  As  the  one  did  not  know 
how  near,  the  other  was  equally  unaware  how  far  off  Gen 
eral  Sullivan  was;  indeed,  Forrest  was  not  sure  whether  he 
had  a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  Union  force  in  his  front. 
Dunham's  deportment  inclined  him  to  the  latter  opinion. 
Happily,  General  Sullivan,  who  had  moved  three  miles  on 
the  double  quick,  toward  the  sound  of  artillery,  reached  the 
ground  just  after  the  combatants  fell  to  again.  He  rushed 
upon  the  tired  Rebels,  drove  them  in  utter  rout  and  in  an 
astonishingly  short  time  was  master  of  the  field,  with  five 
hundred  prisoners  and  many  horses  and  arms.  Forrest,  nar 
rowly  escaping,  fled  to  the  ferry,  crossed  it  and  joined  Bragg. 

Forrest's  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  two  hundred. 
Dunham's  was  nearly  as  great. 

It  was  unprecedented  for  infantry  to  force  cavalry  into  a 
fight,  and  Dunham  and  his  men  received  much  credit.  Sul 
livan,  for  his  manner  of  conducting  the  pursuit,  and  for  his 
success  in  intercepting  Forrest,  was  highly  commended  by 
General  Grant. 

The  men  captured  from  the  Fourteenth  battery  in  the  pre 
liminary  encounter  with  Forrest,  were  retained  but  a  short 
time.  They  were  paroled  and  made  their  way  on  foot  across 
the  country  to  the  Ohio  river,  thence  home. 

Forrest's  raid  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  people  of  the  dis 
trict,  as  both  his  army  and  Sullivan's,  after  the  communica 
tions  of  the  latter  were  broken  and  his  supplies  cut  off,  lived 
on  the  country.  Sullivan  seized  everything  that  troops  could 
eat  and  made  citizens  rebuild  the  road. 

The  two  raiders,  Van  Dorn  and  Forrest,  had  not  succeeded 
in  destroying  the  whole  length  of  the  road,  but  they  had  ac 
complished  the  main  object  of  their  expedition,  in  so  break 
ing  up  communication  as  to  force  Grant  to  leave  the  region 


280  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  the  Tallahatchie.     The  backward  movement  is  partially 
described  by  Mr.  Williams,  of  the  Hundredth : 

"  CAMP  ON  RAILROAD,          1 

ONE  MILE  NORTH  OF  THE  TALLAHATCHIE  RlVER,      > 
Friday,  December  26,  1862.  ) 

"DEAR  MOTHER: — My  last  letter  home  was  written  at 
Camp  Yocknapatufa.  We  remained  there  quietly  until  last 
Monday  morning  when  we  were  ordered  to  make  the  north 
bank  of  the  Tallahatchie  by  Tuesday  night.  We  moved  at 
seven  in  the  morning  and  camped  on  Tobytuby  creek,  eight 
een  miles,  at  three  in  the  afternoon.  We  had  intended  to 
cross  the  Tallahatchie  at  Wyatt,  where  we  had  built  a  bridge 
on  our  way  down,  but  on  reaching  Tobytuby  a  courier  from 
McPherson  met  us  with  orders  to  bear  to  the  east  and  cross 
the  river  at  Abbeville,  the  bridge  at  Wyatt  having  been 
burned.  Were  off  at  daylight  and  reached  our  present  camp, 
fifteen  miles,  by  two  in  the  afternoon.  This  two  days  was 
very  severe  on  our  men,  the  roads  being  very  hilly  and  they 
having  been  so  many  days  idle  at  Yocknapatufa.  All  our 
regiments  straggled  considerably.  Our  division,  Denner's, 
was  further  south  than  any  other,  being  sixteen  miles  south 
of  Oxford.  The  railroad  was  about  finished  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  us,  and  we  had  already  heard  the  whistle  of  the  en 
gine  when  the  news  came  of  the  unfortunate  cavalry  dash  on 
Holly  Springs  and  the  destruction  of  all  our  stores.  At  this 
juncture  our  forces  were  ordered  to  fall  back  beyond  the  Tal 
lahatchie.  On  Monday,  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  there  was 
a  continued  stream  of  soldiers  from  daylight  until  eight  at 
night,  crossing  the  river  at  this  point.  We  are  now  all  over. 
All  the  cotton  has  been  brought  up  from  Oxford,  and  all  the 
railroad  bridges  destroyed  up  as  far  as  Abbeville,  which  is 
three  miles  south  of  the  river.  The  trestle  work  built  by  our 
troops,  across  the  river,  is  an  eighth  of  a  mile  in  length.  This 
too  will  probably  be  destroyed  by  us  as  soon  as  the  cotton 
can  be  carried  away.  An  engine  and  train  passes  us  three 
or  four  times  a  day.  It  does  our  boys  good  to  see  it,  having 
had  no  such  sight  since  we  left  Cairo. 

"Just  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  guarding  the  railroad 


SURRENDER  OF  HOLLY  SPRINGS.  281 

bridge,  we  saw  the  Twelfth  Indiana,  which  was  separated 
from  us  at  Wyatt  as  we  went  down.  It  is  entirely  isolated 
and  belongs  to  no  division  or  brigade.  Denner  has  requested 
Grant  to  assign  it  to  his  division. 

"  Colonel  Reuben  Williams  and  the  Quartermaster  of  the 
Twelfth  were  at  Holly  Springs  on  business  at  the  time  of 
the  surprise,  and  were  taken  prisoners  and  paroled.  This  is 
the  third  time  for  Colonel  Williams  and  bores  him  hugely. 
Our  sutler  was  also  there,  fortunately  without  any  goods  and 
with  but  eighty  dollars  in  money.  This  they  took  from  him, 
and  eleven  hundred  dollars  left  with  him  by  a  cotton  buyer 
to  pay  for  cotton.  The  Rebels  even  paroled  him,  which,  of 
course,  amounts  to  nothing.  Since  we  have  been  here  he 
has  been  down  to  see  us.  He  gave  us  an  interesting  account 
of  how  everything  went  at  Holly  Springs.  Three  million 
four  hundred  dollars  worth  of  cotton  was  destroyed,  all  be 
longing  to  speculators,  from  whom  was  also  taken  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  money.  The  Rebel  force 
consisted  of  some  eight  thousand  cavalry  and  mounted  in 
fantry.  The  garrison  was  small  but  ample  to  at  least  hold 
the  enemy  in  check  until  reinforcements  could  have  come  up, 
had  any  precaution  whatever  been  taken  by  the  Colonel  com 
manding  the  place.  He  was  taken  prisoner  in  his  bed.  We 
are  now  cut  off  from  supplies,  and  are  on  half  rations.  To 
day  a  train  of  three  hundred  wagons,  guarded  by  five  hundred 
men,  started  from  Holly  Springs  to  Memphis  for  provisions." 

For  more  than  a  week  General  Grant  had  no  communi 
cation  with  the  North.  For  two  weeks  he  received  no  sup 
plies.  Until  January  7  the  army  lived  on  the  gleanings  of 
the  impoverished  country.  Grant  did  not  fall  back  further 
than  Holly  Springs,  but  he  scattered  a  large  portion  of  his 
forces  through  the  southern  and  western  parts  of  Tennessee. 
The  Twenty-Third  Indiana  was  posted  at  Colliersville,  where 
it  remained  several  weeks  with  ragged  clothes  and  worn-out 
tents,  and  with  such  a  deficiency  of  shoes  that  more  than 
two  hundred  men  were  barefoot.  After  leaving  Colliersville 
it  was  on  duty  in  Memphis.  The  Twenty- Fifth  moved  from 
Davis'  Mills  to  Memphis,  and  was  there  placed  on  provost 
duty.  The  Twelfth,  One  Hundredth,  Ninety-Third  and 


282  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Ninety-Ninth  regiments,  all  in  the  Sixteenth,  Hurlbut's  corps, 
were  employed  during  the  remainder  of  the  winter  in  guard 
ing  the  railroad,  or  in  building  block-houses.  The  Twelfth 
and  One  Hundredth  remained  a  few  weeks  at  Grand  Junc 
tion,  where  the  following  letters  were  written  by  Lieutenant 
Williams : 

'''•January  12.  We  are  once  more  in  communication  with 
the  world.  The  roads  to  Memphis  and  Columbus  are  both 
in  operation,  and  a  mail  is  received  every  day.  It  looks  as 
though  our  business,  for  sometime,  would  be  to  guard  the 
railroad.  Our  Quartermaster  met  us  here  from  Memphis, 
bringing  with  him  tents  for  the  regiment,  so  that  the  boys 
are  now  pretty  well  fixed. 

"  We  have  here  large  numbers  of  contrabands.  They  come 
in  every  day,  and  move  off  by  hundreds  on  every  train  going 
to  Memphis — men,  women  and  children.  Poor,  deluded  crea 
tures!  I  pity  their  condition,  and  wonder  what  v\411  ever 
become  of  them.  They  have  an  indistinct  idea  of  a  "jubiloh" 
to  which  they  are  tending;  where  it  is,  or  when  it  will  com 
mence,  they  cannot  even  conjecture.  The  idea  that  their 
condition  is  somehow  soon  to  be  improved  through  the 
agency  of  our  troops  is  hurrying  them  into  our  lines  by  thou 
sands.  A  man  and  wife  so  old  and  infirm  that  they  could 
scarcely  walk,  I  saw  yesterday  trying  to  find  a  place  on  top 
the  bales  of  cotton  upon  the  cars.  They  were  pushing  on, 
with  the  rest,  to  the  land  of  "jubiloh."  When  told  that  they 
would  not  live  a  year  after  going  North,  and  that  they  had 
better  not  go,  the  old  man  replied  that  if  he  only  lived  one 
day  there,  he  would  live  that  day  a  free  man. 

"I  saw  to-day,  sitting  among  the  negroes  around  the 
depot,  a  white  woman,  fifty-two  years  of  age.  Her  hair  was 
turning  grey,  and  her  face  was  wrinkled,  but  she  bore  trace 
of  having  once  been  quite  good  looking.  I  wondered  how 
she  came  to  be  in  the  crowd  of  contrabands,  and  asked  her 
the  question.  She  said  that  her  children  had  all  left  home  to 
go  to  Memphis,  and  that  she  wished  to  go  and  look  after 
them.  I  was  still  mystified,  and  remarked  that  I  did  not 
know  white  people  were  leaving  their  homes,  and  going 
North.  She  smiled  and  said  that  although  she  was  white, 


ARKANSAS  POST. 

she  was  a  slave,  and  had  negro  blood  in  her  veins.  Her 
father  was  a  white  man,  and  her  mother  almost  white.  I 
never  before  saw  such  an  instance.  Her  lips  were  as  thin 
as  mine,  and  her  nose  fine.  I  defy  any  one  to  detect  a  drop 
of  negro  blood  in  her. 

The  weather  is  delightful,  like  yours  in  September.  Four 
regiments  and  one  battery  of  our  brigade  are  at  this  place." 

"January  20,  1863. — There  is  a  general  impression  that 
before  many  weeks  this  entire  country  will  be  evacuated, 
and  all  the  troops  sent  down  the  river  to  operate  on  Vicks- 
burg.  This  looks  probable,  for  it  will  be  impossible  to  guard 
railroads  here  and  take  Vicksburg  too.  All  our  troops  will 
be  needed  at  the  latter  place. 

"Grant  has  done  nothing  but  protect  cotton  buyers  for 
the  past  three  months,  arid  nothing  but  the  taking  of  Vicks 
burg  will  raise  his  sinking  reputation. 

"Here,  after  raining  thirty-six  hours,  it  snowed  to  the 
depth  of  five  and  a  half  inches,  the  heaviest  snow  that  has 
visited  the  country  for  a  number  of  years.  The  weather 
then  grew  stinging  cold  and  froze  everything  up  tight.  The 
wintry  North  was  brought  down  to  us,  and  the  Sunny  South 
was  counted  among  the  things  that  were.  We  still  have 
our  quarters  in  tents,  and  I  slept  in  one  without  fire.  Some 
fugitive  contrabands  froze  to  death." 

When  General  Sherman  emerged  from  the  Yazoo,  after 
his  repulse  at  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  he  turned  his  command 
over  to  General  M' demand,  who  had  just  arrived  from 
Memphis.  Without  allowing  time  for  the  indulgence  of 
regrets,  M' demand  moved  up  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth 
of  White  river,  up  the  White  through  a  cut-off  into  the  Ar 
kansas,  and  up  the  Arkansas  to  a  landing  three  miles  from 
Arkansas  Post,  on  the  left  bank.  Here,  on  the  ninth  and 
tenth  of  January,  under  the  protection  of  three  gunboats, 
which  previously  bombarded  the  fort  and  drove  the  Rebel 
sharpshooters  out  of  two  rows  of  rifle-pits  along  the  river, 
he  landed  twenty -five  thousand  men. 

Arkansas  Post  was  garrisoned  by  less  than  five  thousand 
men,  and  armed  with  but  twelve  guns,  but,  situated  on  high 
ground,  surrounded  by  bayous,  swamps  and  woods,  and  pro- 


THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

vided  with  a  wide  deep  ditch,  a  broad  high  parapet,  a  foot- 
bank  behind  the  parapet  for  infantry,  strong  casements  and 
rows  of  rifle-pits,  it  presented  a  bold  and  formidable  face 
even  to  so  large  a  force.  General  Churchill,  in  command, 
was,  he  affirmed,  bent  on  holding  out  until  help  arrived,  or 
all  were  dead. 

Me  demand's  troops  lay  on  their  arms  at  night,  without 
tents  or  fires.  During  the  day,  they  gradually  pushed  their 
way  through  marshes,  bayous  and  woods.  They  invested 
the  fort  before  noon  of  the  eleventh,  and  stood  ready  for  a 
general  assault.  It  was  Sunday,  and  remarkably  quiet  until 
afternoon,  when  artillery  on  the  river  and  on  the  land  opened 
fire.  The  fort  guns  answered  with  spirit,  but,  except  the 
lightest,  were  soon  silenced.  The  troops  pressed  closer,  run 
ning  across  open  ground,  and  halting  in  thickety  ravines,  to 
get  breath  to  rush  out  again.  A.  J.  Smith,  with  Burbridge's 
and  Landrum's  brigades,  reaching  a  position  within  two 
hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  sent  word  to  McClernand  that  he 
could  almost  shake  hands  with  the  enemy.  Shortly  after 
three,  all  the  guns  in  the  fort  were  silenced,  and  the  invest 
ing  force  moved  tip  to  a  general  assault.  The  Sixteenth 
Indiana,  the  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  and  Eighty-Third 
Ohio,  were  already  mounting  the  intrenchments,  when  a 
white  flag  rose  above  the  ramparts. 

All  the  garrison,  with  the  guns  and  provisions  of  every 
kind,  was  captured.  Our  Sixteenth  was  the  first  to  plant 
the  colors  within  the  fort.  The  garrison  flag  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  same  regiment — poetic  justice,  as  at  the  disas 
trous  battle  of  Richmond,  Kentucky,  the  Sixteenth  had  sur 
rendered  to  General  Churchill.  The  regiment  recognized 
many  of  its  own  wagons  and  accoutrements  among  the 
captured  articles. 

McClernard  lost  nine  hundred  and  seventy-seven  men,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  were  killed.  The  Six 
teenth  Indiana  lost  seven  killed  and  sixty-four  wounded. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  John  W.  Orr,  commanding  the  regiment, 
received  a  severe  wound  in  the  head  from  the  effects  of  which 
he  never  entirely  recovered.  The  Sixty-Seventh  had  three 
killed  and  thirty-five  wounded.  The  Sixty- Ninth  lost  none. 


THE  ARMY  CONCENTRATES  AT  YOUNG'S  POINT.        285 

It  supported  a  Wisconsin  battery,  but  was  not  actively  en 
gaged.  The  Sixtieth,  Forty-Ninth,  Fifty-Fourth  and  Eighty- 
Third  were  engaged. 

The  fort  with  all  its  defences  was  destroyed,  the  dead  were 
buried,  and  after  four  days  of  rest  McClernard  dropped  down 
to  Milliken's  Bend. 

Meantime  an  expedition  under  General  Gorman  and  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Walker  went  from  Helena  up  White  river  to 
attack  three  less  important  Rebel  posts,  St.  Charles,  Du- 
vall's  Bluff  and  Des  Arc,  where  the  railroad  crosses  the  river. 
The  Eleventh,  Twenty-Fourth  and  Forty-Sixth  Indiana 
were  included  in  the  expedition.  Crowded  boats  and  in 
clement  weather,  occasioned  great  suffering,  hands  and  feet 
in  many  cases  being  frozen,  but  the  enterprise  was  an  unex 
pected  success.  The  enemy  fled  from  each  point,  as  the  boats 
came  in  sight,  without  an  effort  at  defence.  From  Duvall's 
Bluff,  Colonel  Spicely,  with  the  Twenty-Fourth,  went  on 
alone  to  Des  Arc.  thirty  miles  above.  Several  guns  and  a 
number  of  fugitive  soldiers  were  captured.  The  expedition 
returned  to  Helena  on  the  twenty-second. 

Hitherto,  loss  and  gain,  success  and  failure,  if  they  had 
not  been  equal,  had  alternated  with  tolerable  regularity,  and 
the  soldier  had  done  the  soldier's  legitimate  work, — marching 
and  fighting  and  standing  guard,  with  a  moderate  amount 
of  starving  and  freezing  and  sickness.  Now  began  a  series 
of  gropings  in  the  dark,  warring  with  earth  itself,  and  with 
disease,  which  seemed  to  be  confederate  with  the  foe,  while 
over  everything  was  pronounced  the  harsh  verdict,  loss. 

Immediately  after  the  destruction  of  Arkansas  Post,  Gen 
eral  McClernard's  forces  moved  down  to  Young's  Point, 
which  is  on  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi,  about  nine 
miles  above  Vicksburg,  and  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  the 
Yazoo.  A  few  days  later,  the  army  of  Grant,  (except  a  por 
tion  of  the  Twelfth  and  the  Sixteenth  corps,  which  were  left 
in  West  Tennessee  to  protect  the  rear  and  keep  the  river 
open,)  having  embarked  at  Memphis,  landed  at  the  same 
place.  The  force  then  numbered  fifty  thousand,  and  consisted 
of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth  and  part  of  the  Thirteenth 
corps.  Several  iron-clads  were  added  to  the  naval  force. 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Grant,  though  utterly  undaunted  by  the  Tallahatchie  and 
Chickasaw  failure,  saw  reason  to  make  future  advances  from 
the  south,  and  as  it  was  impossible  to  send  his  troops  directly 
down  the  river  in  the  face  of  the  batteries  on  the  bluffs,  he 
lost  no  time  in  endeavoring  to  form  water  communications 
by  which,  without  exposure,  his  army  could  be  landed  below 
Vicksburg.  He  set  on  foot  a  system  of  internal  improve 
ments,  so  divided  and  extensive  that  the  failure  of  one  route 
would  not  by  any  means  necessitate  change  of  plan  or  in 
volve  serious  delay. 

Williams'  unfinished  canal  across  the  peninsula  offered 
the  readiest  mode  of  access  to  the  Mississippi  below  Vicks 
burg,  and,  although  it  was  unfortunately  located,  its  head 
being  opposite  an  eddy  which  turned  the  current  of  the  river 
from  the  bank,  and  its  terminus  within  range  of  the  lower 
batteries  of  the  city,  it  was  adopted  as  part  of  Grant's  system. 

A  circuitous  and  difficult  route  was  prospected  from  a 
point  seventy-five  miles  above  Vicksburg,  where  Lake  Provi 
dence  is  separated  from  the  Mississippi  by  a  neck  of  land  but 
a  mile  in  width.  Lake  Providence  is  in  the  old  bed  of  the 
river.  It  is  six  miles  long  and  is  the  head  of  the  Tensas 
river,  which,  through  the  Black  and  the  Red,  is  a  tributary  to 
the  Mississippi.  Port  Hudson,  now  strongly  fortified,  is  be 
low  the  mouth  of  the  Red,  but,  through  the  Atchafalaya, 
which  flows  from  the  latter  river  into  Lake  Plaquemine,  com 
munication  with  General  Banks  at  New  Orleans  would  be 
no  difficult  matter. 

A  lower  entrance  into  Tensas  river  was  marked  out  through 
the  bayous  which  run  from  near  Milliken's  Bend. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  Grant  undertook  to 
make  a  passage  into  the  Yazoo  from  a  point  still  higher  up 
than  Lake  Providence,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  Confed 
erate  transports  in  that  stream,  and  gunboats  on  the  stocks, 
and  possibly  of  gaining  the  rear  of  Vicksburg. 

In  labor  on  the  several  routes  the  troops  found  abundant 
occupation.  In  dysentery  and  fever,  produced  by  incessant 
rain  and  a  protracted  freshet,  they  underwent  intolerable 
suffering.  The  deaths  at  Young's  Point  averaged  eighty-five 
a  day.  In  less  than  two  months  more  than  a  hundred  of  our 


CANALS  AND  BAYOUS.  287 

Sixty-Ninth  died.  Three  hundred  at  a  time  were  on  the 
sick  list.  February  5,  the  aggregate  strength  of  the  Sixteenth 
was  five  hundred,  of  whom  but  three  line  officers  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  were  fit  for  duty.  The  other  Indiana 
regiments,  which  were  engaged  digging  in  the  mire  and  clay 
of  Williams'  canal,  were  the  Forty-Ninth,  Fifty-Fourth,  Six 
tieth,  Sixty-Seventh  and  Eighty-Third.  Their  measure  of 
suffering  was  the  same. 

Burials  were  all  made  in  the  levees,  as  they  furnished  the 
only  dry  land  deep  enough.  Miles  of  graves  furrowed  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  troops  were  literally  walled  in 
on  one  side  by  the  dead. 

The  camps  were  on  the  west  side  of  the  canal,  and  they 
were  protected  by  a  huge  embankment,  nevertheless  they 
were,  night  and  day,  in  imminent  and  manifest  danger  from 
the  swelling  floods  of  the  river. 

The  dreary  monotony  was  now  and  then  relieved  by  ex 
cursions  into  the  interior.  One  of  the  most  important  was 
made  by  Burbridge's  brigade  in  the  latter  half  of  the  month 
of  February.  Steaming  up  the  Mississippi,  the  brigade 
landed  at  Greenville,  marched  nine  miles,  and  routed  a  party 
of  guerillas  who  annoyed  boats  passing  on  the  river.  Pro 
ceeding  up  the  river,  it  routed  another  party,  and  captured  a 
battery. 

McPherson's  corps  was  employed  on  the  Lake  Providence 
canal.  The  Twenty-Third  Indiana,  landing  here  February 
22,  did  stout  work  with  pick  and  spade. 

The  clearing  of  the  Yazoo  route  was  performed  by  a  por 
tion  of  the  Helena  troops,  among  which  were  the  Eleventh, 
Twenty-Fourth,  Thirty-Fourth,  Forty-Sixth  and  Forty-Sev 
enth  Indiana,  and  a  detachment  of  the  First  Cavalry,  under 
General  Washburn. 

A  cut  in  the  levee  was  made  by  the  explosion  of  a  mine. 
The  pass  was  cleared  by  chopping  and  hauling,  the  troops 
working  waist  deep  in  water,  and  in  incessant  rain.  Drift 
wood  and  leaning  trees,  which  locked  the  water  in  their 
giant  embrace,  were  the  least  of  the  difficulties.  Rebels,  at 
a  safe  distance,  felled  huge  oaks,  sycamores  and  elms,  whose 
weight  imbedded  them  in  mud,  and  they  made  rafts  or  dams 


288  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

a  mile  or  more  in  length.  A  distance  of  nearly  four  miles, 
with  a  few  open  spaces,  was  barricaded  with  trees  which 
reached  across  the  stream. 

While  the  troops  were  engaged  in  digging  canals  and 
clearing  bayous,  a  portion  of  the  naval  force  endeavored  to 
lessen  the  amount  of  Rebel  supplies  received  from  the  south 
west  by  means  of  the  bayous  and  rivers  connecting  with  the 
Mississippi,  between  Port  Hudson  and  Vicksburg.  The  ram 
steamer,  Queen  of  the  West,  with  the  gunboat  De  Soto,  ran 
the  batteries  on  the  second  of  February,  captured  and  burned 
three  small  steamers  laden  with  supplies,  and  went  fifteen 
miles  up  Red  river.  The  Queen  returned  for  a  supply  of 
coal,  which  she  received,  a  flat  boat  loaded  with  coal  having 
been  cast  loose  in  the  stream  above,  and  having  passed  the 
batteries  in  safety.  Without  delay  she  then  resumed  her  oc 
cupation  of  sweeping  the  rivers  of  Rebel  craft. 

February  13,  at  ten  o'clock,  on  a  pitch  black  night,  the 
Indianola  started  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  to  join  the 
Queen.  The  Indianola  was  one  of  the  finest  iron-clads  of 
the  squadron.  She  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  feet 
long  by  fifty  broad.  She  had  seven  engines  and  five  boilers, 
and  hose  for  throwing  scalding  water  from  the  boilers,  reach 
ing  from  stem  to  stern.  She  was  ironed  all  round,  was  thor 
oughly  shielded  in  every  part,  and  was  armed  with  two  eleven- 
inch  and  two  nine-inch  guns.  Her  commander  was  Lieu 
tenant  George  Brown,  formerly  of  Indianapolis. 

As  the  Indianola  turned  to  the  east  to  round  the  peninsula 
she  shut  off  steam,  and  drifted  with  the  current  at  the  rate 
of  four  miles  an  hour.  She  swung  close  below  the  batteries, 
and  with  no  sound  above  the  rush  of  the  heavy  waters,  came 
almost  within  reach  of  a  close  line  of  Rebel  sentinels,  and 
fully  within  the  sound  of  citizens'  voices.  At  the  moment  a 
blaze,  flaring  up  from  a  smouldering  camp-fire,  cast  its  long 
light  on  the  river,  and  revealed  the  floating  vessel.  A  senti 
nel  fired.  Soldiers  along  the  bluffs  sprang  to  arms.  A  bat 
tery  near  the  centre  of  the  city  discharged  a  gun.  But  the 
Indianola,  in  a  moment,  floated  beyond  the  line  of  light  into 
impenetrable  darkness.  Five  minutes  profound  silence  rested 
on  river  and  shore.  Then  the  wheels  were  started  to  steer 


NAVAL  OPERATIONS.  289 

the  steamer.  The  quick  roar  of  artillery  followed.  Again 
silence  and  darkness  wrapped  the  boat.  She  drifted  on. 
Once  more  her  wheels  beat  the  water.  Once  more  the  loud 
uproar  of  guns  fiercely  waked  the  echoes.  Under  full  pressure 
of  steam  the  Indianola  swept  boldly  down  the  stream,  while  all 
the  batteries  of  Vicksburg  impotently  bellowed  and  yelled 
after  her. 

A  short  distance  below  Natchez  the  Indianola  was  hailed 
by  a  boat,  which  was  scarcely  discernible  through  a  heavy 
fog,  and  which  was  slowly  making  its  difficult  way  up  the 
stream.  It  was  the  Era,  a  Rebel  vessel,  captured  by  Colonel 
Ellet,  of  the  Queen,  and  now  bearing  Ellet  and  his  crew. 
The  Queen  had  been  unfortunate.  At  Gordon's  landing, 
fifty  miles  up  Red  river,  she  was  run  aground,  fired  into  and 
captured,  the  crew  escaping  on  cotton  bales  to  the  De  Soto, 
which  was  just  below.  A  short  distance  down  the  river  the 
De  Soto  was  run  into  the  bank  and  destroyed,  the  crew  now 
finding  refuge  on  the  Era.  Through  fog  and  storm,  with  a 
traitor  pilot,  and  fuel  of  cypress  wood,  which  was  saturated 
with  water,  and  of  corn,  which  had  formed  the  cargo,  the 
vessel  was  worked  out  of  the  Red  and  up  the  Mississippi  at 
the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour. 

Lieutenant  Brown  went  to  the  Red,  chasing  before  him, 
part  of  the  way,  the  swift  Rebel  gunboat  Webb,  which  es 
caped  in  fog.  For  want  of  pilots,  he  could  not  ascend  the 
Red,  and  remained  in  its  mouth,  effectually  blockading  it, 
until,  after  four  days,  he  learned  that  the  Queen  of  the  West, 
as  good  as  new,  was  out  in  search  of  him.  He  then  procured 
cotton,  and  filled  up  the  space  between  the  casemate  and  wheel 
house  with  it,  so  as  the  better  to  repel  boarding  parties,  and 
went  up  the  Mississippi,  moving  slowly  on  account  of  the 
tide,  and  in  consequence  of  having  coal  barges  alongside. 

On  the  night  of  the  twenty-fourth, — a  very  dark  night, — 
he  became  aware  of  the  swift  approach  of  the  Webb,  tht 
Queen  and  two  smaller  gunboats.  He  promptly  cleared  for 
action,  turned  and  stood  down  the  river,  to  meet  them. 
They  mounted  ten  heavy  guns,  which  were  manned  by  sev 
eral  hundred  men,  and  moved  to  a  vigorous  and  almost 
19 


290  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

simultaneous  attack  with  their  rams,  under  the  fire  of  field 
pieces  and  small  arms.  The  first  blow  of  the  Queen  was 
partially  broken  by  a  coal  barge,  through  which  she  was 
forced  to  act.  The  Indianola  met  the  Webb  running  at  full 
speed,  and  with  a  tremendous  crash.  She  fought  all  four  of 
the  vessels  with  all  her  might  and  all  her  skill,  neither  of 
which  was  small;  but  she  was  shattered  after  the  seventh 
blow,  which  struck  her  fair  in  the  stern.  Lieutenant  Brown 
kept  her  in  deep  water  until  there  were  two  and  a  half  feet 
of  water  over  the  floor;  then  he  ran  her  bows  on  shore  and 
surrendered. 

The  Rebels  hauled  up  the  partially  sunken  vessel  the 
next  day,  and  fell  to  work  to  repair  and  resuscitate  her. 
While  the  work  progressed,  a  nondescript  boat  was  seen  to 
leave  the  Union  fleet,  and  to  float  fearlessly  on  the  current, 
unchecked  and  unaffected  by  the  angry  play  of  the  Vicks- 
burg  batteries. 

Notice  was  sent  to  the  Indianola  and  the  Queen.  The 
one,  in  the  language  of  Admiral  Porter,  "turned  tail  and  ran 
down  the  river  as  fast  as  she  could  go;"  the  other,  with 
every  gun,  was  blown  to  pieces. 

The  vessel  which  did  so  effectual  a  work,  was  an  old  coal 
barge,  with  pork  barrels  on  top  of  each  other  for  smoke 
stacks,  furnaces  built  of  mud,  and  two  old  canoes  for  quar 
ter  boats.  "The  soldiers  shouted  and  laughed  like  mad," 
according  to  Admiral  Porter,  as  they  watched  her  dauntless 
and  triumphant  progress. 

Captain  Brown  and  his  comrades  remained  prisoners  dur 
ing  several  months,  much  of  the  time  leading  an  itinerant 
life,  and  in  consequence  becoming  acquainted  with  different 
prisons.  Their  first  term  was  at  Jackson,  where  they  were 
incarcerated  in  a  bridge.  They  ended  the  period  at  the 
Libby.  They  experienced  none  of  the  severity  which  was 
the  fate  of  captives  taken  at  a  later  period. 

With  the  Indianola,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  February, 
efforts  to  clear  the  rivers  of  Rebel  craft  ended.  The  canals, 
however,  still  progressed.  Toil  the  most  untiring,  and  vigi 
lance  absolutely  sleepless,  won  deceitful  promises  of  success, 
in  spite  of  miry  earth  and  rainy  skies. 


FAILURES  AND  DISAPPOINTMENTS.  291 

Williams'  canal  was  the  first  failure.  It  was  eight  feet 
below  the  surface  of  the  river,  and  needed  but  a  few  days' 
more  work,  when,  on  the  eighth  of  March,  the  waters  burst 
the  dam  at  its  head,  poured  in,  broke  the  levee  and  spread 
far  and  wide  across  the  peninsula.  The  workmen  fled  for 
their  lives,  leaving  their  tools  where  they  had  used  them,  and 
their  tents  on  the  rapidly  submerged  plain. 

The  canal  to  Lake  Providence  was  finished,  and  on  the 
sixteenth  of  March  was  opened,  the  river  rushing  in  with 
great  velocity,  and  in  such  volume  as  to  overflow  a  large  dis 
trict  of  country.  But  as  the  intricacies  and  involutions  of 
the  Tensas  river,  in  connection  with  its  length,  made  the  pas 
sage  undesirable  except  as  a  last  resort,  and  as  the  Yazoo- 
Pass  expedition  now  gave  great  promise,  it  was  relinquinshed 
without  a  trial. 

February  25,  a  rainy,  inauspicious  day,  the  large  gunboats 
Chilicothe  and  DeKalb,  the  former  commanded  by  Lieuten 
ant  Foster,  an  Indianian,  five  light  draft  gunboats  and  eight 
een  transports,  with  about  five  thousand  infantry  and  a 
battery  of  artillery,  commenced  the  tortuous  voyage  to  the 
Yazoo,  under  command  of  General  Ross. 

The  Indiana  regiments  which  had  been  employed  in  open 
ing  the  pass  were  now  in  the  expedition. 

Passing  through  the  cut  the  troops  entered  a  rapid  chan 
nel  which  led  them  a  mile  to  Moon  lake,  the  former  bed  of 
the  river.  Here  was  fast  and  smooth  sailing  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Yazoo  Pass,  where  progress  became  exceedingly  slow 
and  laborious.  Now  the  stream  was  narrow  and  the  current 
arrow-like  in  its  swiftness,  tearing  the  vessels  through  sturdy 
cypress  and  sycamore  boughs,  plunging  them  on  abrupt,  pro 
jecting  banks,  or  jamming  them  against  roots  and  logs. 
Again  the  flow  was  scarcely  perceptible,  and  the  waters  dif 
fused  themselves  far  over  bottom  lands.  In  three  days  the 
expedition  advanced  twelve  miles,  and  reached  the  Cold 
Water,  a  far  less  difficult  stream,  nevertheless,  narrow, 
crooked  and  sluggish,  and  filled  with  obstructions. 

March  11,  the  boats  halted  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tallahat- 
chie,  held  in  check  by  a  raft  with  an  old  steamboat  sunk  be 
hind  it,  and  by  a  formidable  fortification  across  a  peninsula 


292  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

which  entirely  commanded  the  river.  The  Chilicothe  at 
tempted  to  proceed,  but  after  engaging  the  enemy's  guns  an 
hour,  retired.  The  Forty-Sixth  Indiana  then  marched  for 
ward  to  reconnoitre.  It  was  followed  by  the  Forty-Seventh. 

Skirmishers  deployed  in  advance  under  Colonel  Bring- 
hurst,  met  the  enemy's  skirmishers  and  drove  them,  after  a 
sharp  fight,  beyond  a  slough  into  their  works. 

The  regiments  hastened  to  join  in  the  skirmish  and  pur 
suit,  but  being  unable  to  cross  the  slough,  they  returned  to 
the  boats.  In  the  afternoon,  the  Chillicothe  again  engaged. 
During  the  twelfth,  General  Ross  erected  a  land  battery, 
facing  the  enemy's  works,  west  of  the  slough,  in  the  edge  of 
the  forest.  The  next  day  the  batteries  and  the  gunboats 
opened  on  the  enemy  and  checked  the  fire,  but  not  suffi 
ciently  to  effect  a  landing.  Unsuccessful  efforts  were  con 
tinued  until  the  sixteenth,  when  General  Ross  concluded  to 
move  back.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Pass,  General  Quimby,  of 
McPherson's  corps,  reinforced  him  with  troops  from  the  Thir 
teenth,  Fourteenth  and  Seventeenth  corps.  Our  Forty- 
Eighth,  Colonel  Eddy,  and  Fifty-Ninth,  Colonel  Alexander, 
were  included  in  the  newly  arrived  force. 

General  Quimby  assumed  command  of  Ross'  division  and 
went  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Tallahatchie,  reaching  the 
vicinity  of  the  fort  on  the  twenty-third.  Increased  defences 
necessitated  increased  caution  in  approaching. 

An  accident  which  occurred  about  three  o'clock  Sunday 
morning,  the  first  of  April,  in  the  camp  of  the  Forty- Seventh, 
cast  a  gloom  over  the  entire  army.  A  storm  of  wind  tore  up 
by  the  roots  a  large  tree,  one  branch  of  which  fell  upon  a 
tent  containing  six  men,  and  killed  four  and  seriously  if  not 
fatally  injured  the  two  others.  The  burial,  which  took  place 
at  noon,  impressed  with  solemnity  hundreds  who  regarded 
death  in  battle  or  in  the  hospital  with  indifference. 

The  weather  was  inclement,  floods  of  rain  falling  and 
storms  of  wind  blowing  most  of  the  time.  The  troops  were 
occupied  in  reconnoitring  until  the  fifth  of  April,  when  they 
were  withdrawn.  After  many  delays  they  reached  Milliken's 
Bend,  where  confusion  seemed  to  rule.  Our  Forty- Sixth  is 
described  as  during  three  days  obeying  alternately  the  con- 


THE  CLIMAX  ATTAINED.  293 

tradictory  orders  to  "Take  everything  off  the  boat,"  and 
"  Put  every  thing  on  board,"  the  first  preparatory  to  going 
into  camp,  which  it  was  not  allowed  to  do,  and  the  second 
in  order  to  go  up  the  river,  which  also  was  not  allowed. 

Before  the  close  of  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition  another  en 
terprise  commenced,  under  the  united  supervision  of  Admiral 
Porter  and  General  Sherman.  Five  gunboats,  with  a  number 
of  small  transports  undertook  to  reach  the  Yazoo  below  Fort 
Pemberton  and  above  Hai lies'  Bluff.  A  pioneer  corps  preceded 
to  remove  overhanging  trees.  General  Sherman  moved  from 
Eagle  Bend  through  mixed  land  and  water.  With  toil  and 
trouble  the  force  passed  through  Cypress  Bayou,  Steele's 
Bayou,  Cypress  Lake,  Little  Black  Fork,  Deer  Creek,  Roll 
ing  Fork  and  into  the  Big  Sun  Flower.  But  all  these  wan 
derings  occupied  so  much  time  that  the  enemy  was  able  to 
checkmate  progress,  when  free  and  open  navigation  to  the 
Yazoo  was  but  a  few  hundred  yards  ahead. 

One  more  failure  ends  the  series.  The  route  through  the 
bayous,  which  run  from  near  Milliken's  Bend  and  New  Car 
thage  through  Roundaway  Bayou  into  Texas  river,  was  made 
practicable,  but  by  a  sudden  fall  of  the  river  was  rendered 
again  impracticable  and  at  the  same  time  unnecessary. 

The  country  grew  exceedingly  impatient  under  these  un 
precedented  failures,  and  loudly  expressing  and  reiterating  its 
dissatisfaction,  besought  that  General  Grant  might  be  re 
moved.  The  popular  feeling  is  expressed  in  the  Indiana 
polis  Journal  of  April  5,  1863,  in  a  leader  entitled, 


"GE-TTING  NO  BETTER  FAST. 

"  Grant  is  getting  along  at  Vicksburg  with  such  rapidity 
that,  in  the  course  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  he  will  be 
ready  to  send  up  a  gunboat  to  find  out  whether  the  enemy 
hasn't  died  of  old  age.  His  canal  opposite  the  town  is  a 
failure,  as  we  stated  some  days  ago.  His  canal  at  Lake 
Providence  is  a  failure.  Plis  expedition  up  Steele's  Bayou 
is  a  failure.  His  expedition  down  Yazoo  Pass  is  not  a  suc 
cess.  His  attempts  to  run  three  rams  past  the  Rebel  batter 
ies  was  a  failure.  In  fact,  Grant  is  a  failure  himself.  He 
never  was  anything  else. 


294  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"We  presume  he  will  keep  on  digging,  and  that  his  next 
strategic  attempt  will  be  to  tunnel  the  Mississippi,  and  come 
up  under  the  Rebel  works." 

Prominent  citizens  from  nearly  every  State  went  to  Wash 
ington,  to  represent  General  Grant's  incompetency,  and  to 
plead  for  his  removal.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  said :  "  I  rather  like 
the  man.  I  think  I  will  try  him  a  little  longer." 


A  NEW  START.  295 


CHAPTER  XL 

OPERATIONS  AGAINST  VICKSBURG. 

"Soldiers,  in  a  fortnight  you  have  gained  six  victories,  taken  twenty-one 
pairs  of  colors,  fifty-five  pieces  of  cannon,  several  fortresses,  and  conquered 
the  richest  part  of  Piedmont;  you  have  made  fifteen  thousand  prisoners,  and 
killed  or  wounded  more  than  ten  thousand  men.  *  *  *  Destitute  of 
everything,  you  have  supplied  all  your  wants.  You  have  gained  battles 
xvithout  cannon,  crossed  rivers  without  bridges,  made  forced  marches  with 
out  shoes,  bivouacked  without  brandy,  and  often  without  bread.  The  repub 
lican  phalanxes,  the  soldiers  of  liberty  alone  could  have  endured  what  you 
have  endured.  *  *  *  The  two  armies  which  so  lately  attacked  you 
boldly  are  fleeing  affrighted  before  you;  the  perverse  men  who  laughed  at 
your  distress,  and  rejoiced  in  thought  at  the  triumphs  of  your  enemies,  are 
confounded  and  trembling." — Napoleoris  proclamation  to  his  soldiers  after  his 
Jirst  Italian  campaign. 

Daring  the  development  of  the  last  failure  General  Grant 
began  the  concentration  of  his  forces  at  Milliken's  Bend,  and 
set  on  foot  a  movement  to  New  Carthage,  where  he  hoped 
to  effect  a  passage  across  the  Mississippi,  below  the  Vicks- 
burg  batteries. 

McPherson  came  down  from  Lake  Providence  and  the 
Yazoo  pass,  whither  he  had  lately  despatched  part  of  his 
corps.  Sherman  arrived  from  Steele's  Bayou.  Huiibut  sent 
forward  every  man  who  could  be  spared  from  the  rear.  Boats 
were  brought  from  Chicago  to  Saint  Louis. 

By  the  twenty-ninth  of  March  the  roads  by  way  of  Rich 
mond  were  considered  sufficiently  dried,  as  the  distance  was 
but  about  twenty  miles,  and  on  that  day  orders  were  issued 
for  Me  demand  to  move  his  corps  without  tents,  blankets, 
or  baggage  of  any  kind. 

Osterhaus  took  the  lead  with  his  division,  sending  a  de 
tachment  in  advance  to  capture  Richmond,  reported  to  be 
fortified  by  a  small  force,  and  to  explore  the  route.  The 
detachment  was  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Bennett,  for- 


296  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

merly  Major  in  the  Thirty- Sixth,  and  always  an  officer  of 
excellent  ability  and  character,  and  consisted  of  the  Sixty- 
Ninth  Indiana,  a  section  of  artillery,  and  a  portion  of  the 
Second  Illinois  Cavalry.  Bennett  started  at  seven  on  the 
morning  of  the  thirty-first,  directed  his  course  toward  the 
west,  and  gathering  up,  for  future  necessity,  all  the  boats  he 
could  find  in  the  watery  region  through  which  his  road  led 
him,  reached  Roundaway  bayou  at  two  in  the  afternoon. 
He  dislodged  the  enemy  from  the  further  bank,  took  posses 
sion  of  Richmond,  and  from  that  point  turned  his  course 
southward.  He  was  stopped  by  a  break  in  the  levee  of 
Bayou  Vidal,  which,  uniting  with  the  Mississippi,  encircled 
New  Carthage,  and  made  approach  undesirable,  as  well  as 
impossible.  The  Forty-Ninth  soon  came  up.  Explorations 
were  at  once  instituted  in  search  of  a  clue  through  the  maze 
of  water-courses.  General  Osterhaus,  with  Captain  Garret- 
son's  company,  made  a  voyage  on  the  Opossum,  (a  gunboat 
built  by  the  Sixty-Ninth,  and  armed  with  two  howitzers,) 
propelling  it  with  oars  through  a  forest  to  the  Mississippi 
levee,  gained  a  position  on  a  plot  of  twenty  acres,  whose  ele 
vation  had  preserved  it  from  the  general  overflow,  and  awaited 
there  the  arrival  of  the  Forty-Ninth  regiment,  and  of  the  res 
idue  of  the  Sixty-Ninth.  But  neither  these  regiments  nor 
any  other  attempted  to  follow,  and  the  little  force  remained 
on  the  isolated  spot  five  days,  protecting  itself,  by  sham 
artillery,  which  it  made  from  the  smoke  pipes  of  the  Indian- 
ola,  and  by  its  two  real  howitzers,  from  a  threatening  gun 
boat  on  the  river,  and  a  body  of  Rebels  at  Hard  Times,  a 
mile  or  two  below. 

Meantime  General  Osterhaus,  continuing  his  explorations, 
met  General  Hovey,  also  on  a  voyage  of  discovery,  with 
three  men,  in  a  skiff.  The  two  Generals  compared  notes, 
and  reported  a  practicable  route  round  Bayou  Vidal  to  Per 
kins'  plantation,  on  the  Mississippi,  thirty-five  miles  from 
Milliken's  Bend. 

Osterhaus  and  Carr  made  roads,  as  far  as  roads  were  made, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  movement.  The  Eighteenth  Indiana 
headed  Carr's  division,  marching  in  single  file  on  the  levees, 
with  water  on  either  side,  or  moving  on  flatboats  and  rafts 


RUNNING  THE  BATTERIES.  297 

made  with  tedious  delay.  Hovey's  division  was  in  the  rear 
when  it  started,  but  passed  to  the  right  of  Osterhaus  and 
Can*  as  the  march'  progressed,  and  gained  the  van.  It  built 
more  than  two  thousand  feet  of  bridging  in  four  days,  and 
cut  two  miles  of  military  road  through  an  almost  impassable 
swamp,  men  working  for  hours  up  to  their  necks  in  water. 
Captain  George  "W.  Jackson,  of  the  Thirty-Fourth  Indiana, 
with  his  pioneer  corps,  was  distinguished  in  the  Herculean 
labor. 

McPherson  followed  McClernand,  but  on  account  of  the 
tedious  character  of  the  march  Sherman  was  directed  to  re 
main  at  Milliken's  Bend  until  further  orders. 

To  carry  the  troops  across  the  river  and  to  protect  their 
landing,  eight  gunboats  and  three  transports  ran  the  batteries. 
Although  the  night  was  dark,  they  were  speedily  discovered, 
and  the  river  weft  made  lighter  than  day  by  the  glare  of  burn 
ing  houses  on  both  shores,  while  all  the  artillery  on  both 
bluffs  opened.  Nobody  was  killed,  and  but  few  were  wounded, 
though  many  of  the  boats  were  broken  to  pieces  and  men 
were  picked  up  from  pieces  of  floating  wrecks. 

Another  night,  April  26,  six  unprotected  transports  made 
the  fiery  voyage.  As  had  been  the  case  with  the  former  ex 
pedition,  the  crews  refused  to  venture,  and  their  places  were 
promptly  supplied  by  volunteers  from  the  army.  Logan's 
division,  which  had  not  yet  begun  the  march,  readily  man 
ned  the  vessels,  our  Twenty-Third  furnishing  seventy  hands. 
Men  seldom  do  a  nobler  thing  than  to  volunteer  a  dangerous 
and  untried  service,  in  addition  to  known  and  allotted  duties 
of  the  most  exacting  character. 

The  army,  meantime,  moved  down  to  Hard  Times  Land 
ing,  making  the  distance  traversed  from  Milliken's  Bend  sev 
enty  miles,  and  there  awaited  transportation. 

General  Grant  now  endeavored  to  distract  the  attention 
of  the  Rebels  while  he  should  effect  a  landing  and  gain  a 
position  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  He  gave  directions  for 
an  extended  cavalry  raid,  and  a  demonstration  in  force  on 
Haines'  Bluff.  The  former  was  performed  by  Illinois  soldiers 
under  the  lead  of  Grierson,  and  cut  from  LaGrange,  through 
the  centre  of  Mississippi  to  Baton  Rouge.  The  latter  was 


298  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

made  by  Sherman,  with  the  Fifteenth  corps  and  so  much  of 
the  fleet  as  lay  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo. 

Accepting  the  guidance  of  events  as  they  opened,  without 
any  attempt  to  hold  to  an  arbitrary  plan,  General  Grant  was 
quite  successful  in  effecting  a  landing.  During  five  hours  of 
the  twenty-ninth  of  April,  as  large  a  portion  of  Me  demand's 
corps  as  could  be  crowded  on  the  boats  waited  in  front  of 
Grand  Gulf,  with  the  expectation  of  assaulting  that  strong 
position,  when  Admiral  Porter  should  have  succeeded  in  si 
lencing  its  guns.  Happily  the  guns  were  not  affected  by  Por 
ter's  fire,  fierce,  heavy  and  well-directed  though  it  was,  and  the 
army  was  spared  a  repetition  of  the  murderous  scene  enacted 
before  Chickasaw  Bluffs.  The  troops  debarked  and  marched 
to  a  point  below,  whence  they  re-embarked  and  crossed  the 
river  on  transports  and  gunboats  which  had  run  the  Grand 
Gulf  guns  uninjured.  They  were  landed  afrBruinsburg,  and 
as  soon  as  landed  were  supplied  with  three  days'  rations  in 
their  haversacks  and  started  toward  the  bluffs,  three  miles 
inland,  where  it  was  possible  for  the  enemy  to  make  a  strong 
defence.  Benton's  brigade  pushed  out  in  advance  without 
waiting  for  rations,  a  detail  at  the  river  following  after  sev 
eral  hours,  each  stout-hearted  fellow  trudging  along  under 
the  broiling  sun  with  a  cracker  box,  a  hundred  pounds  in 
weight,  on  his  shoulders. 

Benton's  brigade  was  in  Carr's  division,  and  included  the 
Indiana  Eighth,  Colonel  Shunk,  and  Eighteenth,  Colonel 
Washburn,  and  the  First  battery,  Captain  Klauss. 

Osterhaus'  division  followed  Carr's;  Hovey's  came  next 
in  order;  and  A.  J.  Smith's  brought  up  the  rear  of  McCler- 
nand's  corps. 

Hovey's  division  was  more  largely  Indianian  than  any 
other  in  Grant's  army.  In  General  McGinnis'  brigade  were 
the  Eleventh,  Colonel  Macauley;  the  Twenty-Fourth,  Col 
onel  Spicely;  Thirty-Fourth,  Colonel  Cameron;  and  Forty- 
Sixth,  Colonel  Bringhurst.  The  Forty-Seventh,  Colonel 
McLaughlin,  was  in  General  Slack's  brigade.  Company  C 
of  the  First  Indiana  cavalry,  was  General  Hovey's  escort. 

The   Sixty- Ninth,  Colonel  Bennett,  Forty-Ninth,  Colonel 


AUSPICIOUS  OPENING.  299 

Keigwin,  and  Fifty-Fourth,  Colonel  Mansfield,  were  in  Os- 
terhaus'  division. 

In  Burbridge's  brigade,  of  A.  J.  Smith's  division,  were  the 
Sixteenth,  Sixtieth  and  Sixty-Seventh. 

Two  of  McPherson's  divisions  followed  Me  demand's 
corps.  His  remaining  division  joined  him  several  days  later. 
The  Twenty-Third,  Forty-Eighth  and  Fifty-Ninth  Indiana 
were  in  McPherson's  corps.  The  Ninety-Seventh  was  also 
one  of  his  regiments,  but  it  had  been  left  in  Moscow,  Ten 
nessee. 

All  the  regimental  officers  were  on  foot,  and  continued  on 
foot  during  the  succeeding  day,  in  consequence  of  an  order 
forbidding  them  to  bring  their  horses  across  the  river.  Nei 
ther  officers  nor  men  carried  more  than  their  blankets. 
Many  had  only  an  Indian-rubber  poncho. 

After  midnight,  and  about  eight  miles  from  Bruinsburg, 
the  enemy  began  to  give  evidence  that  he  was  not  unobserv 
ant,  assailing  the  van  with  artillery  and  a  light  infantry  fire. 
Klauss  hastened  his  battery  to  the  front,  and  replied.  The 
fire  continued  with  something  of  the  character  of  question 
and  answer  through  nearly  two  hours,  when  there  was  an 
entire  lull, 

Noah  Havens,  a  scout  of  the  Eighteenth,  crept  within  the 
hostile  lines,  and  ascertained  that  the  enemy  was  withdraw 
ing;  but  as  the  moon  had  set,  and  it  was  quite  dark,  no  effort 
was  made  to  follow.  The  troops  rested  on  their  arms,  and 
marched  again  at  daylight. 

The  march  led  through  an  exceedingly  broken  region, 
down  deep  ravines,  up  abrupt  heights,  and,  where  the  coun 
try  was  not  opened  in  plantations,  through  heavy  timber,  tall 
and  strong  wild  cane,  and  other  tangled  underbrush.  The 
roads,  however,  were  hard  and  most  delightful  after  the  oozy 
soil  of  Louisiana;  and,  in  spite  of  the  bloody  days  they  knew 
were  now  close  upon  them,  the  soldiers  were  enraptured  with 
the  luxuriance  and  splendor  of  magnolias,  oleanders  and  wild 
roses. 

It  was  the  first  day  of  May,  and  in  the  serene  and  cool 
morning  twilight,  promised  to  be  the  loveliest  of  May  days. 


300  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

But  the  sun  rose  blazing  hot,  and  poured  his  blinding  rays 
directly  in  the  face  of  the  troops. 

The  march  was  toward  Port  Gibson,  the  possession  of 
which  would  force  the  enemy  to  evacuate  Grand  Gulf.  The 
road  dividing,  Osterhaus  advanced  on  the  left,  and  Carr, 
Hovey  and  Smith  directed  their  movement  toward  the  right. 
General  Benton  still  led  the  head  of  Carr's  column.  Major 
Brady,  of  the  Eighth,  with  a  company  from  each  regiment 
of  the  brigade,  skirmished  in  front  of  his  line.  Captain 
Klauss  kept  all  his  guns  firing.  Following  the  enemy  from 
height  to  height,  Benton's  troops  reached  a  deep,  dark  ravine, 
and  wound  and  climbed  through  it  in  single  file.  Beyond  it 
the  Rebels  made  a  resolute  stand,  and  Benton  formed  line 
of  battle  on  a  ridge,  the  Eighteenth  on  his  left,  near  a  little 
church,  Magnolia  church,  the  Eighth  on  his  right,  and  two 
Illinois  regiments  in  his  centre.  Firing  grew  hot,  the  enemy 
threatening,  now  the  front  and  now  the  flank,  and,  with  a 
battery  directly  before  the  Eighteenth,  sweeping  the  line. 

Stone's  brigade  was  soon  engaged  on  Benton's  left. 
Hovey  hastened  forward  to  his  right,  but  restrained  by  in 
structions  not  to  join  in  the  battle  until  supported  by  Smith's, 
the  hindmost,  division,  he  waited  a  long  and  anxious  half 
hour,  during  which  his  troops  lay  behind  the  crest  of  the 
ridge.  When  Smith  came  up,  Hovey  pushed  forward  through 
a  narrow,  deep  gulch  choked  with  vines  and  cane,  and  as 
soon  as  Slack's  brigade  and  the  left  of  McGinnis'  had  gained 
the  front,  Klauss  having  pointed  out  to  him  the  Rebel  bat 
tery  with  a  line  of  Rebel  heads  in  its  rear,  he  gave  the  order 
to  Colonel  Cameron,  and  a  few  moments  later,  to  the  residue 
of  his  division,  to  charge  bayonets.  The  troops  obeyed, 
charging  over  fences,  pitching  over  logs,  tearing  through 
bamboo.  Cameron's  voice,  "Come  on,  my  brave  boys!" 
Colonel  Spicely  shouting,  "Come  on!  Come  on!"  the  de 
portment  of  all  the  officers,  and  the  sight  of  the  breaking 
Rebel  line,  animated  them  to  the  highest  pitch. 

Our  Forty-Sixth  ran  over  the  colors  of  the  Twenty-Third 
Alabama.  Captain  Charles,  of  the  Eighteenth,  leaped  upon 
a  cannon  and  claimed  it  as  his  trophy.  Amos  Nagle,  of  the 
Eighteenth,  killed  the  color-bearer  of  the  Fifteenth  Arkansas, 


BATTLE  OP  PORT  GIBSON.  201 

and  captured  his  colors,  inscribed  all  over  with  the  names  of 
battles— "Oak  Hill,"  "Elk  Horn,"  "Corinth,"  "Hatchie 
Bridge."  A  triumphant  shout  reverberated  among  the  hills. 

Colonel  McLaughlin,  with  the  Forty-Seventh,  held  a  con 
spicuous  position  on  the  right  of  Slack's  brigade,  and  after 
the  charge  repeatedly  repulsed  a  flanking  force. 

At  last  the  whole  Confederate  line  fell  back.  Hovey's 
division  paused  to  take  breath,  and  to  exchange  congratula 
tions.  The  early  and  swift  success  was  a  good  omen. 

It  was  impossible  to  pursue  the  Rebels  with  rapidity,  and 
when  they  were  next  confronted,  they  were  strongly  posted 
in  a  creek  bottom,  protected  by  trees  and  bushes,  and  com 
manding  the  approach,  which  was  over  open  fields  and 
exposed  slopes.  A  short  halt  for  rest  and  water  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  resolute  advance;  and  a  terrific  conflict,  lasting 
an  hour  and  thirty-seven  minutes,  by  utter  defeat  to  the 
enemy. 

On  the  road  to  the  left,  General  Osterhaus,  with  the  Forty- 
Ninth  Indiana  deployed  as  skirmishers,  encountered  pickets  at 
six  o'clock,  and  soon  came  in  front  of  heavy  hostile  lines.  The 
Forty-Ninth  charged  single-handed  on  a  battery  and  captured 
it.  General  Osterhaus,  delighted  with  its  valor,  assured  the 
regiment  in  his  broken  English,  as  he  withdrew  it  from  the 
front,  that  "  De  Forty- Nine  Indiana  Volunteers  was  de  best 
rechiment  in  his  division." 

As  he  endeavored  to  push  on,  he  replaced  the  Forty-Ninth 
by  the  One  Hundred  and  Twentieth  Ohio,  and  the  One 
Hundred  and  Twentieth  by  the  Sixty- Ninth  Indiana.  The 
last  lay  on  a  ridge,  somewhat  isolated,  at  three  in  the  after ' 
noon,  and  had  there  a  spirited  fight  with  an  attacking  force 
of  double  its  number.  During  a  cessation  of  the  combat, 
the  Sixty-Ninth  sang,  "Rally  round  the  Flag,  Boys."  At 
length,  reinforced  by  the  Forty- Ninth  and  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twentieth,  it  routed  the  opposing  force. 

Osterhaus'  column,  however,  was  too  light  for  the  force 
opposed  to  it,  and  though  he  fought  well,  he  made  little  ad 
vance  until  reinforced  by  a  brigade  from  Logan's  division. 
The  Twenty-Third  Indiana  was  in  Logan's  advance,  and 
engaged  the  enemy  as  soon  as  it  appeared  on  the  field. 


302  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  battle  of  Port  Gibson  continued  through  the  entire 
day,  and  was  exceedingly  wearisome,  as  much  on  account 
of  the  maneuvering  which  the  tactics  of  the  enemy  neces 
sitated,  as  because  of  the  severity  of  the  fight.  Many  men 
in  the  Twenty-Fourth  were  barefoot  and  could  not  walk 
without  difficulty.  They  had  been  supplied  with  shoes  at 
Helena,  but  had  already  worn  them  out.  Ill-fitted  as  it  was 
from  this  circumstance  to  move  rapidly,  the  regiment  was 
hurried  from  Hovey  to  Osterhaus,  and  from  Osterhaus  back 
to  Hovey,  crashing  through  cane,  and  at  one  time  supporting 
the  Twenty- Ninth  Wisconsin,  under  a  heavy  fire  from  a  con 
cealed  force. 

General  Burbridge  reached  the  ground  at  seven  in  the 
morning,  and  forming  in  the  rear  of  Hovey,  constituted  his 
reserve.  He  shifted  ground  rapidly,  as  weak  points  pre 
sented  themselves,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  advanced  to  the 
extreme  front  and  drove  the  enemy  from  the  last  hill  he 
attempted  to  hold.  At  night,  his  brigade  sank  down  ex 
hausted,  not  having  had  a  mouthful  of  food  since  the  previ 
ous  evening. 

Corporal  Richard  Curry,  who  fell  within  twenty  feet  of  the 
enemy,  vehemently  insisted  that  his  comrades,  as  they  pre 
pared  to  carry  him  from  the  field,  should  go  on  in  the  pur 
suit.  They  reluctantly  left  him,  for  he  was  dearly  beloved, 
and  returned  only  to  receive  his  dying  breath. 

The  troops  slept  on  their  arms.  In  the  morning  they  found 
their  front  clear,  the  Rebels  having  retreated  across  Bayou 
Pierre. 

Our  loss  in  the  battle  of  Port  Gibson  was  one  hundred 
and  thirty  killed,  seven  hundred  and  eighteen  wounded.  Of 
these  a  large  proportion  were  Indianians.  The  Eighth  lost 
thirty-two;  the  Eleventh,  twenty-five;  the  Twenty-Third, 
twenty-five;  the  Twenty-Fourth,  twenty-three;  the  Eight 
eenth,  ninety-eight,  or  one-fifth  of  the  regiment;  the  Sixty- 
Ninth,  seventy-one;  the  Forty- Sixth,  forty-three.  The  num 
ber  who  fell  in  the  Thirty- Fourth,  Forty-Seventh  and  Forty- 
Ninth  is  unknown. 

Hovey's  division  suffered  a  loss  of  three  hundred  and  eight. 
It  captured  four  hundred  prisoners  and  four  guns.  The  whole 


VICTORY  OF  PORT  GIBSON.  303 

number  captured  was  five  hundred  and  eighty  men,  with  six 
guns  and  four  flags. 

General  Grant  had  nineteen  thousand  men  enqa^ed.     The 

O      O 

Confederates  had  not  eight  thousand,  until  in  the  afternoon 
they  received  reinforcements  from  Vicksburg.  Their  posi 
tions,  however,  were  exceedingly  strong. 

Our  men  treated  the  terrified  prisoners  with  great  kind 
ness.  A  private  of  the  Eighteenth,  conducting  his  captive 
to  the  rear,  where  he  might  be  secure  from  the  Rebel  fire,  was 
met  by  a  soldier  who  commenced  heaping  opprobious  epi 
thets  on  the  prisoner.  Greatly  incensed,  the  captor  lay  down 
his  gun  and  stripped  off  his  blouse,  saying  that  the  prisoner 
was  under  his  protection  and  should  not  rely  upon  him  in 
vain,  and  that  all  communications  to  him  must  pass  through 
the  proper  military  channel.  The  soldier  who  had  begun  the 
abuse  was  a  generous  fellow  at  heart,  though  thoughtless, 
and  he  turned  away  and  hurried  to  the  front,  leaving  the 
Rebel  to  thank  his  captor  for  a  lesson  of  generosity  of  which 
his  own  experience  had  not  furnished  many  examples. 

The  conduct  of  the  Indiana  troops  in  the  battle  of  Port 
Gibson  received  high  commendation.  "  Indiana  continues  to 
be  glorified  in  her  sons,"  said  General  Carr  in  his  report. 
"During  the  whole  time,"  said  General  Slack,  "the  Forty- 
Seventh  Indiana,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
John  A.  McLaughlin,  was  hotly  engaged.  It  repulsed  the 
Rebels  at  every  effort,  driving  them  back  with  great  slaugh 
ter."  Colonel  Bringhurst  says :  "  I  need  not  say  that  the 
Forty- Sixth  behaved  gallantly." 

In  the  "  Soldiers  Home,"  where  the  crippled  and  the  feeble, 
in  these  days  of  peace,  sit  in  the  shade  and  "fight  their  bat 
tles  o'er  again,"  Private  Shinn,  of  the  Twenty-Fourth,  re 
counting  one  day  the  story  of  the  Port  Gibson  fight,  said: 
"When  it  was  all  over,  Colonel  Spicely  shook  hands  with 
every  man  in  his  regiment."  He  added,  in  a  tone  full  of 
feeling,  "  If  a  man  couldn't  fight  under  such  a  Colonel,  ho 
couldn't  fight  at  all!"  A  blind  soldier  of  the  Thirty-Fourth, 
who  was  listening,  repeated  in  the  same  tone,  "  If  a  man 
couldn't  fight  under  such  a  Colonel,  he  couldn't  fight  at  all!" 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  second,  Me  demand's  troops 


304  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

pushed  on  two  miles  and  entered  Port  Gibson,  finding  it 
evacuated.  The  enemy  had  retreated  across  Bayou  Pierre, 
and  burnt  the  bridge  over  the  South  fork.  A  heavy  detail 
rebuilt  the  bridge,  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
long,  tearing  down  houses  for  timber,  and  working  with  great 
rapidity,  though  waist  deep  in  water.  Meanwhile,  McPher- 
son  effected  a  crossing  and  continued  the  pursuit,  reaching 
the  bridge  over  the  North  fork  in  time  to  extinguish  the  flames 
and  save  all  but  the  planks,  which  were  soon  relaid,  pressing 
oa  to  Hankinson's  ferry  on  the  Big  Black,  fifteen  miles  from 
Port  Gibson,  and  taking  several  hundred  prisoners.  The  en 
emy  fell  back  with  great  reluctance  through  a  country  that 
afforded  him  every  advantage. 

General  Grant  rode  in  person  to  Grand  Gulf  on  the  third, 
finding  that  post  also  evacuated  by  the  Rebels,  and  the  naval 
force  in  possession.  Thirteen  heavy  guns,  which  it  had  been 
impossible  for  the  enemy  to  withdraw,  fell  into  his  hands. 
He  now  set  himself  to  the  task  of  gathering  up  his  strength 
for  further  progress.  Since  leaving  Milliken's  Bend  his  army 
had  marched  by  night  and  by  day,  through  mud  and  rain 
and  burning  heat.  Since  leaving  Bruinsburg  it  had  been 
constantly  engaged  in  battle  or  in  skirmishing.  But  it  had 
not  murmured  nor  straggled,  it  was  now  nearly  thirty  thou 
sand  strong,  with  the  prospect  of  the  early  addition  of  Sher 
man's  corps,  and  it  had  gained  that  for  which  it  had  been 
five  months  ineffectually  struggling,  a  foothold  in  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg.  Grierson's  raid  had  done  all  that  was  desired  in 
distracting  the  attention  of  the  enemy.  Sherman's  feint  had 
accomplished  its  purpose. 

Thus  far  the  prospect  was  inexpressibly  encouraging.  But 
it  had  a  very  dark  side.  General  Pemberton  was  in  Vicks 
burg  and  along  the  Vicksburg  and  Jackson  railroad  with 
fifty-two  thousand  men.  General  Johnston  was  on  his  way  to 
Jackson,  where  reinforcements  were  constantly  arriving  from 
the  south  and  collecting  from  the  north  and  east.  If  Grant 
met  these  forces  united,they  might  easily  overwhelm  him;  if 
he  succeeded  in  striking  one  separate,  the  disengaged  force 
could  cut  his  line  of  communication  with  the  Mississippi. 
President  Lincoln  disapproved,  and  General  Halleck  was  op- 


THE  SITUATION.  305 

posed,  both  desiring  that  he  should  turn  his  efforts  against 
•Port  Hudson.  His  subordinate  officers  were  full  of  doubt  and 
misgiving.  Sherman,  one  of  the  most  daring,  had  offered  an 
earnest  remonstrance  before  the  expedition  started  from  Mil- 
liken's  Bend,  and  his  views  remained  unchanged. 

It  maybe  supposed  that  General  Grant  weighed  the  ques 
tion  well.  It  is  certain  that  he  was  resolute  in  his  determin 
ation  to  advance.  He  was  rapid  in  his  preparations.  Mean 
time,  the  army  lay  on  the  Big  Black,  with  the  exception  of 
strong  reconnoitring  parties  which  pushed  out  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  within  six  miles  of  Vicksburg. 

The  following  letter  was  written  on  the  eighth  of  May  by 
Colonel  Bringhurst  of  the  Forty-Sixth: 

"  Hovey's  division  is  encamped  on  the  Vicksburg  road,  sev 
enteen  miles  from  that  city,  and  about  twenty-five  from 
Grand  Gulf.  The  Big  Black  is  but  two  miles  from  us,  and 
the  Rebel  line  the  other  side  watching  our  movements,  un 
decided  yet  where  the  blow  will  fall.  There  are  no  bridges 
over  the  river,  but  we  have  with  us  a  pontoon  train  for  each 
corps,  and  a  crossing  can  be  made  at  any  point  and  at  any 
moment. 

"We  have  made  two  stops,  at  both  of  which  a  great 
abundance  of  fresh  meat,  corn  meal,  and  considerable  quan 
tities  of  bacon  have  been  gathered.  Considerable  license  has 
been  given  the  men,  and  the  plantations  on  the  route  and 
near  it  have  been  levied  upon  pretty  heavily.  As  a  rule  all 
live  stock  is  taken.  When  they  have  time,  proprietors  run 
their  negroes  off;  but  as  this  country  has  been  one  of  the 
depots  for  negroes,  it  is  a  difficult  >matter  to  move  them 
again.  The  blacks  are  highly  elated  at  the  Yankee  irrup 
tion.  The  event  so  long  predicted  by  rival  politicians,  the 
grand  march  of  Abolitionists  through  the  South,  and  the  lib 
eration  of  slaves,  was  looked  forward  to  by  them  with  full 
faith.  Their  simplicity  led  them  to  hope  and  look  for  what, 
to  the  whites,  was  a  mere  prediction  and  threat  thrown  out 
for  partisan  purposes.  The  boom  of  cannon  and  the  rattle 
of  musketry  at  Magnolia  startled  both  white  and  black. 

"  The  Northern  army,  bringing  destruction  to  the  houses 
20 


306  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  abolition  to  the  dearest  interests  of  the  whites,  knocked 
not  at  the  doors  of  their  houses,  but  at  the  hearts  of  their 
people,  and  the  time  had  come  for  them  to  reap  the  full  fruits 
of  the  folly  of  their  section,  and  to  witness  the  realization  of 
the  wildest  prediction  of  the  most  visionary. 

"  We  hear  that  our  wagons,  with  a  portion  of  the  baggage 
left  behind,  are  on  the  road  this  side  of  the  river.  No  cloth 
ing  or  camp  equipage  has  yet  arrived.  Upon  the  whole  trip 
up  to  the  present,  men  and  officers  have  had  nothing  but 
what  they  carried.  Many  brought  their  knapsacks  along, 
but  threw  them  away  on  the  battle  field.  To-day  officers 
and  men  have  given  way  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances, 
and  are  washing  their  clothes.  The  bushes  and  fences  show 
what  might  be  called  a  'big  wash.'  Having  no  change, 
the  proprietors  of  the  clean  clothes  are  sitting  about  in  ele 
gant  undress.  The  more  modest  have  either  gone  to  bed  or 
sport  a  poncho,  (the  rubber  blanket  with  a  head-hole,)  and 
step  around  with  these  black  mantles,  carefully  avoiding 
thorns  and  sharp  seats,  while  the  more  ardent  and  restless, 
regardless  of  their  style  of  clothing,  are  only  careful  to  keep 
it  well  exposed  to  the  sun. 

"  Three  days  ago  three  wagons,  with  five  yoke  of  oxen,  a 
fine  carriage  and  a  wagon,  with  two  pairs  of  rnules,  were 
taken  possession  of,  and  used  to  haul  the  sick  and  the  prop 
erty  of  the  regiment.  The  health  of  the  regiment  is  good. 
Rough  fare,  after  all,  is  the  most  wholesome." 

On  the  eighth  Steele's  and  Tuttle's  divisions  of  Sherman's 
corps  arrived.  The  army  immediately  began  to  move  out. 
On  the  eleventh  all  preliminaries  were  consummated,  and 
Grant  solved  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties,  the  question  of 
defending  his  line  of  communication,  in  Alexander'^  style  of 
cutting  the  Gordian  knot.  He  swung  loose  from  his  base, 
and  being  supplied  with  hard  bread,  coffee  and  salt,  became 
dependent  on  the  country  for  other  rations.  To  prevent  the 
union  of  the  Rebel  forces,  he  directed  his  march  toward  the 
north-east.  Me  demand  had  the  right,  moving  on  a  ridge, 
McPherson  the  left,  hugging  the  Black,  and  Sherman  the 
rear,  following  on  both  roads.  In  Sherman's  corps  were  the 
Eighty-Third  and  Ninety-Third  Indiana. 


BATTLE  OP  RAYMOND.  307 

The  enemy  fell  back,  lightly  skirmishing,  until  the  twelfth, 
when,  two  miles  south  of  Raymond,  General  Gregg,  with 
artillery  and  infantry,  about  five  thousand  strong,  took  a  pos 
itive  stand.  His  artillery,  on  an  elevation,  commanded  the 
approach,  and  his  infantry  was  wholly  hidden  by  the  thick 
woods  bordering  a  small  stream. 

The  relative  position  of  Grant's  corps  had  changed,  and 
McPherson  was  now  on  the  right.  In  his  advance  was 
Logan,  and  in  Logan's  advance  was  the  Twenty-Third 
Indiana,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Davis. 
Logan  moved  briskly  to  meet  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  The 
fight  which  followed  was  severe.  It  lasted  two  hours  and  a 
half,  and  threatened  at  one  time  to  be  disastrous,  but  was,  in 
the  end,  a  complete  victory.  The  first  brigade  of  Crocker's 
division,  in  which  were  the  Forty-Eighth  and  Fifty-Ninth 
Indiana,  reached  the  ground  just  in  time  to  lend  wings  to  the 
already  flying  Rebels.  The  Forty-Eighth  took  position 
under  a  shower  of  shot  and  shell,  which  wounded  several, 
but  killed  none.  The  Twenty-Third  went  into  the  field  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  strong,  rank  and  file,  and  lost  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two,  eighteen  killed,  eighty-seven  wounded, 
and  twenty-seven  captured,  nevertheless  it  maintained  its 
place  in  the  line  of  battle.  The  entire  loss  was  four  hundred 
and  forty-two.  The  Rebels  lost  four  hundred  and  five,  killed 
and  wounded,  and  four  hundred  and  fifteen  captured.  Gen 
eral  Grant  called  the  battle  of  Raymond  one  of  the  hardest 
small  battles  of  the  war. 

Resting  that  night  in  Raymond,  McPherson  resumed  the 
march  early  the  next  morning,  through  Clinton,  and  destroy 
ing  the  railroad.  Sherman  advanced  at  the  same  time  on 
the  direct  road  from  Raymond.  Their  movements  were  so 
timed  as  to  enable  them  to  press  simultaneously  upon  Jack 
son  from  the  south-west.  On  the  fourteenth,  they  were 
marching  vigorously  in  the  midst  of  pouring  rain,  when  sev 
eral  pieces  of  artillery  advantageously  posted  gave  notice 
that  Jackson  was  not  to  be  tamely  surrendered.  The  First 
and  Second  brigades  of  Crocker's  division,  which  was  in 
McPherson's  advance,  immediately  took  position  distant 
about  one  mile  from  the  Rebel  line  of  battle.  The  Forty- 


308  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Eighth  was  posted  near  the  right  of  the  line,  in  a  cornfield. 
The  Fifty-Ninth  was  on  the  extreme  right.  Thick  and  fast 
came  shells  and  balls,  but,  as  for  the  most  part  they  passed 
harmless]y  over,  they  were  only  a  subject  of  merriment  to 
the  brave  men,  who  were  anxiously  awaiting  the  order  to 
advance.  Soon  it  came.  With  fixed  bayonets,  they  moved 
to  the  charge.  Drenched  to  the  skin  and  weary  with  march 
ing  over  miry  and  slippery  roads,  they  nevertheless  went  for 
ward  on  double-quick,  shout  answering  shout  throughout  the 
line.  Passing  over  one  hill,  they  rapidly  began  the  ascent  of 
another  on  which  the  enemy  was  posted,  dashing  to  the 
ground  fences  that  intervened,  and  never  flinching  under  a 
leaden  hail.  They  gained  the  heights.  The  enemy  broke 
and  fled.  They  pursued  into  Jackson.  The  skirmishers  of 
the  Fifty- Ninth  Indiana,  under  Captain  Simpson,  were  the 
first  to  enter  the  city,  and  the  tattered  flag  of  the  Fifty- 
Ninth  was  the  first  to  wave  above  the  capitol  of  Mississippi. 

The  same  night,  Sherman  reached  the  city,  having  broken 
the  force  before  him  by  pressing  both  the  front  and  the  left 
flank. 

McPherson's  loss  in  his  fight  before  Jackson  was  two 
hundred  and  sixty-five.  He  inflicted  a  loss  of  eight  hundred 
and  forty-five  upon  the  enemy,  seventeen  pieces  of  artillery 
and  a  large  amount  of  army  stores. 

General  Grant,  who  accompanied  Sherman  to  Jackson, 
faced  about  the  next  morning,  moving  McPherson's  corps 
along  the  line  of  the  railroad  toward  Edwards'  Station, 
which  is  half  way  between  Vicksburg  and  Jackson,  and  or 
dering  M'  demand,  who,  with  Blair's  division,  was  now  in 
the  vicinity  of  Raymond,  in  the  same  direction.  The  sud 
den  turn  was  due  to  intelligence  which  Grant  had  received 
that  General  Johnston  had,  on  the  day  of  his  retreat  from 
Jackson,  the  fourteenth,  ordered  Pemberton  to  move  with 
all  the  force  he  could  muster,  at  least  twenty-five  thousand 
men,  upon  Grant's  rear. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fifteenth,  Pemberton,  having  be 
come  aware  of  the  loss  of  Jackson  and  the  retreat  of  John 
ston,  and  having  already  freed  himself  of  encumbrances  by 
sending  his  train  back  to  Vicksburg,  took  up  an  immensely 


BATTLE  OP  CHAMPION  HILL.  309 

strong  position  a  few  miles  east  of  Edwards'  Station.  His 
line  was  about  four  miles  long.  His  left,  and  the  key  of  his 
position  was  on  Champion  Hill,  which  rises  sixty  or  seventy 
feet  above  the  surrounding  country.  Its  bald  top  afforded 
his  artillery  a  wide  sweep,  while  its  wooded  and  precipitous 
sides  threatened  to  hold  entangled  an  advancing  force. 

General  Grant  immediately  sent  back  for  Sherman,  whom 
he  had  left  in  Jackson  to  destroy  the  railroad  and  rolling 
stock,  in  order  to  prevent  the  possible  use  of  that  place 
in  the  future  for  the  concentration  of  forces  in  his  rear; 
he  ordered  McPherson,  who  was  moving  north  of  the  Vicks- 
burg  road  and  parallel  to  it,  and  M'  demand,  who  was  south 
east  with  Blair,  Carr  and  Osterhaus,  to  hasten  up;  and  di 
rected  Hovey,  who  was  sweeping  on  toward  the  enemy's 
centre,  and  not  far  from  it,  with  right  and  left  unprotected, 
to  hold  off.  McPherson  found  no  difficulty  in  carrying  his 
order  into  effect.  M' demand  met  with  some  detention. 
Hovey  was  already  and  inevitably  within  the  outer  limits  of 
the  maelstrom  of  battle. 

It  was  about  nine  in  the  morning,  and  while  his  skirmish 
ers  were  engaged  with  the  enemy's  pickets,  that  Hovey 
formed  his  line,  McGinniss  on  his  right,  Slack  on  his  left. 
The  skirmishers  gradually  drew  together;  their  firing,  from 
being  warm  at  intervals,  became  incessant.  It  was  necessa 
rily  supported  by  the  masses  on  either  side.  Against  Hovey 
were  two  or  three  times  his  number,  yet  he  persisted  in 
crossing  two  cornfields,  and  in  ascending  an  open  slope,  and 
he  succeeded  in  pushing  the  rebels  from  their  first  line  of 
protecting  woods.  He  was  nobly  seconded  by  his  subordi 
nate  officers,  as  they  were  by  their  men.  Seldom,  perhaps 
never,  was  a  battle  more  earnestly  fought.  Vicksburg,  so 
long  striven  for,  was  understood  to  hang  in  the  balance  of 
this  day,  as  it  was  the  garrison  of  the  city  which  contested 
the  field.  Three  batteries  were  captured, — the  Eleventh  In 
diana,  and  the  Twenty-ninth  Wisconsin,  with  a  desperate 
struggle  taking  one,  and  the  Forty- Sixth  assisting  in  the 
capture  of  one. 

McPherson,  shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  contest, 
reached  the  ground.  He  advanced  one  brigade  after  an- 


310  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

other  of  Crocker's  division  to  Hovey's  support,  while  with 
Logan's  division  he  fell  upon  the  enemy's  left  and  threatened 
his  rear.  If  Carr,  Osterhaus  and  Blair  had  come  up  on  the 
right,  according  to  orders,  Hovey  would  not  have  found  the 
pressure  on  his  front  more  than  he  was  able  to  bear.  Even 
without  them  he  stood  and  withstood,  bravely  advancing 
and  skillfully  retreating,  until  the  sun,  in  the  east  when  the 
battle  was  joined,  declined  toward  the  western  horizon. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Swain,  of  the  Thirty-Fourth  Indiana, 
fell  mortally  wounded,  and  with  Colonel  Macauley,  who 
was  dangerously  wounded,  was  carried  from  the  field. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Barter  of  the  Twenty-Fourth,  seizing 
the  falling  colors  of  his  regiment,  was  shot  in  his  right  arm. 

Lieutenant  Perry,  of  the  Forty-Seventh,  with  his  com 
pany  in  the  hottest  fire  in  a  position  he  was  ordered  to  hold, 
was  advised  by  a  comrade  to  avail  himself  of  shelter  imme 
diately  in  his  rear,  "  No,  sir,"  said  the  Lieutenant,  "the  Forty- 
Seventh  never  gives  back  an  inch."  The  words  were  scarcely 
out  of  his  mouth,  when  he  was  shot  through  the  heart.  Men 
are  said  to  be  incapable  of  grief  in  the  whirl  of  battle,  yet 
two  were  seen  to  weep  bitterly  over  Perry.  Lieutenant 
Cole  sprang  to  the  front  to  rally  the  company,  but  sank  al 
most  immediately  beside  his  predecessor,  fatally  wounded. 

David  Hill,  the  color-bearer  of  the  Eleventh,  stood  with  his 
staff  planted  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  while  five  of  his 
guard  fell — Brown,  Shell  and  Hollis  dead,  Hollingsworth  and 
Matthews  dangerously  wounded. 

Joseph  Fitch,  of  the  same  regiment,  wrenched  a  Rebel  flag 
from  its  bearer. 

Sergeant  Ford,  of>the  Fifty-Ninth,  captured  the  colors  of 
the  Forty- Sixth  Alabama. 

Captain  Schaubel  and  Lieutenant  Baldwin,  of  the  Forty- 
Eighth,  were  severely  wounded  and  were  borne  away,  regret 
ting  only  that  they  could  not  continue  in  the  conflict.  It  is 
said  of  the  Forty-Eighth  regiment,  that  "Colonel  Eddy's 
bearing  added  to  the  native  heroism  of  the  men  under  his 
command,  and  that  officers  and  men  throughout  seemed  to 
vie  with  each  other  in  the  manifestation  of  the  soldier's 
shining  virtue, — bravery  in  battle." 


VICTORY  OF  CHAMPION  HILL.  311 

Surgeon  Williamson,  of  the  Twenty- Fourth,  was  unortally 
wounded  while  in  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty. 

When  out  of  ammunition,  the  men  of  several  regiments 
in  Slack's  and  McGinnis'  brigades  supplied  themselves  from 
the  cartridge  boxes  of  their  dead  and  wounded  comrades. 

It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  the  brave  deeds  which  were 
done,  or  the  brave  men  who  fell.  Men  and  officers  all,  and 
equally,  did  their  duty. 

Hovey's  troops  swayed,  rising  and  falling  like  a  sea  lashing 
the  shore;  receding  at  last,  though  temporarily,  before  over 
powering  force,  and  leaving  the  captured  guns  spiked  behind. 
Hovey  turned  his  backward  movement  to  the  best  account, 
to  triumph,  indeed,  by  massing  his  artillery  on  high  ground 
at  his  right,  and  raining  on  the  rushing  Rebels  an  enfilading 
fire.  The  advancing  host  wras  checked.  One  more  charge 
was  made  upon  it.  Exultant  cheers  proclaimed  the  success 
of  that  last  desperate  onset,  and  the  proud  delight  of  the  vic 
tors.  Then  they  were  withdrawn.  Hovey  rode  along  their 
thinned  and  broken  ranks  as  they  rested.  He  stopped  in 
front  of  his  old  regiment,  the  Twenty-Fourth,  missing  many 
a  familiar  face.  "  Where  are  the  rest  of  my  boys?"  "  They 
are  lying  over  there,"  replied  the  men  to  whom  he  spoke, 
pointing  to  the  hollow  across  which  the  division  had  rushed 
forth  and  back  according  as  it  drove  or  was  driven,  and  had 
at  last  made  the  decisive  charge.  General  Hovey  turned  his 
horse  and  rode  away  weeping. 

The  Rebel  retreat  was  hastened  into  flight  by  the  timely 
though  hard  won  success  of  McPherson,  who,  charging 
through  ravines  and  over  hills,  gained  the  road  in  the  rear  of 
Pemberton's  left,  and  threatened  to  cut  him  off  from  Vicks- 
burg.  As  it  was,  he  separated  General  Loring's  command 
from  the  main  force  and  sent  it  on  a  wide  march  round  the 
Union  army  to  Jackson. 

Carr's  and  Osterhaus'  divisions  of  McClernand's  corps, 
newly  arrived  and  waiting  on  the  Raymond  road  for  orders, 
advanced  as  soon  as  the  Confederates  turned  to  retreat,  and 
chased  them  as  fast  as  the  men  could  run  until  after  dark. 

The  battle  of  Champion  Hill  was  the  hardest  fought  bat- 


312  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tie  of  the  campaign,  and  the  most  important,  as  it  definitely 
and  forever  separated  the  forces  of  Pernberton  and  Johnston. 

Hovey's  division  bore  the  brunt  of  the  fighting,  and  suf 
fered  nearly  half  the  entire  loss,  losing  twelve  hundred  and 
two  men,  or  one*from  every  three,  and  fifty-nine  officers.  The 
same  division  captured  seven  hundred  men  and  three  batteries. 

The  Indiana  loss  was  as  follows : 

The  Eleventh,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven,  twenty-eight 
of  whom  were  killed;  Twenty-Fourth,  two  hundred  and 
two ;  several  companies  in  the  Eleventh  and  Twenty-Fourth 
lost  more  than  half;  Thirty-Fourth,  seventy-nine;  Forty- 
Seventh,  one  hundred  and  forty-two;  Forty-Eighth,  thirty- 
three;  Fifty-Ninth,  eight;  Twenty-Third,  eighteen.  The 
Forty-Sixth  took  into  action  but  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  of  whom  it  lost  eighty-four  in  killed  and  wounded. 
The  flag  of  this  regiment  was  riddled  with  balls. 

Several  of  the  Sixteenth  and  Sixty-Ninth  were  wounded 
in  the  pursuit. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Darnall  had  command  of  the  Eleventh 
after  Macauley  was  carried  from  the  field.  Spicely,  Came 
ron,  Bringhurst  and  McLaughlin  were  all  unhurt,  although 
under  the  hottest  of  the  fire  from  three  to  five  hours. 

Grant  had  about  fifteen  thousand  men  engaged  in  the  bat 
tle,  and  Pemberton  had  nearly  twenty-five  thousand. 

In  the  flight  Pemberton's  troops  were  scattered  and  de 
moralized,  and  Grant's  pursuing  force  was  superior  in  num 
ber  as  well  as  in  spirit.  McPherson's  corps  and  Carr's  and 
Osterhaus'  divisions  pushed  on  until  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening. 

Hovey's  tired  heroes  slept  on  the  bloody  field. 

Shortly  after  daylight  the  next  morning,  the  seventeenth, 
the  enemy  was  found  posted  for  resistance,  his  main  force 
west  of  the  Big  Black,  on  a  high  bluff,  and  a  brigade  on  the 
east,  behind  earthworks  along  a  semi-circular  bayou,  which 
flows  into  the  river  shortly  after  flowing  out.  Carr's  division 
led  Me  demand's  corps,  Benton's  brigade  was  in  advance  of 
Carr,  and  the  Eighth  Indiana  was  at  the  head  of  the  brigade. 
There  were  no  ravines  to  give  shelter  to  sharpshooters,  but 
thick  groves,  of  which  the  Rebels  took  advantage,  falling 


BATTLE  OF  BLACK  RIVER  BRIDGE.  313 

back,  however,  behind  their  bayou  and  steadily  awaiting  an 
onset  there.  It  came  sooner  than  they  could  have  expected, 
and  with  irresistible  impetus.  While  Carr's  front  kept  up  a 
regular  fire,  artillery  pouring  in  rapid  volleys,  his  right  brig 
ade,  Lawler's,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  its  men  falling  by 
the  way  without  checking  its  sweep,  reached  the  bayou, 
plunged  into  the  stagnant  water,  went  at  the  Rebels  with 
fixed  bayonets,  and  forced  them  to  surrender  or  fly.  The 
Rebel  officers  ordered,  exhorted  and  threatened  to  no  purpose. 

"Bigger  guns  than  that  back  there!"  roared  a  Rebel  soldier 
to  a  staff  officer  who  presented  his  pistol. 

The  panic-stricken  fugitives,  who  first  gained  a  footing  on 
the  further  side,  fired  the  railroad  bridge,  and  a  hastily  con 
structed  bridge  of  steamboats.  Officers  and  men,  less  fortu 
nate,  sprang  pell  mell  into  the  stream,  large  numbers  sinking 
to  rise  no  more.  A  whole  brigade  surrendered  in  the  trenches. 
In  all  fifteen  hundred  men  surrendered,  with  eighteen  guns, 
and  several  thousand  stand  of  arms. 

General  Grant's  entire  loss  in  the  Black  river  bridge  fight 
was  two  hundred  and  seventy-one. 

From  Bruinsburg  to  Black  river  General  Hovey's  division 
lost  more  men  and  took  more  prisoners  and  material  of  war 
than  any  other  division.  Its  captures  almost  equaled  those 
of  all  the  rest  of  the  army,  as  did  also  its  losses. 

To  ascertain  whether  the  river  was  passable  four  bold  fel 
lows  from  the  Eighth  plunged  in,  and  swam  across  under  a 
shower  of  bullets.  The  fire  of  their  comrades  protected  their 
return. 

Floating  bridges  were  built  during  the  night.     McCler- 

O  O  O  O 

nand  and  McPherson  pushed  on  the  next  day,  meeting  no 
resistance,  finding  constant  proofs  of  the  demoralization  of 
the  enemy,  and  hoping  to  enter  Vicksburg  with  him,  or  close 
after  him. 

Meantime  Sherman,  having  struck  out  to  the  right,  crossed 
the  Big  Black  at  Bridgeport  on  a  pontoon,  and  marched 
toward  the  Yazoo.  At  noon  he  stood  on  the  very  bluff 
which  had  so  terribly  repulsed  him  six  months  before,  and 
seeing,  for  the  first  time,  the  wisdom  of  General  Grant's  plan, 


314  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

acknowledged  it  "This  is  a  campaign,"  he  declared,  "this 
is  a  success  if  we  never  take  the  town." 

General  Grant,  who  was  at  his  side,  made  no  reply,  as 
free  from  elation  now  as  he  was  from  despondency  in  the 
dreary  months  of  the  past. 

A  fine  though  somewhat  cynical  observer  of  human  nature 
asserts,  through  one  of  the  characters  of  his  imagination,  a 
soldier  of  the  time  of  Queen  Anne,  that,  "One  of  the  great 
est  of  a  great  man's  qualities  is  success;  'tis  the  result  of  all 
the  others;  'tis  a  latent  power  in  him  which  compels  the  favor 
of  the  gods,  and  subjugates  fortune."  From  the  brain  of 
him  who,  above  all  others  in  the  army,  was  "patient  of  toil, 
serene  amidst  alarms,"  now  came  forth  this  latent  power. 

"Thou,  only  thou,  didst  wring  from  churlish  fate 
The  prize  at  which  thy  comrades  vainly  caught; 
Stood  in  the  field  when  all  the  fight  was  fought, 
Alone,  unpeered,  self-balanced,  modest,  great!" 


FIRST  ASSAULT  ON  VICKSBURG.  315 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

VICKSBURG  AND  JACKSON. 

"Till  we  called 

Both  field  and  city  ours,  we  never  stood 
To  ease  our  breasts  with  panting." — Coriolanus. 

The  army  was  not  able  to  press  into  Vicksburg  on  the 
heels  of  the  retiring  enemy;  but  by  the  nineteenth  of  May  it 
as  nearly  invested  the  city  as  its  strength  would  permit, 
Sherman's  corps  lying  on  the  right,  McPherson's  in  the  centre 
and  McClernand's  on  the  left. 

Allowing  no  time  for  the  recuperation  of  Pemberton,  or 
for  the  advance  of  Johnston,  who,  with  large  reinforcements, 
was  close  at  hand,  General  Grant,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon,  moved  to  a  general  assault.  His  left  and  centre  suc 
ceeded  simply  in  getting  good  positions  nearer  the  works 
with  little  loss.  Sherman  engaged  in  severe  battle,  Blair's 
division  struggled  under  fire  through  rugged  ravines,  which 
were  choked  with  standing  and  felled  timber,  and  three  of 
his  regiments,  one  of  which  was  the  Eighty-Third  Indiana, 
gained  the  exterior  slope  of  the  Rebel  earthworks  only  to  be 
withdrawn  at  night. 

During  twenty  days,  the  troops  had  but  five  days  rations, 
and  the  gleanings  of  the  country.  They  now  received  sup 
plies  which  Admiral  Porter  brought  up  the  Yazoo  and 
landed  near  Haines'  bluff. 

Neither  General  Grant  nor  his  army  was  willing  to  sit  down 
to  the  regular  and  tedious  approaches  of  a  siege,  until  another 
assault  had  been  attempted.  His  soldiers,  it  is  said,  "felt  as 
if  they  could  march  straight  through  Vicksburg  and  up  to 
their  waists  in  the  Mississippi  without  resistance."  Accord 
ingly,  roads  were  constructed,  cannon  were  planted  and  all 
necessary  preparations  were  rapidly  made.  The  hour  was 


316  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

set  at  ten  in  the  forenoon  of  Friday,  the  twenty-second.  Or 
ders  were  given  for  columns  of  attack  to  advance  with  fixed 
bayonets,  and  without  firing  a  gun  till  they  had  stormed  the 
outer  works. 

During  Thursday  night  and  until  nearly  noon  of  Friday, 
Admiral  Porter  kept  six  mortars  firing  into  the  city,  and  much 
of  the  time  engaged  the  batteries  along  the  river  with  his 
gunboats.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  all  the  batteries 
of  the  besiegers  opened,  and  a  tremendous  cannonade  began. 
Fire  girdled  and  lashed  the  city.  Smoke  hovered  over  and 
dropped  down  upon  it.  Unbroken,  overwhelming  roars  shook 
it  to  its  centre,  and  rocked  hills  and  waters. 

At  ten  the  cannonade  ceased;  a  sixty-four  pounder  pealed 
forth  a  signal;  the  troops  on  right,  left  and  centre  moved 
with  stern  faces  and  swift  steps  from  under  cover  toward 
redoubts,  bastions,  pits  and  forts  in  which  the  Rebels  were 
well  sheltered  and  were  keenly  on  the  alert.  Steele,  on 
Sherman's  right  and  resting  upon  the  Mississippi,  rose  over 
hills  and  plunged  into  gullies,  advancing  with  desperate  fight 
ing.  Sharpshooters  skirmished  in  front  of  Blair's  division, 
which  was  a  half  mile  to  the  left  of  Steele's;  a  storming 
party, — a  forlorn  hope, — carried  rails  to  bridge  the  ditch; 
Ewing's  brigade,  Giles  Smith's  and  Kilby  Smith's  followed, 
and  for  a  little  while,  under  the  partial  shelter  of  the  road 
and  the  protection  of  five  batteries,  which  concentrated  their 
fire  on  a  bastion  commanding  the  approach,  made  rapid  pro 
gress.  Suddenly  the  head  of  the  column  came  under  a  ter 
rific  fire  and  was  fairly  beaten  down.  But  Ewing's  brigade 
pressed  on,  crossed  the  ditch,  climbed  the  outer  slope  of  a 
bastion  which  commanded  the  approach,  and  set  its  colors 
on  the  outside  of  the  parapet.  Giles  Smith's  brigade  swerved 
to  the  left,  and  finding  or  making  cover,  formed  line  three 
hundred  yards  to  the  left  of  the  bastion.  Kilby  Smith  also 
found  a  good  position  and  fired  on  every  head  peering  above 
the  parapet.  Giles  Smith,  with  Ransom,  of  McPherson's 
corps,  attempted  at  last  to  storm  the  parapet.  They  were 
repulsed  with  fearful  loss. 

Of  McPherson's  corps,  Ransom  had  the  right,  in  ravines, 
Logan  was  in  the  centre,  on  the  main  Jackson  road,  and 


SECOND  ASSAULT  ON  VICKSBURG.          317 

Quimby  had  the  left,  also  in  ravines.  Their  assault  was  not 
less  daring,  nor  bloody,  nor  vain. 

A.  J.  Smith  was  on  Quimby's  left.  Carr  joined  Smith's 
left.  Osterhaus  was  next,  Hovey  was  still  further  to  the  left, 
Me  demand's  advance  was  comparatively  steady  and  con 
tinuous,  but  not  the  less  was  it  also  a  bloody  failure. 

Lawler's  and  Landrum's  brigades,  at  the  first  rush  carried 
ditch,  slope  and  bastion,  a  dozen  men  even  gaining  the  inte 
rior  of  one  of  the  forts. 

Burbridge  wound  along  a  hollow,  up  a  ridge,  crossed  the 
ditch  and  climbed  the  slope  of  a  strong  earthwork,  planting 
his  colors  on  the  left  and  standing  side  by  side  with  Benton. 

General  Benton,  on  the  extreme  right  of  Me  demand's 
corps,  and  on  the  right  of  the  Jackson  railroad,  marched  to 
the  attack  with  steady  tread  and  compressed  lips. 

His  regiments,  the  Eighteenth  in  reserve,  moved  by  the 
flank  along  a  hollow,  which  ran  directly  to  the  fort.  When 
about  half  way  up  they  turned  and  passed  over  the  ridge  on 
the  left,  receiving  a  killing  fire  of  musketry  and  cannister. 
"  Come  on,  my  brave  Thirty-Third,  I  will  lead  you!"  shouted 
Colonel  Shunk,  as  he  saw  the  field  officers  of  the  Thirty- 
Third  Illinois  had  fallen  and  that  the  regiment  was  without 
a  leader.  At  the  word  the  faltering  Thirty-Third  sprang  for 
ward,  and  with  the  Eighth  came  within  fifty  yards  of  the  fort. 

Scarcely  ten  minutes  from  the  moment  of  starting  had 
elapsed  when  the  Eighteenth  was  ordered  in  advance.  The 
men  pressed  forward  with  bounding  steps,  turning  neither  to 
the  right  nor  left,  and  proudly  bearing  the  battle-flag  from 
height  to  height.  The  gallant  Washburn  led  directly  to  the 
fort,  from  whose  embrasures  torrents  of  death  poured,  and 
over  whose  ramparts  a  serried  line  of  bayonets  glittered. 
Fifty  men  on  the  right  of  the  regiment  rushed  into  the  deep, 
wide  ditch,  while  the  remainder  crowded  up  to  its  edge,  Ser 
geant  Francis  M.  Voss  planting  the  colors  there.  Over  the 
ramparts  and  into  the  embrasures  they  poured  an  incessant 
fire.  The  fort  was  silenced. 

Meanwhile,  the  fifty  men  in  the  ditch  found  they  could  get 
out  on  neither  side,  and  wrote  a  line  to  that  effect,  wrapping 
the  paper  round  a  lump  of  earth  and  throwing  it  over  to 


318  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

their  comrades.  An  answer  was  written  on  the  same  paper 
and  thrown  back,  while  a  trench  into  the  ditch  was  com 
menced  as  soon  as  the  tools  could  be  obtained.  A  third  line 
was  added  by  the  men  in  the  ditch,  with  the  intelligence  that 
they  were  making  steps  with  their  bayonets,  by  which  they 
could  effect  an  escape,  and  again  the  paper  was  thrown  up. 
It  fell  at  the  feet  of  a  man  who  was  unaware  of  the  previous 
communication.  Supposing  it  to  be  a  taunt  from  the  fort, 
he  instantly  hurled  it  over  to  the  Rebels.  Soon  round  shells 
with  lighted  fuses,  rolled  from  the  top  of  the  fort  into  the 
ditch,  announced  that  the  Rebels  had  read  the  dispatches. 
But  fortunately  the  bayonet  steps  were  completed,  and  the 
men  were  already  clambering  out. 

To  the  joy  of  Benton  and  Burbridge,  Crocker,  with  two 
brigades,  came  to  their  relief  shortly  before  dark,  marching 
directly  in  the  face  and  fire  of  the  enemy  and  over  multi 
tudes  of  dead  and  dying.  But  the  Rebels,  relieved  at  other 
points,  had  massed  their  forces  here,  and  all  that  could  be 
done  was  to  guard  against  a  charge  by  digging  a  rifle-pit 
across  the  road,  running  round  the  right  of  the  fort;  by 
keeping  up  an  incessant  fire  till  darkness  would  give  an  op 
portunity  to  retire.  A  piece  of  artillery  was  dragged  up  the 
hollow  by  a  long  rope,  and  planted  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
large  embrasure  in  the  corner  of  the  fort,  into  which  it  hurled 
shell  after  shell.  The  Rebels,  much  annoyed,  rolled  a  bale 
of  cotton  into  the  embrasure.  The  Eighteenth  set  the  cotton 
on  fire,  by  sending  with  each  ball  a  wad  of  tow,  with  which 
almost  every  man  had  provided  himself  from  the  artillery 
cartridge  boxes  for  the  purpose  of  wiping  out  his  gun.  The 
bale  was  rolled  away,  and  the  interior  of  the  fort  again  ex 
posed. 

Meantime,  in  a  renewed  assault  made  by  the  centre  and 
right  to  distract  the  forces  concentrating  on  M'Clernard, 
Steele  was  severely  repulsed,  although  not  driven  from  the 
hillside  beneath  the  Rebel  parapet;  Tuttle  succeeded  in 
placing  his  colors  on  the  works  in  a  line  with  Blair,  and 
McPherson  could  make  no  progress.  On  the  extreme  left, 
Osterhaus  and  Hovey  assaulted,  and  were  repulsed. 

Never  was  night,  and  never  were  clouds  and  rain  more 


BROTHERS  IN  ARMS.  319 

welcome.     Under  their  friendly  cover  and  coolness,  the  as 
sailants    slowly   withdrew,   leaving    nearly   three    thousand 
wounded  and  dead,-who  could  not  be  carried  from  the  field. 
The   Eighth    Indiana   lost    one    hundred    and    seventeen. 

o 

Among  its  slain  were  three  Captains — O'Daniels,  Wysong 
and  Vandevender.  Corporal  John  Swaffbrd,  who  was 
slightly  wounded  at  Port  Gibson,  while  carrying  the  flag, 
was  here  mortally  wounded.  As  he  fell,  Sergeant  Samuel 
Webb  grasped  the  colors  and  planted  them  on  the  ramparts 
of  the  fort. 

Major  John  C.  Jencks,  of  the  Eighteenth,  acting  as  chief 
of  Benton's  staff,  while  waving  his  sword  and  cheering  his 
comrades  onward,  received  a  rifle-shot  in  the  thigh,  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  died  a  few  days  afterward,  regretted  by 
all  for  his  excellence  as  an  officer  and  a  man. 

The  Sixty-Ninth  lost  nineteen.  Major  John  PL  Finley 
and  Lieutenant  Henry  Stratton  were  mortally  wounded. 

The  Sixty-Seventh  lost  fifty-two. 

The  Fifty-Ninth,  which  was  attached  to  Boomer's  brigade 
until  Crocker  moved  to  the  relief  of  Burbridge  and  Benton, 
lost  one  hundred  and  thirteen. 

On  Sunday  afternoon  following  the  assault,  the  enemy, 
by  flag  of  truce,  having  agreed  to  the  burial  of  the  dead,  a 
burial  party  found  on  the  field  two  privates  of  the  Eight 
eenth  Indiana — one,  with  a  wounded  arm,  tending  the  other 
with  a  shattered  leg.  The  former  might  have  escaped,  but 
he  would  not  leave  his  helpless  comrade,  whom  he  provided 
with  food  from  the  haversacks,  and  drink  from  the  canteens 
of  the  dead.  They  were  immediately  carried  to  a  hospital, 
where  it  was  found  necessary  to  cut  off  both  the  wounded 
limbs. 

An  incident  which  occurred  during  the  assault  also  illus 
trates  the  strength  of  the  tie  between  comrades.  Two  privates 
of  the  Sixty-Seventh,  having  worked  their  way  to  the  embra 
sures  of  one  of  the  forts,  were  reconnoitring,  when  they  re 
ceived  a  volley  from  the  eriemy.  One  was  hit  and  disabled. 
He  was  immediately  taken  on  the  back  of  the  other  and  car 
ried  safely  into  camp,  although  the  exertion  was  so  great  as 
to  render  the  bearer  unfit  for  duty  for  sometime  afterwards. 


320  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  following  story  is  told  of  Peter  Apple,  a  private  in 
the  Eleventh  Indiana:  He  was  a  recruit,  and  comparatively 
unfamiliar  with  drill,  consequently  when  the  army  recoiled 
under  the  Rebel  fire,  he  dashed  on,  looking  neither  this  side 
nor  that  until  he  reached  a  Rebel  gun,  when,  catching  a  gun 
ner  by  the  collar,  he  retreated,  dragging  his  prisoner  with  him. 
Almost  breathless  when  he  reached  the  Federal  lines,  he  was 
yet  able  to  say,  "Boys,  why  didn't  you  come  on?  Every 
fellow  might  have  got  one!" 

The  following  letter  is  from  A.  E.  Lemmon,  a  private  in 
the  Thirty-Fourth: 

"  I  am  still  able  for  rations,  but  if  we  havn't  gone  through 
some  hard  knocks  since  I  wrote  you,  I  am  no  judge.  Our 
division,  General  Carr's,  has  been  in  five  successive  engage 
ments.  Since  the  first  of  May,  we  met  the  enemy  posted  in 
very  strong  positions — Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson,  and 
at  Black  river  bridge.  We  have  driven  him  from  one  position 
to  another,  until  we  have  taken  up  our  present  position  in 
rear  of  Vicksburg,  and  we  are  here  knocking  as  if  we  intended 
to  enter.  I  suppose  you  have  heard  that  we  made  an  assault 
upon  their  works,  and  that  our  division  lost,  in  killed  and 
wounded,  about  two  hundred.  We  did  succeed  in  planting 
the  i Stars  and  Stripes'  upon  one  of  their  forts,  but  were 
forced  to  retire.  This  thing  of  charging  upon  a  second  Gib 
raltar  is  no  fun.  'I  won't  take  any  more,  if  you  please,' 
neither,  I  think,  will  our  generals. 

"Yesterday  we  buried  our  dead  under  a  flag  of  truce.  The 
Rebs  met  us  half  way,  and  we  had  a  social  chat." 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  feeling  if  no  assault  had 
been  attempted,  both  General  Grant  and  his  army  were  now 
satisfied  to  work  and  worm  their  way  by  regular  siege. 

General  Grant  had  been  under  a  misapprehension  in  regard 
to  the  number  and  spirit  of  Pemberton's  force,  occasioned 
by  the  rapidity  and  disorder  of  its  retreat  from  Black  river. 
That  force  was  now  most  formidable.  Falling  back  through 
the  fortifications  of  Vicksburg,  and  taking  position  behind 
them,  it  had  been  comforted  and  inspirited  by  the  extraordi 
nary  aspect  of  strength  displayed  both  by  the  natural  and 
artificial  defences.  Reinforced  also  by  eight  thousand  fresh 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  SIEGE.  321 

troops  who  had  remained  in  the  city,  it  now  amounted  to 
upward  of  thirty  thousand,  slightly  outnumbering  the  army 
which  attempted  the  assault. 

Grant's  troops  were  the  better  satisfied  to  make  slow  and 
cautious  advances,  as  the  situation  was  not  unhealthy,  and 
not,  by  any  means,  the  most  disagreeable  of  their  experience. 

Sparkling  springs,  pleasant  breezes  and  the  cool  shades  of 
the  forest  refreshed  all  the  camps. 

The  corps  retained  their  relative  positions,  McPher&on  in 
the  centre,  on  either  hand  Sherman  and  Me  demand.  In 
the  course  of  the  siege  Me  demand  was  superseded  by  Gen 
eral  Ord.  The  Rebel  centre  was  commanded  by  Forney,  its 
right  by  Stevenson,  and  its  left  by  Bowen.  Pemberton  was 
ill  prepared  for  a  siege.  He  had  rations  for  not  more  than 
thirty  days,  one  meal  a  day,  and  but  a  small  amount  of  am 
munition.  Nevertheless  he  declared  that  he  would  hold  out 
until  the  last  pound  of  beef,  bacon  and  flour,  the  last  grain 
of  corn,  the  last  cow,  and  hog,  and  horse,  and  dog  should  be 
consumed,  and  the  last  man  should  perish  in  the  trenches. 
Moreover  he  was  powerfully  supported  by  his  superior  officer, 
General  Johnston,  who  soon  had  a  force  of  twenty  thousand 
or  twenty-five  thousand  at  Canton  and  Jackson,  and  still 
received  reinforcements. 

Thus  General  Grant,  lying  between  two  large  hostile 
armies,  required  immediate  and  strong  reinforcements.  He 
never  suffered  for  lack  of  men  if  men  could  be  obtained,  and 
he  now  pressed  into  his  investing  line,  or  formed  into  a  re 
serve  to  watch  the  movements  of  Johnston,  not  only  all  the 
troops  which  could  be  drawn  from  other  points  in  his  depart 
ment,  but  all  that  his  necessity  could  wring  out  of  the  depart 
ments  of  other  commanders. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  May  Lanman's  division,  of  Hurl- 
but's  corps,  with  four  additional  regiments,  arrived  and  went 
into  position  on  the  south  side  of  the  city. 

General  Kimball,  who,  after  recovering  from  the  wound 

received  in  the  assault  on  Fredericksburg,  was  appointed  to 

the  command  of  Hurlbut's  third  division,  and  assigned  to  the 

district  of  Jackson,  was  ordered  to  the   Yazoo,  which   he 

21 


322  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

reached  the  third  of  June.  He  went  up  to  Satartia,  whence, 
with  two  brigades,  he  marched  to  Mechanicsburg,  where  he 
had  a  successful  engagement  with  a  large  force  of  the  enemy. 
Repeated  despatches  from  Grant  warned  him  against  ventur 
ing  to  such  a  distance  as  to  endanger  his  rear,  and  finding 
the  troops  he  had  driven  reinforced  by  a  large  body  of  cav 
alry,  Kimball  fell  back  to  Haines'  Bluff. 

On  the  eighth,  another  division,  under  General  Sooy 
Smith,  arrived  from  Memphis,  and  was  ordered  to  Haines' 
Bluff,  where  also  two  of  Burnside's  divisions  were  posted  on 
their  arrival.  General  Herron's  division  arrived  from  Mis 
souri  on  the  eleventh,  and  was  stationed  on  the  left  of  Lan- 
man,  completing  the  line  of  investment. 

These  reinforcements  increased  Grant's  army  to  seventy- 
five  thousand.  One-half  remained  in  the  trenches;  the  other 
half  formed  a  corps  of  observation.  It  was  like  a  double- 
edged  sword,  or  rather  like  a  sword  which  turned  every  way. 

Sherman,  in  commaqd  of  Haines'  Bluff,  lengthened  and 
strengthened  his  line  of  defense,  until  it  extended  from  the 
Yazoo  to  the  Big  Black.  As  occasion  demanded,  he  added 
to  his  force  Lauman's  division,  a  division  from  McPherson's 
corps,  and  one  from  his  own  corps,  and  abundantly  obeyed 
the  order  to  "whip  Johnston  fifteen  miles  off." 

The  Indiana  troops  included  in  Sherman's  force  at  Haines' 
Bluff,  and  in  the  defence  of  the  rear  of  the  besiegers,  were 
the  Twelfth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Goodnow,  Colonel  Kemp- 
ton  having  resigned  on  account  of  his  health,  though  too  late 
for  its  restoration;  Hundredth,  Colonel  Stoughton;  Ninety- 
Ninth,  Colonel  Fowler,  and  Sixth  battery,  Captain  Mueller, 
in  Smith's  division,  and  the  Fifty-Third,  Colonel  Gresham, 
in  Laurnan's  division.  The  Ninety-Seventh,  Colonel  Cat- 
terson,  separated  from  its  proper  corps,  General  McPherson's, 
remained  on  duty  in  Missouri  until  it  joined  Sherman's  force. 

The  siege  was  conducted  vigorously.  Forts  were  erected; 
batteries  were  planted,  and  breastworks  were  advanced  quite 
near  to  the  Rebel  works.  Sharpshooting,  for  a  time  exer 
cised  only  in  the  day,  soon  ceased  neither  day  nor  night, 
and  reached  such  a  degree  of  accuracy,  that  in  one  instance 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  SIEGE.  323 

a  hat  placed  on  a  stick  and  held  above  a  wall  was  pierced  by 
fifteen  bullets  in  two  minutes.  The  mortars  on  the  penin 
sula  opposite  Vicksburg,  after  they  opened,  which  was  at  an 
early  date  in  the  siege,  threw  every  twenty-four  hours  ten 
thousand  mortar  shells  into  and  over  the  city.  The  pick, 
the  spade  and  the  barrow  were  in  as  lively  requisition,  and 
were  used  to  as  deadly  purpose  as  the  recognized  instru 
ments  of  war,  roads  being  opened,  covered  ways  made,  the 
regular  approaches  of  a  siege  constructed,  and  mines  built. 
During  the  siege,  eighteen  miles  of  trenches  were  dug  and 
eighty-nine  batteries  were  constructed,  the  guns  being  moved 
forward  from  the  rear  as  the  troops  pushed  up. 

The  enemy's  activity  was  also  sleepless.  His  cannonad 
ing  was  not  alarming,  as  his  ammunition  was  scarce,  but  he 
counter-mined,  and  picked  off  with  the  sharpshooter's  rifle 
every  visible  head.  So  ceaseless  was  the  rain  of  fire  on  the 
extreme  left  that  the  Twenty-Sixth  Indiana,  posted  there, 
after  entering  advanced  trenches,  was  unable  to  leave  them 
for  seventeen  days.  Firing  all  day,  digging  all  night,  and 
sleeping  only  by  snatches,  this  regiment  was  worn  out  at  the 
end  of  the  time,  and  of  eight  hundred  healthy,  cheerful  men 
who  came  from  Missouri,  but  four  hundred  were  fit  for  duty. 
In  all  the  regiments  constant  labor  in  the  trenches,  frequent 
picket  duty  and  sharp  shooting,  together  with  the  excessive 
heat  of  the  day  and  the  heavy  dews  of  the  night,  caused 
much  sickness  toward  the  latter  part  of  June. 

Colonel  Bringhurst,  in  a  letter  dated  June  19,  minutely 
describes  daily  life: 

"  The  siege  progresses  about  as  it  began.  Every  possible 
means  of  annoyance  to  the  Rebels  is  adopted.  New  and 
heavy  batteries  are  erected;  rifle  pits  are  advanced  and  the 
volume  of  projectile  rained  upon  the  garrison  and  people  of 
the  devoted  city  is  daily  increased. 

"  Our  regiment  has  taken  a  permanent  position,  directly  in 
front  of  the  Rebel  fort,  where  the  assault  was  made  the  day 
after  our  arrival.  We  furnish  two  companies  daily  for  the 
trenches.  They  fire  on  an  average  forty  rounds  during  the 
tour  of  duty,  and  as  the  entire  line  is  as  heavily  occupied, 
the  Rebels  have  but  little  chance  to  make  observation  in  their 


324  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

front.  The  two  lines  are  about  three  hundred  yards  apart, 
and  the  reserves  of  each  side  lie  at  the  base  of  the  hills  in 
the  ravines. 

"  Our  regiment  is  within  six  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the 
Rebel  fortifications.  Directly  in  our  rear  is  a  battery  of  four 
twenty-four  pounders,  and  singularly  as  it  has  happened,  two 
of  them  are  the  very  guns  our  regiment  hauled  from  New 
Madrid  to  Riddle's  Point  that  terrible  night,  and  the  others 
those  we  captured  at  Fulton,  below  Fort  Pillow,  the  day  we 
occupied  that  post. 

"  These  guns  were  brought  to  Memphis  on  the  wharf  boat 
we  were  bringing  down,  and  were  left  there  when  we  went 
up  White  river.  The  two  first  came  to  us  on  the  Tallahat- 
chie  but  were  not  used.  Now  the  four  make  their  appear 
ance  near  us  and  deliver  their  messages  to  Vicksburg  directly 
over  our  heads.  Until  yesterday,  they  threw  shells  princi 
pally,  which,  passing  through  the  parapet  and  exploding 
within  the  forts  must  have  caused  great  havoc.  Night  before 
last  a  furnace  was  completed,  and  these  guns  since  have 
been  sending  balls  at  a  white  heat  into  the  city. 

"  Upon  each  side  of  this  battery  and  within  three  hundred 
yards  are  other  batteries  of  lighter  calibre.  Along  the  entire 
line,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  batteries  are  engaged,  and  at  all 
times,  day  and  night,  some  part  of  the  line  is  in  action.  Gen 
erally  the  right  has  been  most  noisy,  latterly  the  left  has  been 
briskest.  On  the  right  or  left,  at  any  time,  a  battle  can  be 
witnessed  from  the  hills  behind  or  before  us.  At  some  points 
the  rifle  trenches  are  within  one  hundred  yards  of  each  other, 
and  whenever  a  Rebel  cannon  is  run  out  to  fire,  everybody 
within  reach  opens  on  it.  If  the  Rebels  succeed  in  firing 
one  round  it  is  all  they  can  do.  The  shower  of  rifle  balls 
that  enter  an  embrasure  and  the  ten  or  a  dozen  cannon  that 
pour  in  shot  or  shell,  compels  them  to  withdraw  it  out  of 
sight. 

"  The  Rebels  do  not  keep  their  artillery  in  position.  The 
discharge  of  the  gun  sends  it  back  to  an  inclined  plane  that 
conveys  it  below  and  entirely  out  of  reach  of  our  artillery. 
Occasionally  the  muzzle  is  seen  rising  to  the  embrasure  pre 
paratory  to  firing,  and  it  becomes  game  for  our  men.  It  is 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  SIEGE,  325 

generally  fired  without  aim,  and  is  never  brought  back  imme 
diately. 

"  The  Rebel  riflemen,  in  their  trenches,  take  up  the  fight, 
and  after  each  discharge  of  a  Rebel  gun  a  skirmish  of  half 
an  hour  occurs. 

"  The  pits  or  trenches  entirely  hide  the  men  in  them.  When 
they  rise  to  fire  they  present  marks  to  the  opposite  side. 
After  a  shell  explodes  the  Rebels  invariably  rise  to  fire,  and 
our  riflemen  and  artillerists  now  meet  them  by  a  second 
shell  and  a  volley  of  balls.  If  a  number  is  caught  by  the 
trick,  a  loud  shout  announces  its  success. 

"A  trick,  common  and  very  successful  for  a  time,  was  for 
our  side  to  raise  a  loud  shout,  as  if  a  charge  was  being  made. 
As  the  Rebels  rose  up  to  meet  the  expected  charge,  a  shower 
of  balls  would  meet  them,  while  no  enemy  would  be  in  view. 

"  Of  the  execution  done  by  our  riflemen  we  know  nothing, 
but  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  the  Rebels  suffer  severely. 
Our  men  now  seldom  fire  without  a  very  good  prospect  of 
hitting.  We  have  a  trench  dug  into  the  brow  of  the  hill,  into 
which  lead  ways  or  paths  from  the  camp.  The  brow  of  the 
hill  is  protected  by  hewn  logs,  with  rifle  holes  cut  in  them. 
These  entirely  cover  the  men,  except  at  the  opening  of  the 
hole.  One  hole  has  been  especially  fatal  for  us.  On  the 
mornings  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  each,  a  man  of 
the  Twenty-Fourth  Indiana  was  shot  through  the  head. 

This  morning  a  piece  of  cloth  was  put  in  the  hole,  and  it 
soon  was  shot  through  in  five  places. 

"At  night  the  pickets  are  advanced  beyond  the  hill,  very 
close  to  the  Rebel  picket  lines.  Upon  some  parts  of  the  lines 
the  pickets  meet  and  converse. 

"A  Vicksburg  paper  of  June  13  was  obtained.  It  was  a 
slip  of  four  columns,  printed  on  wall  paper,  and  without  any 
interest.  It  vapored  largely  about  the  ability  of  the  Rebels 
to  hold  Vicksburg,  but  this,  to  persons  who  read  the  Jackson 
papers  up  to  the  capture  of  that  city,  is \inderstood.  It  stated 
that  it  had  received  no  advices  from  the  outside  from  the  six 
teenth  of  May  to  the  fourth  of  June.  Deserters  come  over 
frequently.  They  agree  in  the  statement  about  the  scarcity 


326  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  provisions.  Their  haversacks  contain  a  very  little  meat, 
and  a  small  quantity  of  pea  or  bean  flour." 

The  western  bounds  of  the  besieging  army,  from  Lake 
Providence  to  Richmond,  were  frequently  assailed  in  the 
anxiety  of  the  Rebels  to  open  communication  between 
Vicksburg  and  Louisiana.  June  6,  a  heavy  attack  on  Milli- 
ken's  Bend  was  most  bravely  repulsed  by  negro  soldiers. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  from  the  centre  round  to  the 
river,  the  army  and  navy  stood  ready  to  add  to  the  tumult 
and  terror  of  the  explosion  of  a  heavy  mine,  while  a  chosen 
band  was  thrown  forward  to  rush  into  the  anticipated  breach. 
The  undermined  strong-hold  was  Fort  Hill,  in  front  of  Mc- 
Pherson's  corps.  The  storming  party  consisted  of  one  hun 
dred  picked  men  of  the  Forty-Fifth  Illinois,  and  one  hundred 
of  the  Twenty-Third  Indiana,  and  was  supported  by  the 
main  part  of  Logan's  division. 

It  stood  breathless,  and  utter  stillness  prevailed  after  the 
fuse  was  lighted,  until  a  dull,  thundering  sound,  and  the 
trembling  and  heaving  of  the  ground  indicated  that  the  pow 
der,  twenty-two  hundred  pounds,  in  the  vaults  beneath,  was 
on  fire.  Through  heavy  smoke  and  dust  masses  of  earth  and 
huge  timbers  rose  slowly  and  fell  back.  A  cannonade  opened 
along  the  line  of  the  army  and  the  river-front,  such  a  can 
nonade  as  Vicksburg,  with  all  its  experience,  had  never 
known,  nor  had  yet  any  other  city.  The  storming  party 
rushed  to  the  breach.  Logan  advanced  his  division  rapidly 
to  its  support. 

A  furious  struggle  took  place  in  the  crater.  The  combat 
ants  were  covered  with  powder,  dirt  and  blood.  The  Rebels 
gradually  fell  back  to  a  new  line,  from  which,  unseen  and 
sheltered,  they  hurled  hand-grenades  with  deadly  effect. 
The  soldiers  called  the  crater  "the  death  hole,"  but  they  held 
it  until  three  days  later  another  mine  expelled  the  Rebels 
and  left  a  vast  chasm  where  one  of  the  strongest  works  had 
stood. 

Fort  after  fort  was  undermined.  Closer  and  more  deadly 
with  each  day  drew  the  investing  line.  One  grand  assault, 
and  the  city  would  fall.  General  Grant  fixed  the  day, — the 
sixth  of  July. 


SURRENDER  OF  VICKSBURG.  327 

Meantime,  the  citizens  of  Vicksburg  were  in  sad  straits. 
Many  of  the  wealthy  as  well  as  the  poor  were  on  the  verge 
of  starvation.  Flour  was  a  thousand  dollars  a  barrel. 
Meal  was  a  hundred  and  forty  dollars  a  bushel.  Beef  was 
two  or  three  dollars  a  pound.  Mule  meat  was  a  dollar  a 
pound.  Caves  dug  in  the  hill  sides,  and  which  were  damp 
and  low,  afforded  the  only  security  against  shell,  and  they 
scarcely.  The  Rebel  soldiers  on  insufficient  rations,  com 
posed  chiefly  of  bean  meal,  corn  coffee  and  mule  meat,  lay 
in  the  trenches  without  relief  day  or  night.  Nevertheless,  a 
copy  of  the  Vicksburg  Whig,  which  found  its  way  to  the 
Union  pickets,  gave  out  and  reiterated  assurances  of  John 
ston's  speedy  approach.  General  Johnston  indeed  was  their 
only  hope ;  but  he  never  ventured  within  fifteen  miles. 

On  the  third  of  July,  after  forty-seven  days  of  isolation, 
General  Pemberton  displayed  a  flag  of  truce,  and  sent  two 
officers  with  a  letter  asking  an  armistice  with  the  view  of  ar 
ranging  terms  for  capitulation.  The  Rebel  officers  were 
blindfolded  and  taken  to  Burbridge's  tent,  where  they  received 
Grant's  reply  demanding  an  unconditional  surrender.  Pem 
berton  requested  an  interview,  and  at  three  in  the  afternoon 
met  his  antagonist  in  front  of  McPherson's  lines,  under  a 
spreading  oak.  "  Never  so  long  as  I  have  a  man  left  me  will 
I  submit  to  unconditional  surrender,"  declared  the  Confed 
erate  General.  "  Then,  sir,  you  can  continue  the  defence," 
replied  the  national-  commander.  Pemberton,  however,  was 
not  satisfied,  and  after  some  consultation  it  was  agreed  to 
continue  the  armistice  until  nine  the  next  morning,  when,  if 
surrender  was  not  determined  on,  hostilities  should  be  re- 
resumed. 

The  next  morning,  white  flags  were  displayed  all  along  the 
Rebel  lines.  At  ten  the  Rebel  soldiers  poured  out  of  their 
trenches  and  forts,  laid  down  their  colors  and  went  back 
within  their  works,  prisoners  of  war. 

Logan's  division  was  the  first  of  the  besieging  army  to  en 
ter  the  city.  General  Grant  rode  at  its  head.  Dismounting 
at  a  Rebel  headquarters  he  entered,  in  order  to  confer  with 
General  Pemberton.  The  Rebel  commander  and  his  gener 
als  were  sitting  on  a  porch.  They  received  the  conqueror 


328  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

in  sulky  silence ;  when  he  asked  for  a  drink  of  water  they 
told  him  he  could  find  it  inside,  and  they  allowed  him  to  re 
main  standing, while  they  sat,  during  an  interview  of  a  half 
hour.  So  ignobly  did  they  bear  themselves  in  adversity. 

If  any  thing  could  add  to  the  rapture  of  the  hard-won, 
long-delayed  victory,  it  was  the  fact  that  it  was  consumma 
ted  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  When  the  national  banner  rose 
over  the  court-house  ten  thousand  men  struck  up  the  song: 
"Rally  round  the  flag!"  The  shattered  walls  of  Vicksburg 
so  long  trembling  under  the  roar  of  guns,  now  quivered  with 
the  song  of  triumph. 

The  surrender  of  Vicksburg  gave  into  Grant's  hands  the 
largest  capture  of  men  and  guns  ever  made  in  war, — thirty- 
one  thousand  six  hundred  men,  including  sick  and  wounded, 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  cannon.  Twenty-eight 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-two  men  were  paroled, 
and  after  being  supplied  with  three  days'  rations,  were  sent 
across  the  Big  Black.  Seven  hundred  and  nine  who  refused 
their  parole  were  sent  North.  More  than  one  thousand 
avoided  being  paroled  by  escape  or  disguise.  Many  died  in 
the  hospital  before  their  names  had  been  taken. 

General  Grant  reported  his  losses,from  the  day  he  landed  at 
Bruinsburg  till  the  day  of  the  surrender,  at  nine  hundred  and 
forty-three  killed,  seven  thousand  and  ninety-five  wounded, 
five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  missing,  total  eight  thousand 
five  hundred  and  seventy-five.  Four  thousand  two  hundred 
and  thirty-six  of  the  number  fell  before  Vicksburg,  chiefly  in 
the  assault  of  the  twenty-second  of  May. 

Throughout  the  United  States  cannon  fired  and  bells  rang, 
the  nation  rejoicing  at  once  for  the  turning  back  of  the  Rebel 
tide  at  Gettysburg  and  that  the  Mississippi  once  more  flowed 
"unvexed  to  the  sea." 

No  time  for  rejoicing  nor  rest  was  allowed  the  greater  part 
of  Grant's  army.  Sherman,  already  on  the  Big  Black,  was 
reinforced  on  the  night  of  the  fourth  and  the  following  day  by 
Ord,  the  successor  of  McClernand,  and  by  Steele,  who  moved 
out  of  the  trenches  without  seeing  the  city  in  whose  conquest 
they  had  assisted.  Sherman's  orders  were  to  proceed  to 


MARCH  TO  JACKSON.  329 

Jackson,  retracing  Grant's  advance  from  that  city,  and  drive 
Johnston  from  the  Mississippi  Central  railroad. 

The  story  of  the  march  is  told  by  Colonel  Bringhurst,  while 
following  the  course  of  the  Forty-Sixth: 

"At  half  past  five  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth,  our  brigade 
was  on  the  road,  but  as  other  corps  had  to  pass  out  the  main 
road  before  they  reached  the  roads  upon  which  they  diverged, 
it  was  near  eleven  o'clock  before  we  got  well  under  way. 
Three  corps  were  to  form  the  expedition,  and  moving  on  dif 
ferent  roads,  to  meet  at  Bolton  on  the  morning  of  the  seventh, 
where  they  were  again  to  diverge  to  meet  again  at  Clinton. 

"The  weather  was  exceedingly  hot.  Dust  filled  the  air 
with  clouds,  penetrated  the  lungs  and  blinded  the  eyes.  A 
part  of  the  march  was  made  along  the  railroad  track.  The 
distance  and  the  dust  were  lessened  by  that  route,  but  where 
the  cut  ran  through  high  hills,  which  was  often  the  case,  the 
heat  was  almost  insupportable,  the  cut  being  narrow  and  the 
perpendicular  walls  being  covered  with  noxious  vines  and 
brush.  There  was  no  air,  no  water.  The  column  moved 
along  the  track  at  a  rapid  pace  to  escape  from  the  horrible 
place;  many  fell  out  exhausted,  and  sought  refuge  in  openings 
or  fissures  that  were  formed  in  the  banks.  All  of  our  men 
came  through,  but  many  of  other  regiments  failed  and  fell  by 
the  way.  At  about  five  o'clock  we  encamped  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  Black  river,  having  made  ten  miles. 

"This  march  was  the  most  fatiguing  and  distressing  that 
the  regiment  ever  performed.  The  regiment  remained  here 
until  the  evening  of  the  next  day.  The  valleys  between  the 
hills  afforded  cool  places,  and  the  fields  around  furnished  corn 
and  blackberries  in  unlimited  quantities.  The  line  of  march 
was  taken  up  at  five  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth,  and 
the  regiment  reached  Black  river  about  dark.  The  bridge 
was  so  crowded  that  it  was  impossible  to  cross,  and  we  stop 
ped  for  the  night.  At  five,  on  the  morning  of  the  seventh, 
we  were  on  the  road.  We  were  soon  over  the  river.  The 
weather  was  very  hot,  and  water  was  very  scarce.  Every 
pond  and  puddle  was  surrounded  by  crowds  of  parched  men 
who  drank  the  disgusting  semi-fluid.  We  reached  Bolton 
after  a  march  of  eighteen  miles,  at  six  in  the  evening.  It 


330  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

was  dark  and  cloudy.  Occasional  flashes  of  lightning  dis 
closed  a  confused  view  of  artillery,  horses,  wagons  and  men. 
We  settled  down  along  the  side  of  the  road.  The  Second 
brigade  formed  in  like  manner  on  our  left.  We  knew  that 
we  were  on  a  ploughed  field  with  a  fence  between  us  and 
the  road.  Opposite  and  across  the  road  was  a  heavy  hedge, 
and  beyond  a  cornfield.  The  fence  was  soon  disposed  of, 
the  rails  were  laid  down  for  beds,  or  taken  for  fires.  In  an 
hour  the  rain  began.  It  fell  with  but  little  intermission  for 
two  hours.  Fires  were  put  out,  suppers  were  spoiled,  and 
the  road  and  field  became  inundated  with  the  rising:  flood. 

o 

"The  lightning  in  its  vivid  flashes  revealed  a  multitude  of 
men  covered  with  ponchos,  squatting  over  the  field.  A  per 
tinacious  group,  here  and  there,  might  be  seen  endeavoring 
to  preserve  the  fire  by  holding  ponchos  over  it;  and  many 
individuals  in  desperation,  standing  entirely  naked  under  the 
descending  floods,  with  their  clothes  stored  away  under  sad 
dles  or  logs,  'to  be  kept  dry.'  At  eleven,  another  storm 
came  up.  This  also  lasted  two  hours,  and  sleep  was  effect 
ually  banished  for  the  night.  During  the  entire  night,  strag 
glers  came  along,  wading  and  splashing  through  mud  and 
water,  enquiring  for  their  regiments;  and  horses  and  mules, 
imperfectly  tied,  stalked  among  the  men,  or  got  up  rows 
with  the  teams. 

"The  sun  came  out  hot  next  morning,  evaporating  the 
moisture  from  the  ground  in  clouds  of  steam.  About  nine, 
we  moved  up  a  little  beyond  the  town  and  encamped  in  a 
pleasant  grove.  Here  we  remained  until  evening. 

"  Breckinridge,  with  his  division,  left  Bolton  at  noon  the 
day  before  we  arrived.  He  had  a  line  of  battle  formed  along 
the  railroad,  but,  on  the  approach  of  our  advance,  he  fell 
back  to  Clinton.  At  this  point  the  three  army  corps  had 
concentrated.  The  movement  to  Clinton  began  at  three  in 
the  afternoon,  and  as  the  several  divisions  passed  to  reach 
their  appropriate  roads,  they  made  a  grand  appearance.  The 
regiments  marched  out  in  columns  well  closed  up,  and  with 
their  bands  playing.  The  men  felt  well,  and  were  in  high 
spirits.  They  laughed,  shouted  and  sang  songs,  and  moved 
toward  Jackson  with  the  fullest  faith  that  it  would  fall,  and 


MARCH  TO  JACKSON.  331 

the  Rebel  Johnston  be  put  to  flight.  This  confidence  was 
worth  ten  thousand  men. 

"  It  was  dark  before  we  reached  our  road,  and  then  we 
were  constantly  stopped  by  intervening  trains  of  other  divi 
sions.  We  marched  until  nearly  one  o'clock,  and  having 
made  but  three  miles,  halted  and  lay  down  by  the  roadside 
for  sleep;  started  at  eight  in  the  morning  of  the  ninth,  and 
marched  very  slowly.  Skirmishers  were  used  nearly  all  the 
day  between  Bolton  and  Clinton,  ten  miles.  We  reached 
Clinton  about  eleven.  The  Rebels  had  again  fallen  back 
upon  our  approach. 

"At  Clinton,  we  rested  an  hour.  The  town  was  full  of 
Rebel  sick  and  wounded.  The  court-house  and  churches 
were  full  to  overflowing.  We  here  caught  up  with  and  took 
a  number  of  Rebel  prisoners.  They  were  of  the  willing 
kind,  tired  of  running  through  the  sun  without  food  or  water, 
and  very  anxious  to  get  home.  We  picked  up  several  letters 
that  had  been  dropped  in  their  sudden  flight.  One,  from 
a  Captain  to  his  wife,  complained  that  the  people  of  Missis 
sippi  were  a  mean,  contemptible  set;  that  they  charged  the 
Confederates  a  dollar  a  dozen  for  peaches  and  tomatoes,  the 
same  for  a  pound  of  butter,  and  sixty  cents  for  a  pound  of 
beef.  Another,  also  from  an  officer,  said  that  four  of  his 
men  had  died  from  heat  on  the  march  to  Black  river,  and 
that  he  had  seen  one  hundred  disabled.  They  had  almost 
perished  for  water,  and  had  destroyed  what  little  was  in 
ponds,  so  that  the  Yankees  could  not  reach  Jackson. 

"We  encamped  a  mile  beyond  Clinton,  and  remained  until 
the  morning  of  the  tenth,  when  we  moved  out,  each  corps 
upon  a  different  road.  The  Rebels  were  in  considerable 
force  in  front,  and  threatened  our  flanks  and  rear.  At  noon 
we  had  arrived  within  two  miles  of  Jackson,  and  the  Rebels 
were  driven  within  their  intrenchrnents.  We  marched  into 
camp  in  a  low,  heavy  wood.  It  was  cut  up  by  a  partially 
dry  creek,  the  puddles  of  which  furnished  us  with  water.  It 
was  a  close,  hot,  murky  position,  and  inconvenient  in  every 
way.  At  four,  the  morning  of  the  eleventh,  we  were  roused 
by  rapid  musketry  firing  in  front.  But  the  firing  soon  ceased. 
At  noon  we  received  orders  to  proceed  to  our  assigned  posi- 


332  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tion  in  the  line  of  assault.  The  pioneer  corps  had  to  prepare 
the  road,  so  our  progress  was  slow.  From  a  high  point,  we 
could  see  Rebel  cavalry  moving  round  in  the  direction  we 
had  to  proceed.  About  two,  we  came  to  a  plantation. 
General  Hovey  and  his  staff  were  making  themselves  com 
fortable  on  the  porch.  The  soldiers  were  canvassing  the 
negro  quarters,  gardens,  stables  and  orchards,  when,  without 
any  previous  intimation,  a  number  of  Rebel  shots  were  fired 
in  the  orchard.  The  Forty-Sixth  was  in  the  advance  of  the 
column,  and  at  the  halt  was  the  only  regiment  within  the 
plantation.  The  line  was  soon  indicated,  and  in  a  few  sec 
onds  the  men  were  ready  for  the  attack.  A  battery  was 
brought  up,  taken  through  to  a  road,  and  a  couple  of  guns 
opened  upon  the  woods.  The  Twenty-Fourth  Indiana, 
which  had  been  out  since  early  in  the  morning,  reconnoitring 
the  road,  here  met  us.  It  had  got  upon  the  wrong  road,  and 
had  been  skirmishing  with  the  same  force  that  was  now  in 
front.  A  few  shells  drove  the  Rebels  off,  and  we  proceeded 
slowly  toward  town.  They  made  a  stand  at  about  every 
five  hundred  yards,  falling  back  before  our  artillery. 

44 At  dark,  the  Forty-Sixth  relieved  the  Twenty-Fourth, 
which  had  been  directly  in  front,  and  spent  the  night  in  line 
of  battle  with  arms  in  hand.  The  rough  ground,  covered 
with  thistles  and  other  weeds  which  were  heavy  with  lately- 
fallen  drops  of  rain,  rendered  the  night's  rest  of  doubtful 
benefit.  At  daybreak  we  were  up,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
ready  for  action.  We  now  had  the  enemy  close  to  his  works 
and  reserves.  He  was  in  a  position  to  fight,  if  so  disposed. 
General  Lauman's  division  had  crossed  the  railroad  and  was 
moving  up." 

General  Sherman  invested  Jackson  from  Pearl  river  on  the 
north  to  Pearl  river  on  the  east — Ord,  including  Lauman, 
forming  his  right,  Steele  his  centre,  and  Park,  including  Sooy 
Smith,  his  left.  He  opened  fire  with  one  hundred  heavy 
guns. 

"Our  line  was  formed  by  the  two  brigades  in  their  order. 
It  extended  from  the  railroad  on  our  right  to  Benton's  divi 
sion  on  the  left.  Two  companies  from  each  regiment  were 
in  advance  as  skirmishers.  Our  position  was  on  the  extreme 


ASSAULT  ON  JACKSON.  333 

right,  as  the  Twenty-Fourth  and  Thirty-Fourth  Indiana  of 
our  brigade  were  in  the  line  of  reserves.  We  'met  the  Reb 
els  after  advancing  a  short  distance.  They  fell  back  before 
the  rifles  of  our  sharpshooters.  When  within  a  short  dis 
tance  of  an  advanced  Rebel  post,  a  division  of  General  Lau- 
man  made  a  charge  upon  it.  For  a  few  minutes,  the  divi 
sion  was  subjected  to  a  most  terrific  fire,  and  the  effect  was 
perfect  slaughter. 

"The  ground  between  the  works  and  Lauman's  line  had 
been  covered  with  scrubby  timber.  This  was  all  cut  down, 
with  the  tops  of  the  trees  outward.  A  charge  to  gain  the 
works  must  be  made  over  ground  thus  obstructed,  for  more 
than  a  thousand  yards.  Lauman's  artillery  failed  to  get  into 
position,  and  the  Rebel  guns  threw  grape  and  canister  with 
out  opposition.  The  rifle-pits  were  filled  with  men  who 
poured  a  shower  of  Minie  balls  at  the  approaching  line. 
The  men  were  literally  mowed  down.  When  within  a 
hundred  yards  of  the  trenches,  our  lines  broke,  and  a  general 
retreat  was  made.  One  gun  was  left,  the  horses  being 
killed,  and  one  was  badly  injured.  A  portion  of  the  as 
saulting  party,  rather  than  pass  through  the  Rebel  fire  again, 
threw  down  their  arms  and  ran  toward  the  fort.  These  were 
not  fired  on,  but  the  retreating  lines  were  not  spared  whilst 
a  man  was  in  sight." 

The  Fifty-Third  Indiana  was  in  this  terrible  charge.  "  This 
action  seemed  to  draw  the  Rebel  attention  to  that  part  of 
their  line,  and  we  had  little  trouble  obtaining  the  position 
we  wanted. 

"During  the  advance  our  regiment  was  under  severe  fire. 
The  balls  came  thick  and  low.  When  not  advancing,  the 
men  lay  down,  not  a  position  exempt  from  exposure.  Lau- 
man's  loss  in  this  assault  was  four  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
The  dead  must  number  three  hundred. 

"  We  remained  in  line  of  battle  the  rest  of  the  day,  and 
through  the  two  following  days.  On  the  fourteenth  we  be 
gan  breastworks.  We  kept  a  company  in  front  constantly 
firing  upon  the  enemy,  when  he  appeared  outside  of  his 
trenches.  At  two  o'clock  a  flag  of  truce  appeared.  It  came 
first  from  our  side.  On  the  thirteenth  an  effort  had  been 


334  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

made  to  get  permission  to  bury  the  dead  of  Lauman's  divis 
ion,  and  to  remove  the  wounded,  who  had  lain  where  they 
fell  on  Sunday.  We  could  hear  them  complaining  at  night, 
but  could  not  relieve  them,  the  ground  being  in  full  view  of 
the  Rebel  works.  The  night  before  some  of  our  regiment 
brought  off  two  men  who  had  crawled  up  to  the  picket  line. 
They  were  both  shot  in  the  legs.  They  had  torn  their  shirts 
into  strips,  and  having  fastened  up  the  dangling  parts,  drag 
ged  themselves  toward  their  friends. 

"  The  Rebels  furnished  the  burial  party.  Hundreds  of 
dead  lay  upon  the  field,  no  wounded.  Many  had  evidently 
been  wounded  and  had  lived  to  move  into  the  shade,  or  to 
crawl  a  short  distance  toward  our  lines.  In  some  places  two 
or  three  were  found  huddled  up  under  the  root  of  a  tree,  or 
behind  a  log.  After  the  burial,  the  location  of  each  body 
could  be  told  by  the  hair,  which  had  fallen  off  before  burial. 
The  Rebels  tied  handkerchiefs  round  their  faces  and  hurried 
through  their  awful  task  with  all  possible  speed,  stopping, 
however,  to  take  the  boots  off  our  dead.  They  carried  away 
also  hats  and  caps. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  twentieth  a  solid  shot  struck  the 
ground  two  hundred  yards  from  a  group  of  four  officers,  rose 
two  feet  and  rushed  toward  them  with  a  sharp  whistle.  They 
scattered  in  different  directions,  leaving  the  Sergeant  Major, 
Joseph  E.  Scott,  standing  in  the  direct  line  of  the  ball's  ap 
proach,  uncertain  what  to  do.  He  had  barely  time  to  jump 
up;  and  he  actually  came  down  on  the  ball^  forcing  it  to  the 
ground,  when  it  scooped  out  a  gutter,  rose  again,  dropped 
again  a  hundred  yards  beyond,  again  rose,  passed  on  and 
killed  a  mule.  This  is  certainly  a  strong  story,  but  it  is  act 
ually  and  positively  true,  as  I  was  an  eye  witness,  and  within 
twenty  feet  of  the  spot  when  Scott  got  the  ball  down.  While 
the  danger  of  the  position  was  being  discussed,  a  shell  from 
the  same  gun  exploded  just  to  the  right  of  the  line  followed 
by  the  ball.  These  were  the  last  Rebel  shots  fired." 

While  Sherman  was  drawing  his  line  up  toward  Jackson, 
our  Eighteenth  one  day  skirmished  in  the  Governor's  beau 
tiful  grounds,  where,  among  other  works  of  art,  was  a  statue 
of  a  black  slave  kneeling  in  suppliant  posture,  "a  type,"  so 


DEVOTION  OF  SURGEONS.  335 

says  a  soldier  of  the  regiment,  "  of  the  religion  of  the  TSouth." 
A  Rebel  shell,  hissing  along,  took  the  marble  negro '  in  its 
path,  and  broke  it  into  fragments.  A  loud  shout  from  the 
men  testified  their  appreciation  of  the  symbol. 

The  enemy  began  to  withdraw  on  the  night  of  the  six 
teenth,  although  as  he  kept  up  work  and  firing  on  his  front, 
the  movement  was  not  discovered.  He  burned  bridges, 
planted  loaded  shells  and  torpedoes  in  the  road  behind  him, 
and  directed  his  course  through  Brandon  to  Morton. 

Sherman  pursued  to  Brandon.  He  tore  up  the  railroad  at 
intervals,  on  the  south  fifty  miles,  on  the  north,  twenty  miles, 
and  on  the  east,  fifteen  miles,  destroying  costly  bridges,  ma 
chine  shops,  locomotives  and  cars,  and  effected  such  a  de 
struction  of  communications  and  means  of  repairing  roads 
and  cars  that  Grant  was  secured  in  possession  of  the  western 
part  of  the  State.  He  supplied  the  hospitals  and  citizens  of 
Jackson  and  Clinton  with  provisions,  and  returned  to  Vicks- 
burg  accompanied,  by  thousands  and  thousands  of  negroes, 
who,  uncertain  whether  they  had  entered  upon  the  day  of 
Jubilee  or  the  day  of  Wrath,  were,  in  either  case,  unwilling 
to  be  found  in  slavery  by  the  coming  master. 

The  last  of  July,  the  army  once  more  and  for  the  last  time, 
concentrated  about  Vicksburg.  A  rest  of  several  weeks  fol 
lowed,  during  which  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  troops  re 
ceived  furloughs. 

The  courage  and  devotion  of  surgeons  during  the  Vicksburg 
campaign  were  not  inferior  to  the  same  qualities  displayed 
in  the  rank  and  file.  The  night  after  the  assault  of  May  22, 
eight  surgeons  took  charge  of  the  wounded,  four  hundred 
and  ninety-eight  in  number,  of  Carr's  division.  The  night 
was  excessively  hot,  although  during  part  of  it  there  was 
rain.  No  hospital  appliances  had  been  brought  up.  The 
sufferers  were  laid  on  raw  cotton  under  China  trees.  But 
the  attention  which  they  needed  instantly  was  often  long 
delayed.  From  the  heat,  over  exertion,  and  the  terrible  ner 
vous  strain,  many  of  the  surgeons  became  ill,  and  soon,  on 
an  average,  there  remained  but  one  to  two  regiments.  Dr. 
Bigelow  had  charge  of  the  Eighth,  the  Eighteenth,  and  the 
First  battery.  . 


336  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  army  had  closed  round 
Vicksburg,  surgeons  and  nurses  hastened  from  Indiana  to 
give  their  services  temporarily  to  hospitals.  Not  a  few  sac 
rificed  their  lives. 

About  the  middle  of  June  Dr.  Calvin  West,  of  Hagers- 
town,  Indiana,  arrived  and  devoted  himself  to  hospital  work. 
His  labors  were  arduous  and  invaluable,  but  they  were  short. 
Being  attacked  by  chronic  diarrhea,  he  returned  to  his  home, 
where,  shortly  after,  he  died. 

No  more  precious  life  was  sacrificed  before  Vicksburg 
than  that  of  Dr.  Talbut  Bullard,  whose  name  has  already 
been  mentioned  in  these  pages  as  the  chief  physician  of  one 
of  the  Rebel  hospitals  in  Indianapolis  early  in  1862.  He 
was  an  eminent  physician,  and  an  honored  citizen,  a  man  of 
fine  education,  extensive  reading,  wide  sympathies,  genial 
manners,  perfect  honor  and  honesty,  intense  energy,  and 
most  Christian  humanity.  From  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he 
gave  money,  medicines  and  medical  attendance  to  soldiers1 
families,  and  responded  readily  to  Governor  Morton's  repeated 
calls  for  volunteer  surgeons,  going  to  Shiloh  in  the  spring 
of  1862,  to  Richmond,  Kentucky,  in  the  summer,  and  to  the 
hospitals  round  Washington  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year. 
In  the  winter  he  bestowed  several  weeks  of  time  and  labor 
on  the  hospitals  in  Gallatin  and  Nashville.  He  contracted 
chronic  diarrhea  at  Pittsburg  Landing.  In  consequence  his 
friends  urged  him  to  cross  the  ocean  for  his  health.  To 
their  solicitations  he  replied:  "I  would  rather  die  in  the 
harness  than  leave  my  country  with  her  flag  disgraced." 

When  intelligence  of  Grant's  battles  in  the  rear  of  Vicks 
burg  reached  Indianapolis,  Governor  Morton  requested  Dr. 
Bullard  to  take  charge  of  a  corps  of  surgeons  and  nurses 
which  he  desired  to  send  to  the  field.  The  Dr.  reluctantly 
declined  out  of  consideration  for  his  health.  But  his  gener 
ous  and  tender  heart  reproached  him  with  want  of  devotion, 
and  he  retracted  his  refusal,  saying  he  would  go  if  he  knew 
he  never  would  return.  Yet  Dr.  Bullard  was  not  reckless. 
He  was  one  day  invited  by  an  officer  to  advance  to  a  certain 
point  in  the  besiegers'  lines,  where,  from  an  embrasure,  some 
thing  of  interest  was  to  be  seen.  "  No  sir,"  said  the  Dr.,  "my 


LAID  ON  THE  ALTAR.  337 

duty  does  not  call  me  to  so  exposed  a  place."  He  may  have 
called  to  mind,  or  if  he  did  not,  the  reader  can  scarce  avoid 
remembering  the  reproof  of  William  of  Orange  to  Mr.  God 
frey,  in  the  siege  of  Namur:  "Mr.  Godfrey,  you  ought  not 
to  run  these  hazards.  You  are  not  a  soldier."  "  I  run  no 
more  hazard  than  your  Majesty,"  answered  Godfrey.  "Not 
so,"  said  William,  "  I  am  where  it  is  my  duty  to  be,  and  I 
may,  without  presumption,  commit  my  life  to  God's  keeping." 

Not  a  half  hour  elapsed  after  Dr.  Bullard's  refusal  to  ex 
pose  his  life  unnecessarily  before,  in  that  very  embrasure,  he 
amputated  a  soldier's  shattered  leg. 

Being  exceedingly  quick  in  thought  and  action,  he  was 
able,  with  little  strength,  to  accomplish  a  large  amount  of 
work.  Unhappily,  on  a  very  hot  day,  he  was  compelled  to 
ride  several  miles  on  horseback.  The  fatigue  and  exposure 
prostrated  him,  but  he  remained  on  the  field  until  the  expe 
dition  returned. 

At  Evansville  Mrs.  Bullard  met  him.  She  found  him  calm 
and  gentle,  but  with  little  hope  of  recovery.  After  a  rest  the 
journey  was  resumed,  and  the  beloved  physician  reached  his 
home,  but  only  to  die. 

"  1  have  laid  my  life  on  the  altar  of  my  country,"  he  said, 
smiling,  and  consoled  by  the  great  thought,  his  noble  soul 
passed  away. 

A  passage  from  a  letter  of  Colonel  Bringhurst,  who  was 
ordered  to  Milliken's  Bend  the  first  of  June,  to  serve  upon  a 
"Court  of  Inquiry,"  shows  that  hospitals  were  not  neglected: 

"•Two  miles  below  is  a  hospital  for  wounded  soldiers.  It 
now  contains  two  thousand  of  the  victims  of  Port  Gibson, 
Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills,  Black  River  and  Vicks- 
burg.  It  is  the  neatest,  best  arranged  and  most  capacious 
hospital  I  have  ever  seen.  The  wounded  are  in  very  large 
tents,  shaded  by  Chinas  and  magnolias.  Great  ovens  anc1 
other  cooking  arrangements  supply  food,  and  cisterns  fur 
nish  good  water.  Plantation  houses  are  used  as  offices  and 
store  houses,  and  not  for  the  sick.  Then  we  differ  from  the 
Rebels  in  the  treatment  of  the  wounded.  They  seek  houses; 
we  avoid  them.  They  crowd  wounded  men  into  close  build- 
22 


338  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

ings  and  upon  porches.  We  put  up  accommodations  in  the 
open  air.  They  engender  fever  inflamation,  dirt,  vermin, 
and  death.  We,  by  ample  ventilation,  free  application  of 
water,  and  constant  attention,  soon  get  the  wounded  on  their 
feet,  and  save  many  cases  which  would  certainly  be  lost  in 
Rebel  hospitals. 

"  I  found  most  of  our  wounded  in  good  spirits  and  good 
health.  All  that  are  now  there  are  recovering.  Most  of 
them  are  able  to  get  under  the  fine  trees  that  abound,  and 
enjoy  the  splendid  breeze  that  comes  down  the  river.  The 
smell  of  the  China  trees  and  the  rich  magnolias,  joined  with 
a  thousand  indescribable  sweetnesses  with  which  the  air  is 
laden,  do  more  to  strengthen  and  refresh  these  poor  fellows 
than  all  the  medicines  in  the  dispensary. 

"  They  all,  too,  give  evidence  of  the  sympathy  and  thought- 
fulness  of  their  friends  at  home.  They  have  clean  clothes 
and  clean  beds,  furnished  by  the  sanitary  associations  North, 
and  the  great  abundance  of  vegetable  food,  necessaries  and 
luxuries,  come  from  the  same  source.  The  wounded  are 
patient  and  uncomplaining.  Most  of  them  are  anxious  to 
rejoin  their  regiments.  Many  will  have  to  be  discharged. 
Many  totally  disabled  for  life,  others  but  partially  injured, 
they  present  an  aggregate  of  suffering  that  challenges  the 
sympathy  and  consideration  of  those  for  whom  their  great 
sacrifices  are  made. 

"  These  men  are  the  true  heroes  of  the  war ;  not  the  offi 
cers,  upon  whom  too  generally  falls  all  the  credit  of  success 
ful  action.  They  bear  the  weight  of  the  heavy  blows  sent 
by  the  enemy,  while  the  glory  earned  by  them  too  often  set 
tles  round  those  who,  though  more  prominent  upon  record, 
are  less  so  upon  the  field." 


PREPARATION  TO  RECEIVE  ASSAULT.  339 


CHAPTER  XV. 

BATTLE  OF  HELENA. 

During  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Helena  lay  insignificant 
and  unnoticed,  its  force  diminished  to  a  garrison  of  three 
thousand  eight  hundred,  and  preserved  from  the  rust  of  in 
activity  only  by  the  depredations  of  guerillas  in  the  vicinity, 
and  the  spiteful  but  feeble  demonstrations  of  detached  Rebel 
regiments.  It  was  not,  however,  forgotten  by  the  Confeder 
ate  government,  and  was  destined  to  be  the  scene  of  a 
bloody  struggle.  The  last  of  June,  rumors  reached  General 
Prentiss,  who  was  now  in  command  of  the  fort,  of  the  secret 
concentration  and  swift  approach  of  forces  from  the  south 
of  Missouri,  and  from  all  quarters  of  Arkansas,  under  Price, 
Marmaduke,  Parsons,  Fagin,  McRae  and  Walker,  with 
General  Holmes  as  Commander-in- Chief.  Owing  to  high 
waters,  neither  secresy  nor  swiftness  attended  the  operations 
of  the  Rebels,  and  their  approach  was  prepared  for  and  ex 
pected  several  days  before  it  occurred.  At  daylight  of  July 
4,  they  were  announced  by  pickets,  who  fell  back  steadily 
and  gallantly,  loading  and  firing  until  they  reached  the  in- 
trenchments.  The  First  Indiana  cavalry,  whose  encamp 
ment  was  without  the  works,  rapidly  removed  tents  and 
baggage  within  ihe  circuit,  and  formed  line  of  battle  behind 
the  Fifth  Kansas,  in  the  open  flat  above  the  town.  The 
battery  attached  to  the  regiment  hastened  forward  up  the 
levee,  under  Lieutenant  Lefler,  and  supported  by  companies 
M  and  L,  which  were  dismounted.  Other  cavalry  and  artil 
lery  took  a  similar  position  south  of  the  town.  The  gun 
boat  Tyler  prepared  to  take  part  in  the  defence.  Infantry 
regiments  in  line  of  battle  supported  the  batteries,  which 
were  on  the  hills — A  on  the  extreme  right,  B  next,  C  on 
Graveyard  hill,  and  D  on  Hindman's  hill,  all  connected  by 


340  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

rifle-pits.  The  Forty- Third  Indiana,  under  Major  Norris, 
was  in  support  of  battery  D,  a  portion  of  it  across  the  mouth 
of  a  ravine.  Holmes'  forces  were  double  those  of  Prentiss, 
and  were  skillfully  arranged  for  a  simultaneous  advance  and 
attack.  Walker,  with  cavalry,  moved  toward  the  north  of 
the  line;  Marmaduke,  with  infantry,  to  the  north-west;  Price, 
with  nearly  half  the  entire  force,  advanced  to  the  assault  of 
Graveyard  hill,  and  Fagin  to  Hindman's  hill. 

At  every  point  the  attack  failed.  Walker  made  but  pre 
liminary  movements,  being  successfully  held  back  by  the  ar 
tillery  and  musketry  on  the  levee.  Marmaduke,  exposed  to 
a  heavy  flanking  fire,  for  want  of  Walker's  support,  desisted 
after  a  single  attempt.  Price's  troops  poured  over  the  breast 
works  on  Graveyard  hill,  in  a  dark  continuous  stream,  and 
stormed  the  battery;  but  having  been  forced  to  leave  their 
guns  behind,  and  finding  ours  in  an  unserviceable  condition, 
they  were  exposed,  almost  defenceless,  to  a  dreadful  fire  on 
either  hand,  at  first  of  artillery  alone,  but  soon  of  musketry 
in  addition,  the  First  Indiana  and  other  regiments  rushing  to 
a  break  in  their  line,  over  ravines  and  cliffs,  creeping  on  their 
hands  and  knees  where  they  could  not  run,  and  leaping 
where  they  could  not  creep. 

More  than  a  third  fell  or  surrendered.  The  rest  were  glad 
to  get  off  the  ground  as  fast  as  their  feet  could  carry  them. 

Fagin  also  left  his  artillery  beyond  the  abatis.  With  in 
fantry  alone,  not  more  than  four  regiments,  he  climbed  and 
ran  and  fought,  until  he  gained  the  rifle-pits  on  Hindman's 
hill.  He  then  formed  for  an  assault  on  battery  D,  and  being 
relieved  by  Price's  success,  of  a  heavy  enfilading  fire  from 
Graveyard  hill,  he  made  a  bold  rush.  He  was  repulsed.  He 
dashed  forward  again  to  be  again  repulsed,  and  thus  repeat 
edly,  and  while  suffering  from  heat,  thirst  and  fatigue.  At 
eleven,  Holmes  withdrew,  thoroughly  discomfited,  and  with 
a  loss  of  two  thousand,  more  or  less.  He  says  less.  Prentiss 
reports  more. 

The  First  Indiana,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pace,  and  the 
Forty-Third,  behaved  with  great  gallantry  in  the  defence  of 
Helena.  The  Forty-Third  captured  more  men  than  the  regi 
ment  numbered.  The  First,  beside  capturing  about  a  hun- 


THE  GLORIOUS  FOURTH.  341 

dred  men,  threw  away  more  than  half  its  carbines,  supplying 
their  place  on  the  field  with  the  enemy's  Enfield  rifles. 

The  negro  troops  at  Helena  were  not  without  an  honora 
ble  share  in  the  battle.  Standing  behind  intrenchments  less 
than  three  feet  high,  they  received  and  flung  back  a  heavy 
storming  party  which  had  thrown  itself  upon  them  in  an  ar 
rogant  assumption  of  success  through  the  mere  power  of 
complexion.  A  Rebel  Colonel,  who  was  in  the  assault,  af 
terward  in  strong  terms  described  to  Colonel  Rose,  then  a 
prisoner  in  Texas,  the  consternation  of  the  assailants  when 
they  found  themselves  not  only  fairly  met,  but  fairly  mas 
tered. 

One  of  the  negro  camps  was  burned,  but  the  school  house 
which  Mr.  Sawyer  had  built,  and  which  was  the  first  free 
school  house  ever  built  in  Arkansas,  was  left  standing.  That 
which  the  Rebels  feared  and  hated  most,  they  failed  to 
destroy. 

With  the  battle  of  Helena  ended  the  series  of  victories 
which,  in  one  day,  extended  from  Pennsylvania  to  Arkansas. 
The  sun  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  1863,  traversed  a  bloody  but 
shining  path.  It  rose  on  the  defeated  Lee  withdrawing  from 
Gettysburg,  passed  over  the  crestfallen  Pemberton  sullenly 
surrendering  Vicksburg,  and  set  on  the  broken  army  of  Gen 
eral  Holmes,  retreating  from  the  region  of  the  Mississippi. 


342  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PORT  HUDSON. 

On  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  President  Lincoln  congratulated 
General  Grant  that  the  Mississippi  now  "went  unvexed  to 
the  sea."  Port  Hudson,  however,  still  stood,  and  still  was 
defiant,  though  suffering,  and  in  such  weakness  that  the  sim 
ple  announcement  of  the  surrender  of  the  greater  fortress  was 
sufficient  to  complete  its  overthrow. 

Port  Hudson,  situated  on  a  sharp  bend  of  the  Mississippi 
and  on  a  high,  broken  bluff,  had  all  the  protection  which 
bountiful  nature  could  afford  of  creek,  bayou,  swamp,  tangled 
wood  and  hill,  and  all  the  strength  which  could  be  derived 
from  the  most  elaborate  and  skillfully  executed  fortifications. 
Its  inner  line  of  defense  was  three  or  four  miles  long.  Its 
outer  line  stretched  ten  miles  in  a  semi-circle  from  the  Missis 
sippi  on  the  south,  to  Thompson's  creek  on  the  north,  where 
a  swamp,  reaching  toward  the  river,  rendered  artificial  works 
superfluous.  But  its  main  defense  was  a  brave  and  numer 
ous  garrison,  under  a  fine,  determined,  gray-headed  com 
mander,  Colonel  Gardner. 

During  the  winter  and  spring,  General  Banks  frequently 
cast  an  anxious  eye  on  this  formidable  fastness ;  in  March  he 
approached  its  rear  and  threatened  an  attack,  while  Farra- 
gut  with  his  fleet  passed  the  front;  but  he  did  not  sit  down 
to  a  siege  until  he  had,  with  much  marching  and  some  fight 
ing,  driven  the  enemy  from  southern,  central  and  western 
Louisiana,  and  beguiled  part  of  the  garrison  to  other  points, 
and  until  his  compeer,  Grant,  after  a  series  of  battles,  had 
coiled  his  forces  round  Vicksburg. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  Banks  landed  five  miles  above  Port 
Hudson,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  with  troops  which 
had  marched,  or  which  had  been  transported  on  steamboats 


SIEGE  OF  PORT  HUDSON.  343 

from  Semmesport,  on  Red  river.  At  the  same  time,  Gen 
eral  Augur  advanced  from  Baton  Rouge  with  forces  which 
had  been  quartered  at  New  Orleans.  After  repulsing  and 
driving  the  enemy  within  his  outer  works,  the  two  bodies 
effected  a  junction  and  established  a  besieging  line  in  the 
following  order  from  right  to  left:  Weitzel,  Grover,  Paine, 
Augur  and  W.  T.  Sherman,  the  left  extending  to  the  river, 
the  right  to  Thompson's  creek.  The  usual  labors  of  a  siege 
then  began.  These  were  all  the  harder  that  the  sun  was 
burning,  that  the  surrounding  country,  poor  at  the  best,  was 
now  exhausted,  that  the  inhabitants  were  bitterly  hostile, 
that  the  Rebel  sharpshooters  were  untiring  and  unfailing, 
and  that  the  besiegers  were  scarcely  more  numerous  than  the 
besieged,  and  were  many  of  them  nine-months  men,  whose 
term  of  service  was  about  expiring. 

On  the  twenty-seventh,  an  attempt,  useless  as  it  was 
bloody,  was  made  to  storm  works  which  were  invulnerable 
to  direct  assault.  At  the  close  of  the  day  a  truce  was  asked 
and  granted  for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  Banks'  loss  thus  far 
amounted  to  one  thousand,  and  included  some  of  his  best 
officers.  June  10,  an  effort,  under  the  protection  of  artillery, 
to  draw  the  lines  closer,  was  relinquished  after  heavy  loss. 

On  the  fourteenth,  a  second  assault  was  made,  heralded 
as  the  first  had  been  by  a  bombardment,  and  carried  on  un 
der  showers  of  fire.  Seven  hundred  men  fell.  The  lines  on 
the  left  were  advanced  from  one  to  two  hundred  yards  to  a 
hill  which  commanded  the  citadel,  an  outlying  work  in  front 
of  a  triple  or  double  line  of  parapets  at  the  southern  end  of 
the  intre-nchments,  and  an  essential  part  of  the  fortress. 

After  the  second  assault,  operations  consisted  entirely  of 
ditching  and  mining,  sharpshooting,  skirmishing  and  batter 
ing.  Each  day  the  lines  drew  up  more  closely,  and  more 
surely  hemmed  the  enemy  in.  Balls  penetrated  to  every 
part  of  the  fortress.  Every  exposed  gun  was  ruined  by  the 
accurate  aim  and  prompt  firing  of  our  cannoneers.  Saps 
were  dug  to  the  line  of  defences.  The  citadel  was  made  a 
special  object  of  attack,  and  round  it  tree-tops  were  cut 
square  off,  trunks  were  splintered  or  bored  through  and 
through,  and  the  earth  was  swept  clean  of  bushes  and  weeds 


344  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

by  balls,  while  the  ground  was  pierced  by  shot  and  dug  into 
cellar-like  holes  by  exploding  bombs.  Under  the  citadel  a 
deep,  wide  mine  awaited  the  powder  and  the  match,  when  the 
besiegers  heard  intelligence  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg.  Guns 
and  cheers  on  river  and  land  announced  the  tidings  to  the 
enemy. 

The  garrison  capitulated  without  delay.  It  had  been 
reduced  in  part  to  mule  meat,  and  had  eaten  rats,  but  it  pre 
sented  a  less  gaunt  and  emaciated  appearance  than  the  be 
sieging  force.  General  .Banks'  troops  were  wearied  and 
worn  beyond  all  description  by  previous  hard  marching,  by 
the  climate  and  by  the  almost  unprecedented  toil,  exposure 
and  hard  fare  of  the  siege. 

Nearly  three  thousand  men  fell  before  Port  Hudson.  In 
cluding  the  garrison,  which,  at  the  time  of  the  surrender, 
numbered  six  thousand  four  hundred  and  eight,  the  captures 
amounted  to  ten  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-four  men, 
with  guns  and  small  arms,  steamboat,  cotton  and  commis 
sary  stores  of  immense  value. 

The  following  report,  somewhat  condensed,  of  the  Colonel 
of  the  Twenty-First  Indiana,  gives  an  account  of  the  opera 
tions  of  the  only  Indiana  troops  which  were  engaged  in  the 
siege.  In  February,  1863,  the  Twenty-First  was  removed 
from  infantry  to  heavy  artillery  service.  In  the  intervening 
time  it  drilled  in  New  Orleans,  except  during  the  Teche  cam 
paign  in  April,  in  which  it  participated,  the  men  manning 
their  guns  like  old  artillerists: 

"  PORT  HUDSON,  July  15,  1863. 

^Brigadier  General  Richard  Arnold: 

"  On  the  twenty-third  of  May,  with  batteries  A,  B,  G,  H 
and  K,  of  my  regiment,  under  command  respectively  of  Cap 
tains  Roy,  Grimsley,  McLaflin,  Connelly  and  Cox.  I  ar 
rived  in  front  of  Port  Hudson  and  reported  to  General  Augur, 
who  ordered  me  to  park  my  artillery  at  a  point  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  enemy's  works.  On  the  evening  of  the  twenty- 
sixth  I  was  joined  by  Captain  Hamrick  with  battery  E. 

"At  one  o'clock  the  next  morning,  I  commenced  posting 
my  batteries  as  follows:  K  nine  hundred  and  seventy-five 


POSITION  OF  BATTERIES.  345 

yards  from  the  parapet,  on  the  right  flank  of  General  Augur's 
front;  G  to  the  left  of  K;  B  on  the  right  flank  of  General 
Augur's  front,  twenty-two  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's 
intrenchments,  protected  by  a  rude  earthwork  thrown  up 
during  the  night;  H  at  a  point  of  woods  to  the  right  of  B, 
and  E  on  the  left  of  B.  The  positions  were  taken  under 
cover  of  darkness  and  without  alarming  the  enemy. 

"I  sent  Battery  A  to  General  Sherman,  commanding  the 
extreme  left.  The  first  section  was  posted  eight  hundred 
arid  fifty  yards  from  the  enemy's  works,  and  fired  during  the 
day  four  hundred  rounds,  disabling  a  forty-two-pounder  rifled 
gun  of  the  enemy.  The  second  section,  fifteen  hundred 
yards  from  the  parapet,  fired  two  hundred  and  fifty  rounds, 
and  dismounted  a  nine-pounder  brass  piece.  At  night  the 
second  section  rejoined  the  first,  and  both  remained  in  this 
position,  firing  one  gun  every  fifteen  minutes  at  the  parapet 
and  the  woods  enclosed  by  it,  where  the  enemy  was  supposed 
to  be  in  force. 

"  On  the  third  of  June  Captain  Roy  was  ordered  on  duty  as 
Major,  and  the  command  of  the  battery  devolved  on  Lieu 
tenant  Hall.  During  the  day  it  changed  its  position  to  a 
point  on  the  left,  and  was  engaged  by  two  nine-pound  rifles, 
two  six-pound  smooth  bores,  one  twenty-pound  Parrott,  and 
two  twenty-four-pound  rifled  guns.  So  well  was  it  served 
that  all  the  enemy's  guns  were  silenced,  and  he  was  driven 
from  them.  From  the  fourth  to  the  eighth  one  shot  every 
fifteen  minutes  was  thrown  inside  the  works.  On  the  night 
of  the  ninth  the  battery  advanced  three  hundred  yards.  Dur 
ing  the  assault  of  the  next  day  it  fired  on  the  enemy's  guns 
whenever  presented,  and  in  every  instance  silenced  them. 
The  battery  shelled  the  works  inside  the  fortifications  until 
the  fourteenth,  when  it  covered  the  assaulting  column,  firing 
four  hundred  rounds.  On  the  six  following  days  it  fired 
twenty  rounds  a  day  on  the  parapets  and  works.  On  the 
twenty-second  it  advanced  four  hundred  yards  nearer,  where 
it  kept  up  a  desultory  fire  until  the  surrender. 

"Battery  B  opened  fire  soon  after  daybreak  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  May,  on  guns  in  its  immediate  front.  The  enemy 
replied  with  spirit,  none  of  his  shots,  however,  doing  damage. 


346  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

On  the  thirty-first  Lieutenant  Blankenship,  with  one  gun, 
was  ordered  to  General  Grover's  front  to  join  Captain  Mc- 
Laflin.  Captain  Grimsley,  with  the  rest  of  his  guns,  re 
mained  in  the  first  position  until  about  the  ninth  of  June, 
when  he  moved  to  the  extreme  left  into  a  temporary  earth 
work,  previously  prepared.  It  immediately  opened  fire  on 
the  Citadel,  which  was  nine  hundred  yards  distant.  On  the 
twenty-second  it  moved  into  a  large  battery  on  the  extreme 
left,  known  as  Battery  Bailey,  and  joined  in  the  general 
firing. 

"Battery  C,  under  command  of  Captain  Rose,  arrived  from 
Baton  Rouge  on  the  first  of  June,  and  went  into  position  on 
the  left  of  the  centre.  On  the  tenth  it  dismounted  one  of 
the  enemy's  guns,  killing  the  Captain  and  several  of  the  men. 
On  the  twenty-second  two  howitzers  from  this  battery  were 
placed  in  position  on  the  extreme  left,  one  of  them  under 
command  of  Lieutenant  Bough,  in  Battery  Bailey,  and  the 
other  under  Lieutenant  Glover,  in  a  small  earthwork*,  a  short 
distance  to  the  right  of  it.  For  three  days  and  nights  these 
howitzers  fired  at  intervals  of  five  minutes.  They  dismounted 
three  of  the  enemy's  guns, 

"  Battery  D,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Hinkle,  arrived 
from  Baton  Rouge  on  the  first  of  June  with  five  twenty-four- 
pounders,  one  of  them  belonging  to  Battery  I,  and  went  into 
position  six  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  works,  three 
pieces  on  the  left  of  General  Augur,  and  the  others  on  the 
right  of  General  Dwight.  They  opened  fire  with  shell  on 
the  morning  of  the  ninth,  and  in  the  five  following  days  dis 
mounted  six  guns.  During  the  five  days  which  succeeded 
they  shelled  dismounted  guns  to  prevent  the  enemy  taking 
them  away.  Three  of  the  guns  then  moved  into  Battery 
Bailey,  and  opened  fire  on  the  Citadel,  only  three  hundred 
yards  distant.  After  several  hours  they  made  a  breach 
which  disclosed  a  gun.  This  gun  was  taken  away  by  the 
enemy  during  the  night.  The  battery  shelled  the  Citadel 
and  the  rille-pits  until  the  surrender.  Second  Lieutenant 
Jesse  Huddon,  of  this  battery,  was  severely  wounded  in  the 
right  arm  June  12,  by  a  sharpshooter,  while  in  the  lookout 
tree. 


FIRST  HEAVY  ARTILLERY.  347 

"Battery  E  had  been  in  action  on  General  Grover's  front 
two  days  prior  to  joining  my  command,  and  threw  the  first 
shot  into  Port  Hudson  by  the  land  batteries.  After  engag 
ing  the  enemy  two  hours,  and  drawing  his  fire,  it  retired 
without  sustaining  any  damage.  On  the  first  of  June  one 
section  was  moved  into  position  on  General  Dwight's  front, 
whence  it  fired  at  intervals  during  two  weeks,  dismounting 
one  forty-two-pound er.  The  second  section,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lieutenant  Hartley,  after  being  held  in  reserve  sev 
eral  days,  moved  into  Battery  Bailey.  It  engaged  at  inter 
vals  in  shelling  the  enemy,  preventing  him  from  working  on 
his  breastworks,  and  disabled  one  of  his  field-pieces. 

"  The  enemy  discovered  battery  G  at  sunrise  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  May,  and  at  once  opened  fire  with  heavy  guns  in 
front,  and  from  light  guns  on  the  right  flank.  Soon  after 
Captain  McLaflin  commenced  firing.  In  an  hour  the 
Rebels  ceased  to  play  upon  him  with  their  light  battery. 
The  heavy  guns  kept  up  a  constant  and  rapid  fire  for  two 
hours,  when  he  succeeded  in  silencing  them  for  a  short  time. 
Soon  after  they  opened  a  very  heavy  and  well-directed  fire, 
to  which  he  replied  with  great  rapidity,  compelling  them  to 
cease,  dismounting  two  of  their  heavy  guns  and  breaking  the 
parapet  so  as  to  fully  unmask  the  remaining  effective  guns 
bearing  on  the  battery.  The  guns  and  carriages  of  this  bat 
tery  were  struck  repeatedly,  a  sponge  was  broken  off  in  one 
of  the  guns,  the  lanyard  carried  away,  and  the  handspikes 
were  knocked  from  the  hands  of  the  men.  Two  men  were 
instantly  killed.  Several  were  slightly  wounded  by  splinters. 
The  centre  gun  was  struck  by  round  shot  repeatedly;  the 
right  wheel  of  the  carriage  was  so  badly  damaged  as  to  make 
it  necessary  to  replace  it  with  a  wheel  from  the  timber.  This 
was  done  under  fire. 

"About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  our  assaulting  col 
umns  having  been  repulsed,  and  the  supports  of  this  battery 
and  battery  K  having  been  withdrawn,  the  batteries  with 
drew  and  went  into  park.  During  the  engagement  the  bat 
tery  fired  four  hundred  and  fifty  rounds.  On  the  thirty-first 
it  was  ordered,  with  one  gun  from  battery  B,  under  command 
of  Lieutenant  Blankenship,  to  report  to  General  Grover,  com- 


348  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

manding  right  wing.  On  the  morning  of  June  1,  it  advanced 
under  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy  to  positions  about  four  hun 
dred  yards  from  the  works.  On  the  fifth,  fire  opened  from 
four  of  the  guns.  Battery  C  dismounted  a  heavy  rifle.  Ser 
geant  Fuller  dismounted  two  guns,  breaking  one  of  them 
into  several  pieces,  and  destroying  the  enemy's  corn  mill. 
Lieutenant  Blankenship  dismounted  two  guns  and  burned  a 
building  used  as  a  store  house,  destroying  a  large  amount  of 
corn  and  other  stores.  Lieutenant  Harrower  dismounted 
two  guns.  During  ten  days  the  guns  of  this  battery  fired 
several  rounds  each  day  at  the  enemy's  works  and  prominent 
objects  inside  his  intrenchments.  On  the  fourteenth  these 
guns  were  ordered  to  enfilade  the  Priest's  Cap  of  the  enemy's 
works,  over  which  an  assault  was  to  have  been  made  by 
our  troops.  As  the  column  advanced,  the  enemy  opened 
upon  it  with  two  light  guns,  which  were  dismounted  by 
Lieutenant  Harrower  as  soon  as  he  found  out  their  position. 

"Battery  H  commenced  firing  soon  after  sunrise  on  the 
twenty-seventh  of  May,  silencing  two  guns  in  General  Au 
gur's  front,  and  dismounting  another.  Until  the  ninth  of 
June,  it  fired  a  few  shell  each  day  to  annoy  the  enemy's 
sharpshooters,  and  at  prominent  objects  inside  their  works. 
It  then  moved  to  the  extreme  left,  and  into  the  same  earth 
work  with  battery  B.  On  the  twelfth,  one  of  its  guns  moved 
out  to  an  open  point  opposite  the  Citadel,  seven  hundred 
yards  from  it,  and  dismounted  a  forty-two  pounder  rifled 
gun.  On  the  twenty-third,  having  received  new  guns  in  the 
place  of  two  disabled,  battery  H  was  posted  in  Battery  Bai 
ley.  It  took  part  in  the  firing  until,  six  days  afterwards,  it 
was  ordered  across  the  river.  On  the  first  of  July,  it  opened 
fire  on  the  lower  water-battery,  which,  returning  the  fire,  dis 
abled  the  carriage  of  one  gun.  The  next  day  it  dismounted 
a  rifled  gun.  The  day  after,  it  disabled  an  eight-inch  Co- 
lumbiad,  and  twice  dismounted  a  thirty- two  pounder  rifled 
gun.  June  4  and  5,  it  disabled  a  thirty-two  pounder  rifle. 

"  Battery  K,  consisting  of  two  guns,  was,  on  the  morning 
of  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  exposed  to  a  galling  fire  on  the 
front  and  right  flank.  Captain  Cox  rapidly  responded,  firing 


FIRST  HEAVY  ARTILLERY.  349 

three  hundred  rounds  in  eight  hours  and  dismounting  one 
of  the  enemy's  guns. 

"At  one  o'clock  Battery  K  was  withdrawn,  and  went  into 
park.  June  3,  it  was  ordered  into  position  in  front  of  Colo 
nel  Dudley's  brigade,  six  hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's 
works.  It  fired  during  the  day  twenty-three  rounds,  blowing 
up  a  small  magazine  of  the  enemy.  From  the  seventh  to 
the  thirteenth  one  shot  was  fired  every  fifteen  minutes  to 
annoy  the  enemy,  and  keep  him  from  strengthening  his 
works.  During  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  one  shot  was 
fired  every  five  minutes  to  annoy  the  enemy's  sharpshooters, 
and  engage  his  guns  during  the  assault.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth  it  advanced  within  three  hundred  and  seventy-five 
yards  of  the  parapet,  and  opened  fire,  with  good  result,  upon 
the  enemy,  who  was  annoying  our  working  parties. 

"  Our  total  loss  in  killed,  and  wounded,  and  missing,  during 
the  siege,  was  twenty-eight. 

"  We  had  eleven  guns  in  Battery  Bailey,  four  thirty-pounder 
Parrotts,  two  twenty-pounder  Parrotts,  three  twenty-four- 
pounder  smooth  bores,  and  two  eight  inch  howitzers.  These 
guns  were  under  the  command  of  Major  Roy,  and  did  good 
execution  in  breaching  the  Citadel,  and  destroying  the  ene 
my's  guns  mounted  there.  Some  of  the  guns  of  this  battery 
were  within  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  enemy's  par 
apet,  and  exposed  to  a  constant  fire  from  his  sharpshooters. 
The  Major,  while  personally  directing  the  fire  of  one  of  the 
guns,  received  a  very  painful  wound  in  the  right  arm,  but 
never  for  a  moment  quit  his  post. 

"  For  forty-two  days  and  nights  my  officers  and  men  stood 
constantly  at  their  guns,  and  for  five  or  six  days  and  nights 
of  that  time  the  guns  were  fired  every  five  minutes. 

"  These  arduous  duties  were  performed  without  a  murmur 
or  complaint,  and  were  I  called  upon  to  furnish  a  list  of  those 
of  my  command  who  distinguished  themselves  during  the 
siege,  it  would  be  little  less  than  a  transcript  of  my  muster 
roll. 

"  To  the  accuracy  and  effect  of  our  fire  our  enemies  as 
well  as  our  friends  attest.  In  a  well  written  history  of  the 
siege  of  Port  Hudson,  by  a  Confederate  officer,  he  says: 


350  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

*  To  the  Indiana  regiment  of  artillery,  which  had  many  bat 
teries  of  Parrott  guns,  we  attributed  the  most  of  our  misfor 
tunes.  Some  of  our  guns  were  dismounted  over  and  over 
again,  the  wheels  knocked  to  pieces,  and  the  carriages  shat 
tered  into  splinters.'  Again  he  says:  *  The  enemy's  artillery 
fire  was  very  severe  from  the  commencement,  and  many  of 
their  guns  were  fired  with  the  accuracy  of  a  rifle.'  Again : 
'  The  Parrott  shot,  from  the  accuracy  of  the  fire,  appeared  to 
be  the  most  effective.' 

"  I  was  greatly  indebted  to  Major  Roy  for  valuable  services 
rendered  during  the  siege.  Chaplain  Brakeman,  Lieutenant 
George  Wood  and  Sergeant  Major  Mooney  rendered  effi 
cient  services  in  carrying  orders  under  fire  of  the  enemy. 

"JOHN  A.  KEITH." 


"SALUTE  THE  SACRED  DEAD."  £51 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

CHARLES  E.  TUCKER. 

Go  forth,  what  fearest  thou?  Go  forth,  my  soul,  what  doubtest  thou? 
All  thy  years  hast  thou  served  Christ,  and  dost  thou  fear  death? — Last 
words  of  Ililarion. 

One  of  the  gallant  dead  who  fell  before  Port  Hudson  was 
Captain  Tucker,  of  the  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  regiment 
of  New  York  volunteers.  His  short  story  is  lovingly  told  by 
his  own  and  his  father's  friend,  Rev.  Dr.  Post,  of  Logansport: 

"Charles  Elisha  Tucker  was  born  in  Laporte,  Indiana, 
July  22,  1841.  He  was  greatly  a  debtor  to  the  influences  of 
birth  and  early  culture.  If  he  owed  much  to  the  parental 
roof,  it  is  difficult  to  limit  the  worth  of  these  advantages  and 
the  obligations  they  imposed;  it  may  be  added,  that  he  ap 
preciated  them  and  well  met  his  responsibilities.  His  at 
tachment  to  that  home,  his  grateful  and  dutiful  love  to  its 
inmates,  were  a  strong  feature  of  his  character.  One  who 
knew  said  of  him,  *  His  filial  affection  was  unbounded,  and 
in  the  family  he  was  all  that  the  fondest  parent  could  desire.' 

"The  hope  of  returning,  the  fond  trust  that  he  should 
again  meet  father  and  mother  when  the  great  duty  to  the 
country  had  been  done,  strengthened  him  and  kept  his  heart 
buoyant  in  dreary  marches  and  privations,  in  dark  encounters 
and:  perils.  Present  in  his  death  struggle,  bright  among  the 
last  images  of  earth,  was  that  beloved  home.  l  Tell  my  pa 
rents,'  he  says,  as  his  life  blood  is  fast  ebbing,  '  I  died  fighting 
for  my  country.  I  had  hoped  to  live  to  go  home  again ;  but 
since  it  is  not  so,  I  am  proud  to  die  in  such  a  cause.' 

"He  had  in  a  large  measure  the  sympathies  and  gifts 
which  adapt  one  to  find  pleasure  and  have  influence  in  soci 
ety.  Genial, and  scattering  sunshine,  with  quick  wit,  flowing 
in  pleasantry  and  original  suggestion ;  with  that  faculty  to 


352  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

see  the  bright  side  and  hope  the  best,  which  is  so  great  an 
element  of  strength,  both  to  do  and  to  endure ;  with  a  vigor 
ous  constitution  and  robust  health,  and  wont  to  have  all  his 
energies  absorbed  in  whatever  he  engaged,  whether  work  or 
study  or  sport,  he  much  attracted  and  bound  to  him  associ- 
ciates.  In  childhood,  he  had  the  qualities  of  a  popular  fa 
vorite  and  a  recognized  leader.  His  friendships  were  'hooks 
of  steel.'  If  we  follow  him  from  New  Orleans  and  Gales- 
burg,  from  the  school  and  the  army,  back  to  the  side  of  the 
little  lake  at  Laporte,  we  see  there,  at  three  years  old,  the 
miniature  man,  while  he  draws  down  to  the  shore  a  group 
of  his  mates  and  amuses  himself  in  preaching  to  them,  and 
saying,  'Come  now,  if  you  have  repented,  let  us  go  down  to 
the  lake  and  I  will  baptize  you  all.'  The  same  companiona 
ble  nature  and  social  power  distinguished  him  in  the  college 
and  the  university,  and  come  out  affectingly  in  his  relation 
to  the  company  of  men  whom  he  commanded.  It  was  the 
consciousness  of  his  influence  over  them,  and  his  brotherly 
sensibility  to  their  desires,  which  led  him,  when  he  had  been 
detained  by  sickness  a  short  time,  to  hasten  back  that  he 
might  share  with  them  the  dangers  then  imminent  and  soon 
so  fatal.  From  New  Orleans,  a  little  more  than  two  weeks 
before  his  death,  he  writes  to  his  mother:  'You  know,  dear 
mother,  dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  patria  mori.  I  cannot  go 
without  inconvenience  just  now,  but  Nicholas  says  Corbin 
wants  me,  and  the  boys  long  and  pray  for  me  to  join  them. 
How  I  love  those  boys,  and  will  stand  by  them  at  any  loss. 
Good-bye,  mother.  Good-bye,  all.  If  I  return,  all  right;  if 
not,  God  save  me,  is  all  I  ask.  Aye,  it  is  heaven  in  place  of 
earth.' 

"How  this  love  was  reciprocated,  a  historian  of  the  regi 
ment  thus  relates : 

"  The  brave,  genial,  noble  Captain  Tucker  was  no  more. 
He  was  the  most  popular  officer  in  the  regiment,  and  his 
death  touched  a  tender  cord  in  the  heart  of  every  man. 
More  particularly  in  his  own  company  was  there  an  over 
whelming  feeling  of  sadness,  for  there  he  had  especially  en 
deared  himself  in  the  hearts  of  his  men.  For  years,  in  after 
campaigns,  the  men  of  company  G  were  never  tired  of  dis- 


NONE  KNEW  HIM  BUT  TO  LOVE  HIM.  353 

coursing  over  the  excellent  qualities  of  Captain  Tucker.'  I 
continue  to  quote,  because  the  subjoined  notice  is  of  one 
who  was  a  native  of  Logansport:  '  Their  sorrow  approached 
to  anguish,  when  was  added  to  their  calamities  the  death  of 
their  Second  Lieutenant,  H.  P.  Corbin.  He,  too,  died  as  he 
had  lived — a  brave,  generous,  faithful  soldier — and  left  be 
hind  him  a  store  of  cherished  memories." 

"Another  comrade  says:  'Wherever  Captain  Tucker  was, 
there  he  found  friends : 

'  None  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
Nor  named  him  but  to  praise.' 

"No  officer  in  the  regiment  gave  greater  promise  than  he; 
none  ever  died  more  regretted.  Young,  with  a  face  of  al 
most  womanly  beauty,  a  winning  address,  and  that  bon- 
homme  which  always  captivates,  he  was  one  of  the  rare  few 
who  create  attachments  where  others  would  only  make  ac 
quaintances.  He  seemed  to  enter  into  the  perils  and  hard 
ships  of  the  war  as  gaily  as  though  it  had  been  a  day's  frolic. 
If  there  was  a  thoughtful  under-current  in  his  mind,  he  never 
allowed  it  to  come  to  the  surface.  His  company  was  proud 
of  him,  and  deservedly.  There  were  few  who  could  com 
mand  so  well,  or  in  whom  the  spirit  of  leadership  was  so 
quickly  recognized  by  subordinates.  He  was  the  beau  ideal 
of  a  gallant,  dashing  officer;  with  a  richly  stored  mind,  an 
active  body,  and  a  capacity  to  do  much  and  well.  The  fu 
ture  seemed  to  promise  brightly  for  him.  After  an  acquaint 
ance  of  nine  months,  I  can  thus  honestly  speak  of  him.  The 
praise  of  those  who  knew  him  during  the  whole  of  his  short 
life,  will  give  him  no  stinted  measure  of  affectionate  admir 
ation.' 

"A  superior  intellect  early  peered  through  his  rich  social 
affections,  and  accompanied,  as  it  continued  to  be,  with  o 
notable  modesty  and  diligence,  rendered  him  a  delightful 
pupil  and  won  willing  honor  from  schoolmates.  He  gathered 
knowledge  with  great  facility.  As  soon  as  he  could  articu 
late,  it  was  a  pastime  of  his  father  to  teach  him  portions  of 
scripture,  and  when  two  years  old  he  would  repeat  with  en- 
23 


354  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

thusiasm,  without  being  prompted,  the  nineteenth  psalm. 
While  yet  a  boy,  he  read  extensively  the  best  English  and 
German  authors,  and  the  acquirements  thus  made,  and  his 
ready  command  of  them,  were  afterward,  in  all  positions,  a 
striking  and  valuable  power.  His  mind  was  elastic  and 
seemed  not  to  tire.  It  moved  with  alacrity  and  vigor,  moved 
heroically,  and  was  versatile  and  clear.  The  teachers,  both 
in  his  literary  and  his  theological  course,  bestowed  on  him 
unmeasured  praise.  A  brother  officer,  among  other  words 
of  eulogy  and  grief,  says  of  him :  *  Seldom,  even  in  this  un 
natural  strife — claiming  as  victims  the  bravest,  the  wisest 
and  the  best — have  we  been  called  upon  to  record  the  death 
of  one  whose  natural  talents,  scholastic  acquirements,  bril 
liant  intellect,  social  qualities  and  goodness  of  heart,  com 
bined  with  a  marked  diffidence,  gave  more  assurance  of  fu 
ture  usefulness  than  did  our  deceased  friend.  To  those  who 
knew  him  intimately,  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  in  all 
the  qualities  that  adorn  and  render  life  useful  and  happy,  he 
had  few  equals.  His  mind  was  of  the  highest  order,  and 
mastered  the  most  difficult  studies  with  surprising  ease. 
From  early  boyhood,  he  gave  promise  of  an  intellect  which 
developed  and  matured,  and  made  him  almost  the  idol  of 
his  family  and  commanded  the  admiration  of  all  who  asso 
ciated  with  him.'  Much  more  to  the  same  purpose  might 
be  cited  from  numerous  pens,  which  seem  never  weary  in 
their  loving  sorrow  over  his  death.  The  communities  who 
listened  to  his  public  addresses,  were  much  impressed  by  the 
ability  and  eloquence  associated  with  so  useful  a  presence. 
His  writings,  from  which  I  do  not  quote,  only  through  want 
of  time,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  twenty  surprise  the  reader 
by  the  freshness  and  maturity  of  thought  and  richness  of  il 
lustration  which  run  through  them.  His  imagination  was 
imperial,  sweeping  with  a  wonderful  breadth  and  force,  and 
filling  the  horizon  with  sparkling  imagery.  Yet  scarcely  less 
remarkable  was  his  logic,  and  in  some  productions  were  the 
shrewd  searching  and  quiet  strength  of  his  critical  reasoning. 
"  But  what  we  dwell  on  with  chief  pleasure  and  gratitude 
to  his  Creator  and  Saviour  is,  his  early  and  steadfast  piety. 
In  his  fifth  year  he  became  very  much  interested  in  reading 


NOR  NAMED  HIM  BUT  TO  PRAISE.  355 

*  The  Attractions  of  the  Cross,'  by  Dr.  Spring,  and  would  sit 
an  hour  at  a  time  attentively  looking  at  a  lithographic  repre 
sentation  of  the  crucifixion,  and  reading  with  the  deepest 
emotion.  When  six  years  old,  in  the  absence  of  his  father, 
he  asked  if  he  might  say  grace  at  the  table,  which  he  did  with 
the  sincerity  and  devotion  of  an  older  person.  At  twelve 
years  of  age  he  publicly  devoted  himself  to  Christ.  At  four 
teen,  he  entered  Knox  College,  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  where 
before  the  close  of  his  eighteenth  year,  he  graduated  with 
the  honors  of  the  college,  giving  an  oration  to  which  the  Fac 
ulty  awarded  the  high  praise  of  being  the  best  ever  delivered 
by  a  student  of  that  college.  His  mind,  which  had  wavered 
between  the  professions  of  Law  and  Divinity,  then  became 
settled,  and  he  passed  the  next  two  years  chiefly  in  theolog 
ical  studies  at  Madison  University,  near  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
there,  too,  distinguished  and  admired  for  his  proficiency.  The 
horrid  rebellion  was  then  raging;  and  he  could  not  but  feel 
the  most  lively  and  anxious  interest  in  the  mighty  problem 
to  be  wrought  out  by  the  war.  Looking  at  public  affairs  not 
only  nor  chiefly  in  their  lower  field,  so  often  murky  with 
human  passions,  but  studying  them  on  the  higher  plane  and 
in  the  purer  light  of  their  relation  to  the  Divine  counsels  and 
government  and  to  the  broadest  questions  of  duty,  he  deci 
ded  to  give  himself  to  the  cause  of  his  country,  which  he 
deemed  also  the  cause  of  the  human  race  and  of  God.  Nor 
to  his  latest  hour  did  he  lose  confidence  in  the  worthiness  of 
the  side  he  espoused,  and  in  the  purity  of  his  motives.  But 
though  his  heart  burned  and  his  reasonings  were  weighty 
and  earnest  to  be  gone  to  active  service,  out  of  respect  to  his 
parents'  desire  that  he  should  complete  his  theological  course, 
he  remained  to  graduate,  acquitting  himself  so  as  to  inspire 
a  very  warm  interest,  and  large  expectations  of  usefulness. 
He  had  already  begun  the  contemplated  work  of  his  life,  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  the  few  written  sermons  he  left  deepen 
our  sense  of  loss  in  his  early  removal. 

"  Leaving  the  University,  he  at  once  set  himself  to  the 
labor  of  raising  a  company,  of  which  he  was  commissioned 
Captain,  and  which  as  a  part  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Four 
teenth  New- York  Volunteers,  through  various  vicissitudes  by 


356  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

land  and  sea,  he  led,  under  General  Banks,  to  New  Orleans, 
and  other  points  in  Louisiana,  and  finally  to  Port  Hudson , 
Louisiana.  There  in  the  very  gallant,  but  inevitably  fruit 
less  and  disastrous  assault,  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1863,  as 
the  first  rays  of  the  Sabbath  sun  were  smiling  on  the  ram 
parts  of  Port  Hudson,  leading  his  men,  he  fell.  The  ball 
struck  him  in  the  breast,  and  in  about  ten  minutes  the  mor 
tal  life  had  ceased.  As  he  lies,  languishing,  with  difficulty 
he  speaks  to  an  intimate  friend,  of  the  purity  of  the  desire  he 
has  felt  to  serve  his  country — how  strong  has  been  his  trust 
to  serve  her,  but  is  conscious  he  can  no  longer.  His  mem 
ory  recalls  the  home  he  has  left.  *  Tell  them  I  was  conscious 
to  the  last.  I  had  strong  hopes  to  see  them  all  again  when 
peace  should  relieve  me  of  present  duty.  These  hopes  fade, 
but  other  hopes,  which  have  been  a  comfort  to  rne  before,  are 
now  brightening,  and  fast  becoming  the  body  of  my  life.'  A 
few  other  fond  words  for  those  who  would  most  grieve  for 
him,  and  much  more  which  cannot  be  caught — for  the  battle 
is  fierce  around  them — and  he  seems  engaged  in  prayer. 
Then  in  occasional  accents  of  peace  and  triumph,  his  voice 
dies  away,  while  his  face  is  lighted  up  with  unusual  bright- 


AT  THE  SOLDIERS'  HOME.  357 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

IN  ANDERSONVILLE. 

"Man's  inhumanity  to  maa 
Makes  countless  thousands  mourn!" — Burns. 

"But  whether  in  the  prison  dtfear, 

Or  in  the  battle's  van, 
The  fittest  place  for  man  to  die 
Is  where  he  dies  for  man." 

— Inscribed  in  the  National  Cemetery  at  Andersonville. 

Iii  my  visit  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  in  March,  1868,  I  had 
some  conversation  with  William  Stockdale,  a  young  man 
with  a  fair,  modest,  intelligent  countenance,  and  a  quite 
superior  manner  of  speaking.  Something,  I  could  hardly  say 
what,  for  his  pronunciation  betrayed  no  peculiarities,  made 
me  think  him  an  Englishman,  so  I  asked:  "Are  you  an 
Indianian?"  "No,  I  was  bom  in  England,  and  had  been 
here  but  a  short  time  when  the  war  broke  out." 

He  was  evidently  in  delicate  health,  one  eye  was  nearly 
out,  one  leg  was  off,  and  it  seemed  to  add  to  the  severity  of 
his  fate  that  he  should  be  a  foreigner.  I  thoughtlessly  be 
gan,  "Do  you  not  regret,"  then,  interrupting  myself,  "It 
would  be  unfair  to  ask  that.  But  you  certainly  have  suffered 
and  sacrificed  much  for  an  adopted  country." 

"  I  do  not  regret  enlisting,"  he  said  quietly,  as  if  the  ques 
tion  were  a  familiar,  or  at  least  a  settled  one. 

He  told  his  story,  then  at  my  request  wrote  it  out,  sending 
it  to  me,  as  my  visit  was  short,  accompanied  by  a  note  in 
which  he  says,  "  I  have  the  pleasure  of  forwarding  to  you  a 
statement  of  a  portion  of  the  facts  concerning  Andersonville 
as  I  remember  them." 

I  give  you  the  narrative  without  alteration : 

"  My  name  is  William  Stockdale.     I  was  formerly  a  pri- 


358  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

vate  in  company  D  of  the  Forty-Eighth  Indiana  Volunteer 
Infantry,  and  was  wounded  in  action  on  the  fourteenth  of 
May,  1863,  in  the  battle  of  Jackson,  Mississippi.  On  the  fol 
lowing  day  the  wounded  were  taken  into  Jackson  by  our 
men,  and  a  hospital  established.  Surgeons  and  attendants 
were  left  with  us,  and  the  army  moved  on  to  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg.  In  two  or  three  days  the  Rebels  under  Johnston 
occupied  the  town,  and  we  became  prisoners  of  war.  Each 
man  was  searched  for  money  and  jewelry,  and  told  by  the 
officers  who  conducted  the  search,  that  any  such  valuables 
taken  from  us  would  be  returned  when  we  were  about  to  be 
exchanged.  Very  little  credit,  however,  was  placed  by  us  on 
any  such  promises.  Our  fare  consisted  of  corn  bread,  beef, 
and  corn  coffee  in  limited  quantities.  As  fast  as  the  wounded 
were  able  to  be  moved,  they  were  formed  in  squads,  a  Fed 
eral  surgeon  attached  to  each  squad,  and  were  sent  through 
to  Richmond  for  exchange.  By  the  latter  part  of  June  we 
were  reduced  to  ten  men,  and  entirely  under  the  treatment 
of  the  Rebel  surgeons,  ours  having  been  sent  on  with  the 
men  for  exchange.  On  the  sixth  of  July  it  became  neces 
sary  to  amputate  my  leg  in  consequence  of  gangrene.  The 
operation  was  performed  by  a  young  Rebel  surgeon,  and  I 
was  afterwards  told  it  was  his  first. 

"  Of  my  treatment  during  the  first  nine  months  of  my  im 
prisonment,  I  must  in  justice  say  that  I  cannot  complain,  for 
though  at  times  my  comrades  and  I  did  suffer  much  because 
of  the  want  of  proper  nourishment  and  care,  from  what  I 
could  learn  at  the  time,  I  was  induced  to  believe  we  fared  as 
well  as  could  be  reasonably  expected. 

"  When  Jackson  fell  the  second  time  (in  July)  I,  with  oth 
ers  of  the  ten  who  were  living,  was  retaken  by  our  troops,  but 
in  consequence  of  the  state  of  my  limb  and  health,  I  and  six 
others  who  could  not  be  moved,  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
Rebels,  the  Union  men,  with  every  wounded  man  who  could 
possibly  bear  transportation,  returning  to  Vicksburg. 

"  From  Jackson  I  was  sent  to  Brandon,  with  two  others, 
one  of  the  two  having  been  wounded  in  the  last  fight  at  Jack 
son.  I  afterwards  learned  that  he  reached  our  lines.  The 
other  man  died  at  Brandon. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  CAPTAIN  WIRZ.  359 

a  I  remained  at  Brandon  about  four  months,  and  being  the 
only  Federal  in  the  hospital,  fared  as  well  as  the  Rebel  pa 
tients.  From  Brandon  I  was  sent  to  Cahawba,  Alabama,  to 
a  military  prison  established  at  that  place.  I  remained  at 
Cahawba  nearly  two  months.  The  building  used  for  a  prison 
was  a  large  tobacco  ware-house  of  one  story.  The  men  suf 
fered  much  from  the  smoke  of  the  cooking  fires,  which  were 
built  on  the  ground  in  the  building,  the  flooring  having  been 
torn  up.  The  quantity  of  food  issued  there  was  greater  than 
that  at  Andersonville. 

"From  Cahawba  we  were  sent  to  Andersonville,  and  at 
the  same  time  we  were  told  by  the  Rebel  officers  that  we 
were  going  to  Savannah  to  be  exchanged.  Their  reason  for 
deceiving  the  men  was  to  keep  those  who  were  able  to  make 
an  escape,  from  making  the  attempt.  We  arrived  at  Ander 
sonville  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  1864.  Our  number  was 
about  six  hundred,  of  whom  but  a  few  were  sick,  the  major 
ity  of  the  men  not  having  been  prisoners  over  four  or  five 
months. 

"  Wirz  was  there  to  receive  the  prisoners,  and  he  at  once 
succeeded  in  making  himself  notoriously  known  to  all  the 
men,  for  he  damned  them  liberally  to  begin  with,  telling  them 
they  had  not  Captain  Henderson,  of  Cahawba,  to  deal  with. 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  get  into  the  hospital  at  once  if  possi 
ble,  knowing  that  I  would  stand  a  poor  chance  in  the  com 
mon  prison  on  one  leg.  There  were  some  six  or  eight  who 
were  very  sick,  and  who  could  not  have  walked  to  the  prison. 
I  staid  with  them,  and  we  were  taken  to  the  hospital  in 
what  the  Rebels  called  an  ambulance.  It  was  composed  of 
an  ox  team  and  an  old  lumber  wagon.  The  so-called  hos 
pital  was  at  that  time  in  one  corner  of  the  stockade,  and  had 
no  barrier  between  the  main  body  of  the  prisoners  and  the 
sick.  The  shelter  furnished  the  afflicted  was  a  square  piece 
of  canvass  stretched  over  a  pole,  which  was  supported  by 
crotches  set  in  the  ground.  Each  tent  contained  twelve 
men,  who,  when  lying  down,  entirely  covered  the  ground 
that  was  sheltered  by  the  canvass  from  the  sun  and  rain. 
The  foliage  of  the  pine  tree,  commonly  called  pine  straw, 
was  given  them  to  lie  on,  and  was  their  only  protection  from 


360  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  ground,  unless  the  prisoner  was  fortunate  enough  to 
possess  a  blanket.  A  comrade  and  myself  were  assigned  a 
place  in  one  of  the  tents,  but  we  determined  to  lie  in  the 
open  air  in  preference,  and  were  advised  to  do  so  by  the  hos 
pital  attendants  for  our  health's  sake.  The  inmates  of  the 
tents  were  as  lousy  as  men  could  possibly  be,  and  the  help 
lessly  sick  suffered  very  much  from  such  vermin.  A  majority 
of  the  sick  were  too  weak  to  move  themselves  when  nature 
demanded,  consequently  the  stench  was  intolerable.  The 
nurses  would  clean  them  by  throwing  water  on  their  persons, 
and  by  holding  their  shirts  over  the  smoke  and  heat  of  a  pine 
fire,  in  order  that  the  lice  might  be  scorched  or  suffocated 
off.  Men  who  were  able  made  a  regular  practice  each  day 
of  hunting  and  killing  the  vermin  that  infested  their  garments. 
There  was  no  way  of  boiling  water  in  sufficient  quantities 
for  washing  purposes,  and  cold  water  don't,  in  any  way,  in 
convenience  a  gray-back.  It  was  a  common  thing  to  see,  in 
the  evening,  the  sick,  who  were  too  weak  to  walk,  crawl  out 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  their  shirts  over  the  fire  to  rid  them 
of  their  loathsome  tenants.  Even  the  wood  that  was  used 
for  that  purpose  was  a  luxury  that  many  a  poor  sick  fellow, 
who  did  not  belong  to  the  hospital,  did  not  get.  A  man 
was  not  admitted  to  the  hospital  until  in  a  very  bad  condi 
tion,  many  dying  in  the  camp  every  day.  I  fortunately  had 
a  blanket,  and  a  nurse  gave  my  comrade  one  that  was  left 
by  a  dead  man,  one  of  which  we  spread  on  stakes  for  a  shel 
ter,  and  the  other  we  used  for  a  cover  at  night,  and  we  were 
better  off  than  hundreds  of  others,  for  many  of  the  men  were 
deprived  of  their  blankets  when  captured,  and  had  to  do 
without  shelter,  (T  have  reference  to  those  not  in  hospital,) 
unless  they  could  crowd  in  with  some  friend,  or  get  a  blan 
ket  left  by  some  dead  comrade. 

"  The  food  consisted  of  a  ration  of  corn  bread,  a  very  small 
piece  of  meat,  and  a  cup  of  rice  soup  in  the  morning,  the 
grains  of  rice  being  frequently  so  scarce  that  they  might 
easily  be  counted,  and  placed  in  the  bowl  of  a  table  spoon. 
In  the  evening  another  cup  of  rice  soup  that  was  always 
tasteless  and  flat,  because  of  the  lack  of  salt.  The^  quantity 
of  corn  bread  issued  at  that  time  was  sufficient,  but  of  a 


"HE  SPAKE  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  HIS  BODY".  361 

quality  so  miserable  we  could  not  eat  it  except  when  driven 
to  it  by  actual  hunger. 

"  In  June,  if  I  remember  right,  the  hospital  department  was 
moved  out  of  the  stockade  to  a  new  and  clean  piece  of  land, 
on  which  the  trees  still  stood,  the  shade  of  which  afforded  us 
much  relief  from  the  heat  of  the  sun.  By  that  time  the 
patients  numbered,  as  near  as  I  could  judge,  about  two  thou 
sand.  When  moving  from  the  old  hospital  to  the  new  one, 
all  who  could  possibly  walk  were  ordered  to  start,  under  the 
escort  of  the  guard,  for  the  new  quarters.  The  patients  did 
not  need  urging,  for  they  were  eager  to  leave  their  filthy 
quarters,  knowing  the  change  would  be  for  the  better,  so 
every  man,  who  could  move,  willingly  took  up  the  line  of 
march,  leaving  only  those  who  could  not  stir.  Wirz  made 
his  appearance  just  then,  and  seeing  the  men  in  the  tents, 
swore  he  would  pull  the  tents  down  on  them  if  they  did  not 
leave,  but  he  talked  and  threatened  in  vain,  for  those  who 
lay  there  were  dying  men,  and  would  walk  no  more. 

"  Our  quarters  were  much  better  on  the  new  ground,  and  the 
shelter  from  sun  and  rain  was  much  improved,  but  the  num 
ber  of  sick  was  increasing  fast,  and  death  was  busy  in  July 
and  August,  at  one  time  the  deaths  averaging  over  one  hun 
dred  per  day.  The  corpses  were  numbered  and  hauled  away 
in  the  mornings  in  a  large  army  wagon.  Two  corpses  would 
be  placed  in  the  forward  end  of  the  wagon,  with  the  feet  to 
the  mules,  and  over  the  end  of  the  wagon ;  two  more  would 
be  placed  against  them,  and  so  on  until  the  load  was  com 
pleted.  The  pantaloons  or  drawers  would  slip  down  on  the 
stiffened  limbs;  the  bed  of  the  wagon  would  hide  the  bodies 
of  the  dead  from  view,  leaving  only  to  sight  the  naked,  stif 
fened  limbs  of  a  dozen  or  more  dead  men,  the  load  being  so 
arranged  that  they  were  feet  uppermost. 

"  Meat  was  issued  in  September  in  very  small  quantities, 
finally  so  small  that  it  became  almost  an  impossibility  to 
divide  it  into  so  many  rations,  so  the  cooks  were  ordered  to 
chop  it  up  and  boil  it  with  the  rice  soup  in  the  mornings, 
then  if  a  person  found  a  little  piece  in  his  tin  cup  he  was  a 
lucky  fellow,  and  might,  if  closely  watched,  be  seen  to  smile. 
Any  large  bone  which  had  been  thrown  away  after  having 


362  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

been  picked  clean,  would  certainly  be  picked  up  by  some 
hungry  one,  and  broken  into  small  pieces,  then  boiled  until 
all  its  grease  and  substance  were  imparted  to  the  water, 
making,  with  the  addition  of  a  little  salt,  a  weak  soup. 

"In  October  the  rations  of  corn  bread  gradually  grew  much 
smaller  than  they  had  previously  been,  and  more  irregular  in 
coming  into  camp.  The  men  would  gather  in  knots,  and 
wait  anxiously  for  the  coming  of  the  wagon  that  each  morn 
ing  brought  the  day's  ration.  Many  of  the  men  would  fol 
low  the  wagon  from  the  entrance  to  the  cooking  department, 
for  the  purpose  of  picking  up  any  crumbs  of  bread  that*  might 
fall  to  the  ground  while  it  was  being  handled.  In  fact  the 
allowance  at  that  time  was  so  little  that  a  person  would  find 
himself  continually  thinking  of,  and  wishing  for  food. 

"The  hospital  contained  about  twenty  wards,  and  each 
ward  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  patients.  Six  or  seven  of 
the  wards  were  provided  with  board  bunks,  supported  on 
stakes  driven  in  the  ground.  The  wounded  were  placed  in 
these  wards,  two  men  occupying  each  bunk,  no  matter  how 
badly  wounded.  I  have  seen  two  men,  each  with  an  ampu 
tation  above  the  knee,  lie  side  and  side  on  a  bunk  that  did 
not  exceed  four  feet  in  width,  and  with  nothing  to  protect 
them  from  the  hard  boards  except  a  blanket  or  two,  doubled 
and  placed  under  them.  They  died  after  much  suffering. 
Indeed  death  seemed  inevitable  to  all  men  severely  wounded 
who  were  brought  direct  to  Andersonville  from  the  field  of 
battle.  In  many  cases  a  wounded  man  and  a  sick  one  would 
lie  together,  a  burthen  and  an  offence  to  each  other. 

"Many  died  from  the  effects  of  vaccination.  Gangrene 
would  attack  the  spot  punctured  by  the  doctor's  instrument, 
a  large  and  loathsome  sore  would  be  caused,  and  death,  in 
a  great  many  cases,  would  be  the  result.  The  majority  of 
the  wards  were  destitute  of  straw  or  boards,  the  men  lying 
on  the  sandy  ground,  with  blankets,  if  they  had  them,  with 
out  if  they  had  not.  During  the  heavy  rains  the  water  would 
flood  the  tents  of  those  who  occupied  the  lower  parts  of  the 
camp,  washing  the  sand  upon  the  limbs  and  bodies  of  those 
who  were  entirely  helpless. 

"  Six  hundred  of  the  disabled  and  sick  left  there  in  Novem- 


HUNGRY  AND  HOPELESS.  363 

her  to  go  to  Savannah  for  exchange.  I  was  included  in  the 
number.  We  were  stopped  at  Millen,  and  put  into  the 
stockade  there  for  two  nights  and  days.  The  men  were 
sadly  dejected,  fearing  they  were  deceived  in  regard  to  ex 
change,  having  no  faith  in  the  assurances  of  the  Rebel  offi 
cers,  who  said  an  exchange  would  soon  take  place,  the  pris 
oners  always  being  led  to  believe  that  when  they  were  moved 
it  was  for  the  purpose  of  exchange.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  call  the  roll  before  entering  the  stockade,  and  the  men 
were  ordered  into  line  for  that  purpose,  but  they  were  so 
dejected  and  heart-sick  at  the  prospect  of  entering  another 
pen  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the  officers  to  form  a 
line.  As  soon  as  any  part  of  the  detachment  was  formed, 
and  the  officers  left  it  to  urge  others  into  line,  the  sick  would 
drop  down,  perfectly  indifferent  to  roll  call,  and  heedless  of 
everything  save  the  dreaded  prospect  of  continued  imprison 
ment. 

"While  we  were  in  Millen  rations  of  corn  meal,  raw  beef 
and  rice  were  issued,  but  we  received  no  wood  for  cooking 
purposes,  and  were  therefore  obliged  to  trade  a  part  of  our 
rations  for  wood  to  those  who  had  been  there  for  some  time, 
and  had  managed  to  save,  and  could  spare  a  few  sticks. 
We  had  learned  how  to  make  a  little  wood  go  a  great  way. 
It  was  generally  split  into  pieces  of  six  or  eight  inches  in 
length,  and  a  fire  built  under  our  quart  kettles  in  such  a 
manner  as  would  save  the  wood  as  much  as  possible.  When 
the  cooking  was  done  the  sticks  that  were  not  entirely  con 
sumed  would  be  freed  from  fire,  and  carefully  preserved  for 
further  use.  We  left  Millen  on  the  nineteenth  of  November, 
1864.  While  waiting  for  the  train  near  the  depot,  an  inci 
dent  occurred  that  might  well  go  to  show  how  hungry  the 
men  would  get.  The  Rebels  had  a  number  of  our  men  de 
tailed  for  the  purpose  of  cooking  meat  for  those  who  were 
about  to  take  the  cars.  They  had  taken  the  meat  from  the 
kettles,  and  the  water  the  meat  had  been  cooked  in  was 
ordered  to  be  given  to  the  detachment.  Buckets  were  got 
and  filled,  and  men  carried  them  beyond  the  guard  that  stood 
sentinel  over  the  contents  of  the  kettles,  and  the  meat.  The 
moment  the  buckets  were  within  reach  of  the  men,  they 


364  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

made  a  rush  with  their  tin  cups  for  the  soup  with  such  vio 
lence  that  the  buckets  were  upset  in  spite  of  the  exertions  of 
the  men  who  were  trying  to  deal  the  soup  out,  consequently 
it  was  wasted  upon  the  ground.  We  reached  Savannah  on 
the  twentieth  of  November.  The  citizens  of  that  place  gave 
us  food  as  we  passed  through  the  town,  though  it  was 
against  the  order  of  the  General  who  had  command  of  us. 
We  reached  our  boats  on  the  Savannah  river  on  the  after 
noon  of  the  twentieth,  some  few  of  us  having  been  prisoners 
eighteen  months." 


THE  MEASURE  OF  THE  COMBATANTS.        365 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

AFFAIRS  AT  HOME  IN  1863. 

"Know  you  what  the  devil  thinks?  Seated  behind  hell-fire  with  his  arms 
folded,  Satan  says,  with  a  malignant  look  and  a  hideous  leer,  'Ah,  but  these 
fools  are  wise  men  indeed  to  do  my  work  for  me! ' " — Luther. 

"When  the  bitter  period  arrives,  in  which  the  people  must  give  up  some 
of  their  darling  absurdities; — when  the  senseless  clamor  which  has  been 
carefully  handed  down  from  father  fool  to  son  fool,  can  be  no  longer  in 
dulged  ; — when  it  is  of  incalculable  importance  to  turn  the  people  to  a  bet 
ter  way  of  thinking,  the  greatest  impediments  to  all  amelioration  are  too 
often  found  among  those  to  whose  counsels,  at  such  periods,  the  country 
ought  to  look  for  wisdom  and  peace." — Sydney  Smith. 

The  sharpest  touch  of  the  war  which  Indiana  experienced 
on  her  own  soil  during  the  Rebellion,  was  in  January  and 
February  of  1863,  when  the  fruit  of  the  fall  elections  graced, 
or  disgraced  her  Legislative  Halls.  No  trimmers  smoothed 
away  asperities.  From  the  first  day  of  the  session  to  the 
last,  the  representatives  of  the  two  parties  were  sharply  de 
fined  and  stiffly  arrayed.  With  no  disparity  in  combative- 
ness  and  no  disproportion  in  constancy,  they  were  strikingly 
unequal  in  number  and  unlike  in  moral  character. 

The  majority  was  shrewd,  turbulent,  unscrupulous  and  im 
patient  of  restraint.  During  the  developments  of  the  session 
it  showed  itself  animated  by  no  lofty  desire,  stirred  by  no 
noble  impulse,  incapable  of  statesmanship  as  of  patriotism 
or  philanthropy,  scornful  of  the  arts  of  persuasion  and  argu 
ment,  vigilant  to  outwit  and  to  cheat,  prompt  to  browbeat 
and  to  bully  its  small  but  gallant  antagonist. 

The  minority  was  keen,  cautious  and  courageous,  jeal 
ously  guarding,  and  zealously  defending  the  interests  of  the 
soldier,  the  honor  of  the  "soldier's  friend,"  and  the  dues  of 
the  country,  and  not  failing  to  recognize  the  claims  of  human 
ity  in  the  persons  of  the  fugitive  black  and  of  the  inmate  of 


366  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

public  asylums.  Paris  C.  Dunning,  of  Monroe,  was  elected 
President  of  the  Senate.  Samuel  H.  Buskirk,  of  Monroe, 
chosen  Speaker  of  the  House. 

After  preliminary  skirmishing,  in  which  the  opposing  forces 
rapidly  and  boldly  felt  each  others'  lines,  the  battle  opened  by 
a  covert  and  preconcerted  attack  on  Governor  Morton. 

The  House  voted  that  the  election  of  United  States  Sen 
ators  should  take  place  at  two  o'clock  of  the  second  day  of 
the  session,  the  hour  devoted  by  usage  exclusively  to  the  re 
ception  of  the  Governor's  message.  The  Union  Senators 
prevented  the  election  by  leaving  the  Hall  and  thus  breaking 
a  quorum. 

Assurances  that  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  joint  conven 
tion  at  any  time  soon,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  sent  advance 
copies  of  the  message  to  the  press  at  various  places,  deter 
mined  Governor  Morton  to  transmit  it  to  each  House,  such 
a  course,  though  not  on  any  previous  occasion  adopted  in 
Indiana,  being  constitutional  and  being  also  the  practice  of 
the  Federal  Government,  and  many  of  the  State  Govern 
ments.  Accordingly  the  Governor's  private  secretary  deliv 
ered  the  message,  in  printed  form,  to  the  Legislature,  finding 
both  Houses  apparently  in  session.  Without  ceremony,  the 
communication  was  rejected,  by  the  Senate  because  a  quo 
rum  was  not  present,  by  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
plea  that,  in  the  absence  of  a  quorum  from  the  Senate,  there 
was  no  General  Assembly.  It  was  ordered  to  be  returned. 
Mr.  Packard,  Representative  from  Marshal  and  Starke  coun 
ties,  remarking,  while  the  subject  was  under  debate,  that  "the 
manner  in  which  the  message  was  delivered  was  a  discour 
tesy,  which  self-respect  forbade  the  House  to  submit  to." 

With  ceremonious  courtesy  a  committee  was  afterwards 
appointed  to  wait  on  his  Excellency  and  ask  when  he  would 
be  ready  to  deliver  his  message.  Governor  Morton,  in  a  con 
cise  and  dignified  manner,  declined  any  further  consideration 
of  the  subject.  The  Legislature,  however,  was  not  yet  will 
ing  to  relinquish  it.  Mr.  Hanna,  of  Vigo,  offered  to  the 
House  the  following  resolution: 

"  WHEREAS,  His  Excellency,  Governor  Morton,  in  the  midst 
of  his  ardent  and  patriotic  endeavors  as  Commander-in- Chief 


GOVERNOR  MORTON'S  MESSAGE.  367 

of  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  has 
neglected  to  give  his  annual  message  to  the  General  Assem 
bly  thereof,  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  this  House  adopt  the  exalted  and  patri 
otic  sentiments  contained  in  the  message  lately  delivered  to 
the  Legislature  of  New  York  by  His  Excellency,  Horatio 
Seymour." 

Mr.  Hannahs  resolution  was  not  adopted,  but  it  was  greeted 
with  applause,  and  was  followed  by  another  of  similar  char 
acter,  prepared  by  Mr.  Packard: 

"Resolved,  By  the  House  (the  Senate  concurring)  that  the 
thanks  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Indiana  are 
due  and  are  hereby  tendered  to  the  Honorable  Horatio  Sey 
mour,  Governor  of  New  York,  for  the  able  and  patriotic  de 
fence  of  the  constitution,  the  laws  and  liberty  of  the  American 
citizen,  contained  in  his  late  message  to  the  Legislature  of 
that  State,  and  particularly  for  his  just  and  high  appreciation 
of  the  interests,  position  and  patriotism  of  the  great  North- 
West;  and  that  we  assure  him  that  the  conservative  people 
of  our  beloved  State  are  looking  with  deep  solicitute  and 
confidence  to  his  executive  action,  believing  that  they  will 
find  in  it  a  firm  and  determined  resistance  to  the  encroach 
ments  of  a  despotic  administration  upo'n  the  liberties  of  the 
American  people,  as  well  as  a  bold  defence  of  the  independ 
ent  sovereignties  of  the  several  States  of  this  Union,  and  that 
such  action  will  receive  the  warm  sympathies  and  hearty  co 
operation  of  all  the  conservative  citizens  of  this  State." 

The  inconsistency  of  this  action,  Governor  Seymour's  mes 
sage  having  been  delivered  to  the  New  York  Senate  alone, 
in  consequence  of  the  unorganized  condition  of  the  House,  is 
explicable  only  on  the  principle  of  an  old  adage  as  rendered 
by  Tittlebat  Titmouse :  "  Cases  alter  circumstances." 

The  last  of  January,  Mr.  Davis,  of  Elkhart,  proposed  to  the 
House  that  fifteen  hundred  copies  of  Governor  Morton's  mes 
sage  be  printed  for  distribution  in  the  field,  but  the  Speaker 
declaring  himself  not  aware  that  the  Governor  had  delivered 
a  message,  the  resolution  was  ruled  out  of  order. 

A  few  days  before  the  final  adjournment  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  the  Speaker  found  it  convenient  to  allow  that  a  quo- 


368  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

rum  was  not  necessary  for  the  reception  of  reports  from 
committees,  and  messages  from  the  Senate,  and  from  the 
Governor,  whereupon  Mr.  Hanna,  a  lawyer  of  some  acute- 
ness,  though  the  most  unscrupulous  of  partisans,  asked  if  this 
ruling  would  not  conflict  with  the  ruling  of  the  House  in  re 
gard  to  the  Governor's  annual  message.  The  Speaker,  again 
with  the  supple  wisdom  of  Tittlebat,  decided  that  it  would 
not. 

The  majority  was  in  haste  to  assail  the  negro,  and  having 
once  got  a  gripe,  was  as  tenacious  of  its  hold  as  a  sleuth- 
hound.  As  early  as  January  13,  Mr.  Cobb,  Senator  from 
Lawrence,  introduced  a  resolution  condemning  the  course 
of  the  National  Executive  and  Congress  on  the  slavery  ques 
tion,  and  in  connection  with  it  a  resolution  charging  a  change 
of  the  object  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  the  ad 
ministration  party.  The  last  was  a  loop-hole  for  the  escape 
back  into  Democracy  of  pro-slavery  men  who,  carried  away 
by  the  national  tide  of  enthusiasm,  had  supported  the  war 
in  the  beginning.  On  the  fifteenth  Mr.  Burton,  of  Sullivan, 
in  the  House,  offered  a  resolution  "pledging  that  while  the 
President  persists  in  his  abolition  policy  Indiana  will  not 
contribute  another  dollar  or  man  toward  the  unholy  war." 

On  the  twenty-seventh  Mr.  Holcomb,  of  Gibson,  read  a 
joint  resolution,  instructing  our  Congressmen  not  to  vote  to 
pay  for  slaves  emancipated  anywhere,  and  to  oppose  the 
proclamation,  and  requesting  our  Senators  to  resign  if  they 
do  not  intend  to  carry  out  these  instructions. 

February  10,  Mr.  Cobb  reported  back,  from  the  Committee 
on  Federal  Relations,  a  joint  resolution  proposed  by  himself, 
instructing  Indiana  Congressmen  to  vote  against  the  bill  to 
raise  negro  soldiers.  He  maintained  that  the  proposition  to 
raise  an  army  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  negroes  was 
designed  to  interfere  with  slavery,  and  was  an  attempt  to 
make  negroes  the  equals  of  whites. 

Mr.  March,  Senator  from  Delaware  and  Blackford,  could 
not  understand  why,  in  time  of  war,  when  other  things  were 
being  trampled  down,  slavery  should  be  held  sacred.  He 
would  not  touch  the  property  of  loyal  slaveholders,  and  was 
not  for  prosecuting  the  war  simply  to  destroy  slavery,  but  if, 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION. 

during  the  war,  slavery  received  a  side  blow,  those  Rebels, 
who  were  the  sufferers,  should  not  receive  sympathy  from 
loyal  men. 

Mr.  Claypool,  Senator  from  Fayette  and  Union,  moved 
the  following  amendment:  "And  that  they  use  their  influ 
ence  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  any  and  all  measures  looking 
to  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  Union,  the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  and  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion." 

Mr.  Ray,  Senator  from  Shelby  and  Hancock,  moved  to 
amend  the  amendment  so  as  to  add:  "And  with  the  distinct 
understanding  that  the  war  shall  be  prosecuted  only  for  the 
purpose  of  crushing  out  rebellion,  restoring  the  Union,  main 
taining  the  Constitution,  enforcing  the  laws  and  securing 
American  liberty,  and  not  for  any  sectional,  political  or  anti- 
slavery  purpose." 

Mr.  Wolfe,  Senator  from  Washington  and  Harrison,  moved 
to  further  amend  by  the  addition  of:  " And  provided,  That 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  immediately  with 
draw  the  Emancipation  Proclamation." 

Mr.  Douglass,  of  Huntington  and  Whitley,  moved  further 
to  amend  so  as  to  add:  "And  provided  further,  That  if  the 
propositions  made  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  different  States 
failed  to  effect  an  honorable  settlement  or  compromise  be 
tween  the  Federal  Government  and  the  seceded  States." 

Mr.  Ray  said  that  if  the  Proclamation  had  been  issued  by 
the  President  as  a  civil  officer,  it  was  a  usurpation ;  and  if  as 
a  military  officer,  it  was  nugatory.  It  had  proved  to  be  detri 
mental  to  the  army,  had  diverted  the  war  from  its  original 
object,  had  strengthened  and  nerved  Rebel  armies,  and  had 
created  divisions  in  the  North ;  it  had  no  legal  efficacy,  and 
no  power  beyond  the  lines  of  the  Federal  army,  where  it  was 
not  needed.  It  was  ineffectual  in  every  sense,  except  to  stir 
up  strife  in  the  North  and  to  strengthen  the  Rebels. 

Mr.  Cobb  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that,  if  the  Rebels  were  to 
lay  down  their  arms,  peace  would  not  follow  as  long  as  this 
Proclamation  remained  in  force.  It  was  a  barrier  to  all  set 
tlement.  It  was  intended  to  increase  the  horrors  of  war. 
24 


370  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Its  effect  was  to  set  at  liberty  three  million  slaves,  to  be  al 
lowed  to  roam  about,  and  to  swarm  into  our  State  in  viola 
tion  of  the  thirteenth  article  of  the  constitution.  The  war 
debt  would  be  heavy,  and  we  could  not  expect  Southern 
men  to  pay  their  portion,  if  we  took  away  their  vast  re 
sources.  The  bill  before  Congress,  providing  for  arming  ne 
groes,  had  a  tendency  to  encourage  negro  equality.  Negro 
officers  and  soldiers  were  placed  on  an  equality  with  white 
officers  and  soldiers  on  the  battle-field  and  in  the  camp. 
Such  a  course  was  an  admission  that  white  men  could  not 
prosecute  the  war  without  the  aid  of  the  black  race. 

Mr.  Wolfe  was  in  favor  of  bringing  the  war  to  a  speedy 
conclusion  in  a  constitutional  and  legitimate  way,  unless  the 
Federal  administration  abandons  its  emancipation  policy. 
The  South  could  never  be  subdued  as  long  as  war  was  the 
only  remedy.  He  would  be  governed  by  that  policy  which 
would  save  the  country,  not  by  that  which  would  most  se 
verely  punish  the  Rebels.  The  country  could  not  stand  an 
other  year  of  this  anti-slavery  war  without  bankruptcy. 

Mr.  Dunning  asserted  that  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion  had  destroyed  the  Union  sentiment  at  the  South.  He 
thought  it  was  ill-timed,  unwise,  impolitic  and  injurious;  he 
did  not  believe  it  would  free  a  single  slave,  and  declared 
himself  unable  to  find  any  clause  in  the  constitution  grant 
ing  power  to  the  President  to  take  private  property  for  pub 
lic  use  without  compensation. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Wells,  capped  these  deliberations,  the  puer 
ility  of  which  almost  disguises  their  maliciousness,  by  de 
claring  that  he  would  rather  see  the  country  fall  than  saved 
by  the  hands  of  negroes. 

He  and  all  his  party  were  very  like  the  Spanish  king  who 
roasted  to  death  rather  than  have  the  fire  in  his  front  put  out, 
or  his  chair  moved  back  by  other  than  the  hands  prescribed 
by  court  etiquette.  However,  it  was  not  himself,  but  his 
country,  which  Mr.  Brown  was  willing  should  be  reduced  to 
ashes. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Brown,  of  Randolph,  considered 
that  if  it  was  not  unconstitutional  to  deprive  Rebels  of  life, 
it  certainly  was  not  to  take  their  property. 


FIGHTING  A  MAN  OF  STRAW.  371 

Mr.  Mellet,  of  Henry,  declared  that  the  war  ought  to  be 
prosecuted,  or  it  ought  not;  and  if  it  ought  to  be  prosecuted, 
it  should  be  done  without  conditions. 

Mr.  March  said:  "If  the  statements  of  those  who  at 
tacked  the  Proclamation  were  correct,  they  were  fighting  a 
man  of  straw,  for  they  have  declared  it  was  a  nullity.  They 
admitted  that  a  military  commander  had  a  right  to  do  what 
the  President  attempted  to  effect.  The  Proclamation  was 
nothing  but  a  military  order  from  the  Commander-in- Chief 
of  the  Army.  It  has  been  detrimental  to  the  army  only  in 
the  imagination  of  Senators  and  in  the  wishes  of  Northern 
traitors." 

Mr.  Clay  pool  was  assured  that  if  the  Democratic  party 
would  come  forward  and  unite  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of 
the  war,  and  agree  to  favor  the  further  increase  of  white  sol 
diers,  there  would  be  no  use  for  negro  soldiers.  But  if  they 
failed  to  do  this,  he  was  in  favor  of  arming  negroes.  For 
his  part,  he  would  rather  fight  by  the  side  of  a  loyal  negro 
than  by  the  side  of  the  whitest  Democratic  traitor  in  the 
country. 

Mr.  Mumiy,  of  Elkhart  and  Lagrange,  was  convinced 
that  Mr.  Cobb's  resolutions,  if  adopted,  would  add  to  the 
excitement  existing  in  our  State,  and  increase  the  divisions 
in  the  North.  Legislators  ought  to  do  nothing  to  fan  the 
flames.  The  blacks  were  as  much  bound  to  fight  for  their 
country  now,  as  when  they  aided  Jackson  at  New  Orleans. 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  for  two  years  prosecuted  the  war  on  border 
State  principles.  He  had  made  Fremont,  Phelps,  Hunter, 
Lane  arid  Cameron  withdraw  their  proclamations  and  ex 
pressions  in  favor  of  arming  negroes.  He  had  now  deter 
mined  on  a  different  policy,  and  until  this  policy  had  been 
tried,  he  was  not  for  asking  him  to  change. 

All  amendments  were  voted  down.  The  resolution  passed 
by  twenty-eight  votes  to  fifteen. 

The  negro  was  on  the  tapis  in  another  form.  The  devas 
tation  of  town  and  country  in  the  South  forced  thousands  of 
wretches  toward  the  North.  They  toiled  wearily  to  the  Ohio 
river,  and  looked  to  its  northern  shore  for  shelter  and  protec 
tion.  It  might  be  supposed  that  the  mute  appeal  of  home- 


372  THE  8OLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

less,  helpless,  harmless  wanderers  would  be  irresistible  to 
statesmen  of  the  present  day;  that  they  would  feel  a  noble 
pleasure  in  softening  and  enlarging  the  sympathies  of  their 
fellow-citizens.  He  who  could  indulge  so  wild  a  fancy  did 
not  know  the  Democrats  of  the  Indiana  Legislature  of  1863. 
They  delighted  in  playing  upon  vulgar  prejudices,  in  striking 
the  down  trodden,  in  barring  and  double-locking  the  doors  of 
Indiana.  They  presented,  without  shame,  petitions  from 
their  constituents  praying  the  Legislature  to  enforce  the 
thirteenth  article  of  the  Constitution,  an  article  which  for 
bids  negro  emigration,  and  which,  though  it  violates  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  was  apparently  dearer  to  the 
Democratic  party  than  all  the  Constitution  besides.  They  care 
fully  prepared  and  brought  forward  resolutions  and  proposi 
tions  to  make  the  article  more  stringent,  declaring  negro 
emigration  a  contempt  for  the  Constitution  and  a  felony; 
requiring  all  negroes  and  mulattoes  to  present  themselves  for 
registry  to  the  Clerk  of  Circuit  Court;  pronouncing  null  and 
void  all  contracts  with  negroes  or  mulattoes  who  had  come 
into  Indiana  since  October,  1851,  or  who  would  hereafter 
come;  imposing  a  fine  of  not  less  than  fifty  nor  more  than 
five  hundred  dollars  on  negro  emigrants  or  on  whites,  who 
should  know  without  revealing  that  another  afforded  protec 
tion  to  a  negro  or  mulatto  fugitive,  and  any  white  who  permits 
a  negro  to  remain  at  his  house  or  on  his  premises  to  be  regarded 
as  sufficient  evidence  against  such  person. 

Days  and  days  were  passed  in  debate  of  a  bill  to  the  above 
purport.  The  staunch  Republicans  opposed  it  with  the  plain 
arguments  of  justice  and  humanity.  At  length,  Mr.  Clay- 
pool  proposed  the  following  amendment:  "It  seems  to  be," 
he  said,  "  modeled  after  the  dog  law,  and  in  order  to  make  it 
assimilate  nearer,  I  move  to  recommit  with  instructions  to! 
amend  so  as  to  provide  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to  kill  all  ne 
groes  running  at  large  after  the  first  day  of  July,  1863,  with 
out  being  licensed  under  this  act." 

The  bill  passed,  though  without  the  amendment.  If  the 
latter  had  proceeded  from  Mr.  Cobb  or  Mr.  Wolfe,  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  it  would  have  been  unacceptable. 


PEACE  CONVENTION  PROPOSED.  373 

Such  was  the  reputation  of  the  Indiana  Legislature  abroad 
that  Mr.  Claypool's  amendment  was  taken  as  a  bona  fide 
proposition.  The  New  "York  Evening'  Post,  commenting  on 
the  bill,  said:  "A  Copperhead  named  Claypool  made  a 
speech  upon  it,  saying  that  it  should  be  made  to  read  like 
the  dog  law;  that  all  negroes  found  at  large  without  a  license 
or  a  collar  on  their  necks,  should  be  killed."  And  the  Nash 
ville  Union  gave  its  opinion  that:  "Claypool  (Mudhole)  is 
one  of  the  fellows  who  believe  that  slavery  was  ordained  by 
the  good  Father  of  the  human  family  to  Christianize  the 
negro." 

Not  satisfied  with  snarling  at  the  negro  soldier,  and  kick 
ing  out  the  negro  refugee,  the  Democrats  fell  foul  of  the  old, 
tax -paying  negro  citizen,  who  claimed  for  his  children  the 
benefit  of  the  public  schools. 

Compromise!  Armistice!  National  Convention!  were  ral 
lying  cries  which  drew  to  their  feet  and  to  the  van  of  their 
forces  the  leaders  of  the  majority.  A  proposition  for  a  na 
tional  convention  in  July,  and  for  an  armistice  from  April  to 
August,  was  warmly  supported,  as  was  also  a  resolution 
that:  "No  plan,  overture  or  proposition  for  a  compromise 
coming  from  any  section  or  State  be  considered  humiliating 
or  dishonorable,  but  be  hailed  with  gladness,  pledging  to  the 
seceded  States  a  liberal  compromise  and  additional  safe 
guards  for  their  rights."  Assertions  that  only  compromise 
could  secure  peace,  and  that  it  would  be  better  to  let  the 
Rebels  go  than  to  continue  the  war,  were  received  with 
approval. 

Nashville  having  been  designated  in  a  joint  resolution 
before  the  Senate  as  a  favorable  point  for  the  Peace  Con 
vention,  one  Republican  proposed  Richmond  instead,  and 
another  suggested  "the  suburbs  of  Charleston,  as  near  to  the 
city  as  circumstances  will  allow,  and  that  Jeff'.  Davis  be  re 
quested  to  furnish  an  escort  and  guard  for  the  occasion;  also, 
to  notify  this  Legislature  at  an  early  day  of  his  willingness 
to  furnish  said  escort  and  guard." 

The  shot  fell  harmless.  The  majority  was  as  impervious 
to  ridicule  as  it  was  to  reason. 


374  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

January  27,  Mr.  Wolfe  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions 
which,  as  usual  with  that  gentleman's  resolutions,  (his  name 
seemed  to  designate  his  nature)  outraged  common  humanity, 
if  not  common  sense.  It  is  as  follows: 

"  WHEREAS,  The  present  civil  war,  into  which  the  people 
have  been  forced  by  the  wicked  and  fanatical  factions  North 
and  South,  is  detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country, 
and  of  mankind,  and  a  reproach  upon  the  civilization  of  the 
age,  rilling  the  land  with  widows  and  orphans,  and  mourn 
ing  households;  bankrupting  the  Government,  and  oppressing 
the  people  with  taxation  beyond  their  ability  to  bear;  destroy 
ing  the  productive  industry  of  the  laboring  man,  and  filling 
the  coffers  of  the  wealthy;  filling  the  northern  section  of  the 
Union  with  a  vagabond  and  servile  race  to  compete  with  or 
prey  upon  the  industry  of  the  white  man;  imposing  unequal 
burdens  and  commercial  restrictions  upon  the  different  por 
tions  of  the  North,  thereby  increasing  the  danger  and  the 
evil  of  further  disintegration;  sapping  the  foundation  of  reli 
gion,  morality  and  public  virtue;  corrupting  our  rulers  by  an 
increase  of  political  patronage;  destroying  personal  liberty 
under  the  tyrant's  plea  of  necessity,  and  obliterating  from  the 
hearts  of  the  people  the  spirit  of  nationality  and  brotherhood, 
which  is  the  only  sure  bond  of  union ;  and 

"WHEREAS,  Experience  has  taught  the  costly  and  bloody 
lesson  that  war  alone  is  no  remedy  for  the  evil  of  disunion, 
but  when  waged  in  the  spirit  of  sectional  hatred,  for  an  un 
constitutional  purpose,  or  in  a  manner  not  sanctioned  by  the 
laws  of  civilized  warfare,  it  is  the  strongest  ally  of  disunion, 
and  if  persisted  in  will  result,  not  only  in  the  bankruptcy  of 
the  nation  and  the  impoverishment  of  the  people,  but  also  in 
a  final  separation  of  the  different  sections,  and  the  destruc 
tion  of  our  admirable  form  of  free  government;  and 

"  WHEREAS,  The  people  of  Indiana  are  desirous  that  no 
effort  which  inspires  a  reasonable  hope  of  success  in  restoring 
the  Union  as  it  was,  under  the  Constitution,  shall  be  omitted; 
and  being  solemnly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  arms 
alone,  under  the  recent  and  present  policy  of  the  Cabinet  at 
Washington,  will  never  accomplish  that  desirable  object; 
and  invoking  the  prayers  of  all  good  men,  and  the  smiles  of 


MRS.  PARTINGTON  MOPS  BACK  THE  ATLANTIC.          375 

a  God  of  Peace  in  the  furtherance  of  our  patriotic  purpose; 
therefore, 

"Be  it  resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Indiana:  First.  That  while  we  continue  to  obey  every  con 
stitutional  requisition  which  true  patriotism  shall  demand, 
for  the  purpose  of  restoring  the  Union  and  preserving  our 
constitutional  liberty,  yet  we  are  opposed  to  a  war  for  the 
liberation  of  the  slaves,  and  while  that  policy  is  maintained 
by  the  Administration,  the  highest  dictates  of  patriotism  im 
pel  us  to  withhold  from  it  our  support,  believing  that  the  war 
for  that  purpose  is  unconstitutional,  and  if  persisted  in,  will 
lead  to  the  inevitable  and  lasting  destruction  of  the  Union. 

o 

"  Second.  That  no  Union  can  be  maintained  in  this  coun 
try  until  fanaticism  on  the  negro  question,  North  and  South, 
is  eradicated,  and  the  doctrine  of  Popular  State  Sovereignty 
is  acknowledged  as  a  fundamental  axiom  of  the  Govern 
ment.  The  people  of  the  North  must  yield  up  the  heresy  of 
Abolitionism,  or  else  yield  up  the  blessings  of  the  Union. 
Abolitionism  and  the  Union  are  incompatible;  the  one  or 
the  other  must  triumph.  A  war  for  Abolitionism  is  a  war 
against  the  Union;  a  war  for  the  Union  is  a  war  against 
Abolitionism.  Abolitionism  is  moral  treason,  and  but  for  the 
forms  of  law  with  which  it  is  clothed  by  the  Administration, 
is  actual  legal  treason.  No  patriot  can  be  an  Abolitionist. 

"  Third.  That  the  interests  of  the  white  race  as  well  as  the 
black,  demand  that  the  condition  and  locality  of  the  latter 
should  not  be  interfered  with;  and  war,  or  legislation,  or 
Presidential  proclamations  to  accomplish  the  purpose  of  the 
negroes'  freedom  and  consequent  migration  to  the  North,  are 
acts  of  flagrant  violations  of  the  constitution,  and  in  wicked 
disregard  of  the  people's  voice  and  the  best  interests  of  the 
country,  and  all  such  acts  ought  to  be  constitutionally  re 
sisted  by  an  outraged  people. 

"Fourth.  That  President  Lincoln's  scheme  of  "  Compen 
sated  Emancipation,"  which  proposes  to  tax  the  people  of 
Indiana  to  liberate  the  slaves  of  the  South,  is  unconstitu 
tional,  arid  a  monstrous  iniquity,  which  a  tax-ridden  and 
overburdened  people  will  not  submit  to.  The  freemen  of 
Indiana  will  not  consent  to  impoverish  themselves  and  their 


376  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

families  to  carry  out  that  insane  and  wicked  policy,  but  will 
resist  it  by  every  means  in  their  power. 

"  Fifth.  That  the  system  of  arbitrary  arrests,  and  the  wan 
ton  disregard  of  the  Great  Writ  of  Liberty,  commonly  called 
the  habeas  corpus,  by  the  Cabinet  at  Washington,  are  acts  of 
tyranny  and  usurpation,  justly  alarming  to  a  free  people, 
against  which  the  State  of  Indiana  protests  with  indigna 
tion;  and  in  the  name  of  constitutional  liberty  she  de 
mands  that  the  accursed  system  shall  cease  within  her  bor 
ders;  and  we  declare  the  unalterable  determination  of  the 
people  to  maintain  the  liberty  of  speech,  the  liberty  of  the 
press,  the  right  to  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  speedy  trial 
by  jury  at  every  hazard  of  blood  and  treasure. 

"  Sixth.  That  the  State  of  Indiana,  on  account  of  her  de 
votion  to  the  Union,  and  geographical  position  and  commer 
cial  interests,  never  will  consent  to  any  settlement  upon  a 
basis  of  disunion  or  a  policy  which  shall  separate  her  from 
the  States  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  river.  Her  highest 
interest  demands  the  perpetuation  of  the  Union,  and  especi 
ally  that  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  source 
to  its  mouth,  shall  remain  under  one  government  and  one 
flag. 

"  Seventh.  That  the  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  ought 
to  cease  as  soon  as  it  can  be  brought  to  an  honorable  and 
satisfactory  termination;  and  upon  that  subject,  the  people, 
who  are  bearing  its  burdens,  have  a  right  to  speak.  There 
fore,  our  Senators  in  Congress  are  instructed,  and  our  Repre 
sentatives  requested,  to  use  all  the  power  and  influence  of 
their  positions,  by  bill,  resolution,  or  otherwise,  to  accom 
plish  the  following  objects,  namely:  First.  To  procure  an 
armistice  of  at  least  six  months  between  the  Federal  and 
Confederate  armies,  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  possibility 
of  a  permanent  peace  on  the  basis  of  the  Union.  Second. 
To  pass  a  law  calling  a  convention  of  all  the  States,  com 
posed  of  delegates  freely  chosen  by  the  people,  to  take  into 
consideration  the  state  of  the  country,  and  to  devise  some 
plan  of  settlement,  to  be  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people, 
North  and  South,  by  which  the  Union  shall  be  preserved  and 
the  country  restored  to  a  lasting  peace. 


ATTEMPTS  TO  SHACKLE  STATE  AND  CAPITAL.  377 

"  Eighth.  That  the  Governor  be  directed  to  transmit  a  cer 
tified  copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  to  each 
of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress,  to  be  laid 
before  their  respective  bodies,  and  to  the  Governor  of  each  of 
the  States,  to  be  by  them  laid  before  their  respective  Legis 
latures." 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Wells,  followed  with  resolutions  demanding, 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  the  es 
tablishment  of  an  armistice,  in  order  that  a  convention  of 
all  the  States  might  be  held,  demanding  of  Congress  the  ap 
pointment  of  such  convention;  in  the  failure  of  that  body 
to  respond  to  the  demand,  inviting  each  and  every  State  in 
the  Federal  Union,  including  the  so-called  Confederate 
States,  to  meet  delegates  from  Indiana  in  convention  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  the  first  day  of  June,  1863,  each  State 
to  send  as  many  delegates  as  would  equal  the  number  of 
Congressmen;  appointing  the  first  Monday  in  April  for  the 
election  of  thirteen  delegates  from  Indiana;  allowing  "a  gen 
erous  per  diern  and  mileage"  to  be  drawn  from  the  State 
Treasury,  and  ordering  Governor  Morton  to  transmit  a  copy 
of  the  Resolutions  to  the  President  and  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  Governors  and  Legislatures  of  all 
the  States,  including  the  Confederate  States. 

Contemplating,  as  these  Resolutions  did,  the  action  of  In 
diana  independent  of,  and  in  opposition  to,  the  National 
Government,  they  virtually  declared  for  Secession.  But 
their  passage  was  not  immediately  forced. 

A  bill  creating  an  Executive  Council  or  Military  Board, 
to  consist  of  the  Auditor,  Treasurer,  Secretary  and  Attorney 
General  of  State,  making  the  signature  of  a  majority  neces 
sary  to  the  legality  of  any  action  on  the  part  of  the  Gov 
ernor;  and  a  bill  to  repeal  so  much  of  the  charter  of  Indian 
apolis  as  authorizes  the  establishment  of  a  city  police,  and 
to  create  a  board  to  be  elected  by  the  Legislature  to  appoint 
and  control  the  police  of  the  city,  were  cunningly  devised 
measures  to  give  the  State  and  City  over  to  Secession,  as  a 
police  elected  by  the  Legislature  would  be  solidly  Demo 
cratic;  and  of  the  four  State  officers  proposed  for  the  Mill- 


378  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tary  Board,  three,  from  their  bitterly  partisan  character,  were 
suspected  to  be  members  of  a  secret  treasonable  society. 

At  a  later  period,  the  worst  suspicions  in  regard  to  the 
character  of  these  men  were  confirmed.  In  the  summer  of 
1864,  in  the  office  of  Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  Senator  in  Con 
gress,  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ristine,  the  Auditor,  was  discovered, 
of  which  the  following  paragraph  is  an  extract: 

"  The  successful  resistance  of  the  South  I  regard  as  the 
only  safety  of  us  of  the  North.  Should  she  be  overwhelmed, 
woe  betide  us  who  have  dared  oppose  the  policy  of  the  Ad 
ministration. 

"Daniel,  a  Democrat  of  the  North  who  dares  to  oppose 
the  policy  of  the  present  leaders,  is  as  much  hated  as  those 
of  the  South,  and  I  look  upon  this  war  as  much  and  more  a 
war  upon  the  Democracy  than  anything  else." 

This  letter  was  written  in  1861,  four  months  after  the  war 
began.  Mr.  Ristine,  who  desired  the  successful  resistance  of 
the  South — in  other  words,  the  defeat  of  the  Union  arms, 
the  slaying  of  Union  soldiers — and  the  like  of  Mr.  Ristine, 
were,  by  the  provisions  of  this  bill,  to  bind  the  hands  of 
Governor  Morton. 

However,  both  the  bills  were  laid  aside,  ostensibly  in  de 
ference  to  the  storm  of  indignation  roused  by  their  high 
handed  and  revolutionary  character;  in  reality  to  be  repro 
duced  at  a  future  day,  as  an  offset  to  resolutions  for  appro 
priations  necessary  to  carry  on  the  Government. 

Rumors  of  the  existence  and  rapid  growth  of  a  secret  so 
ciety,  the  object  of  which  was  to  undermine  the  Government, 
at  first  the  mere  breath  of  suspicion,  gradually  acquiring 
form  and  force,  and  at  length  confirmed  by  the  grand  jury 
of  one  of  the  United  States  courts,  produced,  in  the  winter 
of  '62  and  '63,  a  wide-spread  and  intense  distrust.  At  an 
early  period  in  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  the  subject 
was  brought  up  in  the  House,  Mr.  Cason,  Representative 
from  Boone  and  Hendricks,  proposing  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  of  five  to  investigate  the  existence  of  a  secret 
political  organization  which  purposed  encouraging  the  South 
ern  Confederacy  and  forming  a  North- Western  Confederacy. 
The  Resolution  was  voted  down  by  a  strict  party  vote. 


"WE'LL  CALL  THEM  ABOLITIONISTS."  379 

In  a  few  days,  the  Republicans  returned  to  the  charge, 
Mr.  Gregory,  Representative  from  Warren,  proposing  to  ap 
point  a  committee  of  seven  to  inquire  into  the  existence  of 
a  secret  political  society  in  the  interest  of  the  Rebellion. 
During  the  ensuing  discussion,  Mr.  Buskirk  declared:  "We 
(Democrats)  are  a  band  of  brothers.  We  vote  together,  act 
together,  think  together,  and  we  expect  to  do  so  as  long  as 
we  remain.  Even  in  measures  I  do  not  endorse,  I  will  go 
with  my  party.''  He  asserted  that  he  knew  of  secret  polit 
ical  organizations,  all  over  the  State,  in  favor  of  the  party  in 
power,  and  he  desired  that  these  should  be  included  in  the 
investigation,  adding,  "  If  you  kill  our  dogs,  we  will  kill  your 
cats." 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Jackson,  equally  regardless  of  propriety,  de 
clared  that  "the  charge  was  a  lying  assertion  of  the  foul 
Abolition  party.  He  was  opposed  to  Abolition  testimony, 
and  would  take  none  but  Democratic  testimony  in  regard  to 
the  designs  of  secret  societies."  The  Resolution  was  tabled 

o 

by  a  strict  party  vote. 

The  Democrats  were  profuse  in  professions  of  gratitude 
and  in  expressions  of  approval  to  the  soldier.  They  desired 
that  he  be  paid  in  gold,  even  at  the  cost  of  national  bank 
ruptcy;  they  were  anxious  that  he  be  saved  from  the  inhu 
manity  of  surgeons;  they  lauded  the  private  at  the  expense 
of  the  officer;  considered  an  orderly  the  most  important 
and  the  most  abused  officer  in  a  company,  proposed  ad 
vancing  his  pay,  and  that  of  all  inferior  to  him,  and  lower- 
ering  the  wages  of  superiors,  and  repeatedly  passed  resolutions 
of  thanks  and  willingness  to  do  honor  to  the  fallen,  either  in 
monumental  marble  or  a  published  enrollment.  When  put 
to  the  test,  however,  their  honors  proved  to  be  exceedingly 
empty. 

Mr.  Packard  proposed  to  appoint  a  committee  of  five  to 
collect  statistics  and  prepare  a  roll  of  honor  to  commemorate 
the  Indiana  soldiers  who  had  fallen  or  died  in  the  service. 
Upon  which  Mr.  Lamb,  of  Switzerland,  offered  the  following 
amendment: 

"Resolved,  further,  That  the  sacred  cause  in  which  they 
fell  (the  preservation  of  the  Union),  shall  never  be  given  up, 


380  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

but  shall  be  maintained  at  whatever  cost  of  blood  and  treas 
ure;  that  their  graves  shall  never  be  desecrated  by  traitors' 
feet;  and  the  flag  in  defense  of  which  they  fell  shall  never 
be  withdrawn  from  the  soil  that  holds  their  patriotic  dust." 

This  resolution  was  laid  on  the  table  by  a  party  vote. 

During  the  discussion  to  which  the  Resolutions  gave  rise, 
Mr.  Packard  desired  to  have  it  understood,  that  while  he 
would  enroll  the  names  of  all  soldiers,  he  would  thank  only 
Democrats. 

Mr.  Cason  introduced  a  joint  resolution  in  reference  to  al 
lowing  Indiana  soldiers  to  vote  at  the  annual  State  and 
County  elections.  It  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  elec 
tions,  and  by  that  committee  was  reported  back  to  the 
House  with  a  recommendation  from  the  majority  that  it  be 
laid  on  the  table,  and  from  the  minority,  that  it  be  passed. 
It  was  then  referred  to  the  committee  on  judiciary,  which 
returned  it,  reporting  against  the  constitutionality  of  any 
law  authorizing  soldiers  to  vote  out  of  the  township  where 
they  reside,  and  with  the  recommendation  that  it  be  laid  on 
the  table.  It  was  accordingly  tabled. 

Mr.  Anderson,  of  St.  Joseph,  introduced  the  subject  again, 
but  with  the  same  result. 

The  policy  of  traducing  faithful  public  officers,  both  by  open 
denunciation  and  by  innuendo,  was  unvaryingly  pursued. 
One  regretted  that  President  Lincoln  and  Governor  Morton 
had  lost  all  regard  for  the  white  race  of  the  North,  and  had 
turned  their  attention  to  the  black  race.  Another  knew  that 
Governor  Morton  was  not  only  reckless  of  expense,  but  was 
guilty  of  frauds.  Mr.  Brown,  of  Jackson,  "would  allow  the 
Governor  to  be  a  member  of  a  Military  Board,  provided  there 
were  enough  honest  men  on  it  to  control  it." 

"  I  could  have  made  myself  as  popular  as  Governor  Mor 
ton,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  of  Wells,  during  a  debate  on  the  pro 
priety  of  acknowledging  the  kindness  of  the  Governor  to  sick 
and  wounded  soldiers,  "if  I  had  had  control  over  the  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  appropriated  by  the  last  Legislature  to 
the  incidental  expense  fund." 

"  I  regard  Lincoln  and  Morton  as  despots  and  tyrants, 
worse  than  those  of  Austria,"  declared  Mr.  Packard. 


"HOW  ARE  THE  MIGHTY  FALLEN  1"  281 

Mr.  Packard,  and  Mr.  Brown,  of  Jackson,  distinguished 
themselves  by  the  agility  with  which  they  gained,  and  the 
persistence  with  which  they  retained  the  floor.  This,  their 
main  strength  or  weakness,  depending  on  the  point  of  view 
from  which  it  is  regarded,  was  the  occasion  of  the  following 
lampoon  which  appeared,  to  the  amusement  of  Indianapolis, 
in  the  Daily  Journal : 

"Brown  and  Packard,  Packard  and  Brown, 
One  is  up,  and  the  other  is  down. 
One  is  nothing  when  t'other  ain't  there; 
The  other  is  nothing  anywhere. 
Each  is  only  a  part  of  the  other, 
Yet  each  is  as  much  as  both  together. 
Nothing  from  nothing,  nothing'll  remain, 
Nothing  to  nothing,  the  result's  the  same." 

These  gentlemen  both  had  classic  names.  Mr.  Packard's 
was  Marcus  Aurelius  Orestes,  and  Mr.  Brown's  Jason.  The 
last  was  explained  in  a  newspaper  squib  as  the  consequence 
of  a  parental  presentiment  that  he  would  one  day  go  out  for 
wool,  and  come  home  shorn. 

Democrats  found  countless  opportunities  to  drag  into 
notice  causes  for  dissatisfaction.  They  groaned  under  the 
weight  of  taxes,  and  under  the  pressure  of  New  England — a 
pressure  which,  they  declared,  was  grinding  the  North-west 
to  dust.  They  were  especially  disturbed  by  an  alleged  defi 
ciency  in  the  number  of  volunteers  from  Massachusetts. 
They  called  Union  men  Abolitionists,  using  the  word  exactly 
as  prescribed  by  Beauregard.  They  accused  Abolitionists 
and  preachers  of  having  made  the  war.  They  urged  that 
any  attempt  to  commit  the  Legislature  of  this  State  to  the 
support  of  the  war,  by  threats  or  otherwise,  be  treated  with 
contempt.  They  styled  the  action  of  the  President  and  mil 
itary  authorities,  in  making  arrests,  in  attempting  to  restrain 
the  press,  and  in  the  suppression  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
"  arbitrary,  violent,  insulting  and  degrading  to  a  degree  un 
known  to  any  government  on  earth,  except  those  avowedly 
and  notoriously  cruel  and  despotic,"  while  there  had  not 
occurred  a  single  arrest  except  for  crime  against  the  Govern 
ment.  They  dwelt  with  undisguised  satisfaction  on  their 


382  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

doubts  as  to  the  continuance  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Lasselle,  of 
Cass  county,  did  "not  know  whether  we  were  to  have  the 
Union  of  our  fathers  or  not — whether,  in  six  months  hence, 
the  Government  would  be  a  Government  of  the  whole  or  of 
a  portion  of  the  Union,  nor  what  portion  Indiana  would  be 
long  to." 

Mr.  Niblack,  a  very  prudent  man,  looked  to  a  revision  of 
the  United  States  Constitution. 

The  Indiana  soldier,  facing  the  enemy  in  the  field,  beheld 
this  war  in  his  rear  with  profound  surprise  and  uneasiness, 
and  at  length  with  loudly  expressed  indignation. 

In  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  twenty-two  Indiana  reg 
iments  and  four  batteries — all  which  were  not  absent  on  de 
tached  service — recommended  the  following  resolutions  for 
the  adoption  of  the  Legislature : 

"First.  That  we  are  unconditionally  and  determinedly  in 
favor  of  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

"  Second.  That  in  order  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union, 
we  are  in  favor  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war. 

"  Third.  That  we  will  sustain  our  State  and  Federal  au 
thorities,  with  money  and  supplies,  in  all  their  efforts  to  sus 
tain  the  Union  and  prosecute  the  war. 

"Fourth.  That  we  will  discountenance  every  faction  and 
influence  tending  to  create  animosities  at  home  or  to  afford 
consolation  and  hope  to  our  enemies  in  arms;  and  that  we 
will  co-operate  only  with  those  who  will  stand  by  the  Union, 
and  by  those  who  are  fighting  the  battles  of  the  Union. 

"  Fifth.  That  we  tender  to  Governor  Morton  the  thanks 
of  his  grateful  friends  in  the  army  for  his  extraordinary  efforts 
in  their  behalf,  and  assure  him  that  neither  time  nor  the  cor 
rupting  influence  of  party  spite  shall  ever  estrange  the  soldier 
from  the  'soldier's  friend.'" 

Accompanying  the  resolutions,  as  sent  to  the  Legislature, 
was  a  memorial  to  the  effect  that  officers  and  soldiers  cheer 
fully  submitted  to  a  policy  which  denied  them  a  voice  in  the 
election;  that  they  approved  the  wisdom  which  secured  the 
civil  from  the  influence  of  the  military  power,  but  that  they 
felt  compelled  to  petition  the  Legislature  to  refrain  from  po 
litical  discussions,  to  disapprove  a  compromise,  to  give  the 


THE  ARMY  OFFENDED.  383 

war  a  hearty  support,  to  pour  out  the  treasures  of  the  State, 
as  the  soldiers  had  poured  out  their  blood,  to  sacrifice  every 
thing  except  liberty  and  political  equality,  to  national  inter 
ests,  to  strengthen  every  department  of  the  Government,  to 
sustain  all  officers  of  the  State  and  General  Government  in 
their  efforts  to  subdue  the  Rebellion,  and  especially  to  sus 
tain  and  encourage  Governor  Morton. 

The  same  soldiers  addressed  the  citizens  of  Indiana,  en 
treating  them  to  believe  that  only  a  vigorous  prosecution  of 
the  war  could  cause  its  speedy  termination;  urging  them 
to  support  the  Governor  and  the  President,  and  to  avoid 
strengthening  their  party  by  weakening  their  country. 

The  Thirty-Third  and  Eighty-Fifth  regiments,  at  Brent- 
wood,  Tennessee,  in  the  form  of  a  memorial,  cast  a  defiance 
in  the  teeth  of  the  Legislature: 

"  WHEREAS,  A  portion  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
Indiana  has,  at  its  present  session,  by  a  scries  of  acts  and 
resolutions,  shown  a  manifest  intention  to  embarrass  the 
Federal  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  by  prop- 
sitions  for  an  armistice,  and  to  take  the  conduct  of  the  war 
from  Governor  Morton,  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  avow  themselves  in  favor  of  a  North- Western  Confed 
eracy,  which  propositions  can  have  no  other  effect  than  to 
give  aid  and  encouragement  to  the  enemies  of  our  Govern 
ment,  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we,  as  citizens  of  Indiana,  do  unquali 
fiedly  condemn  such  acts  and  proceedings  of  our  Legislature, 
and  all  other  acts  having  in  view  the  settlement  of  the  pres 
ent  controversy  in  any  other  way  than  the  return  of  the 
rebellious  States  to  their  allegiance  to  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  and  that  to  secure  this  end  we  favor  a  vigorous  prose 
cution  of  the  war,  and  that  we  stand  ready  at  the  call  of  the 
Government  to  go  home,  if  necessary,  and  crush  out  all  treas 
onable  combinations  which  defame  the  fair  name  of  Indiana. 

"  That  Indiana  has  been  our  watch-word  and  rallying  cry, 
a  sufficient  incentive  to  arouse  every  energy  and  inspire  every 
heart  to  the  most  vigorous  efforts,  until  that  infamous  Legis 
lature  took  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  soldier  and  patriot 
to  steal  into  power  and  clog  the  wheels  of  the  Government, 


384  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

by  discouraging  enlistments,  encouraging  desertions  and  re 
pudiating  taxation,  thereby  refusing  to  pay  us  the  small  pit 
tance  allowed  us. 

"  That  the  civil  officer  who  takes  part  in  the  encourage 
ment  of  the  Rebellion,  should  be  driven  from  his  post  and 
from  the  community  in  which  he  lives ;  and  that  measures 
should  be  taken  at  once  to  fill  the  vacancy  with  a  loyal  man, 
without  respect  to  party. 

"  That  we  hold  it  to  be  right  and  proper  that  volunteers 
should  vote  for  every  civil  officer,  at  all  legal  elections  in  our 
State,  and  that  the  language  of  the  Constitution  providing 
for  a  vote  in  the  township  in  which  the  voter  resides,  does 
not  apply  to  a  state  of  civil  war,  when,  necessarily,  one-half 
of  the  voters  are  abroad  from  their  residences,  and  unless  al 
lowed  to  vote  in  camp,  will  thus  be  deprived  of  the  priceless 
and  inalienable  right  of  self-government. 

"  That  in  this  great  emergency  in  our  country's  life  we  de 
mand  the  right  to  vote  as  well  as  fight,  and  call  upon  our 
rulers  at  home  to  place  this  inestimable  prize  at  once  within 
our  reach.  We  do  not  cease  to  be  citizens  because  we  are 
soldiers.  We  have  not  laid  down  the  right  to  rule  because 
we  have  sworn  to  obey. 

"  That,  in  our  opinion,  the  factious  opposition  shown  by  a 
portion  of  the  Northern  people  to  the  Federal  and  State  Gov 
ernments  in  the  proceedings  of  their  Representatives  in  the 
Legislature,  the  editorial  articles  of  their  newspapers,  and  the 
sentiments  expressed  by  their  newspapers,  is  intended  to  and 
does  have  the  direct  effect  to  encourage  our  enemies  to  hold 
out  and  prolong  this  war  in  hopes  of  seeing  the  North  so  di 
vided  that  our  armies  will  fall  an  easy  prey  to  their  united 
exertions.  And  so  believing,  we  hereby  pledge  ourselves 
each  to  the  other,  that  if  this  course  is  persisted  in,  we  will 
hold  the  men  so  engaged  as  our  mortal  enemies." 

The  Indiana  regiments  at  Helena  addressed  to  the  Legis 
lature  a  letter  full  of  the  sturdiest  patriotism. 

"  Do  not  place  one  straw  in  the  way.  Remember  that 
every  word  you  speak  to  encourage  the  South,  nerves  the  arm 
which  aims  at  the  heart's  blood  of  our  brothers  and  kindred," 


BREV.  MAJ.  GEN. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  INDIGNANT.  385 

wrote  General  Hovey,  Colonels  Spicely,  McLean,  McGinnis 
and  Slack. 

General  Milroy  and  his  officers  in  West  Virginia  warmly 
remonstrated. 

The  Twenty- Seventh  regiment  recommended  Governor 
Morton  to  punish  traitors  in  the  Legislature,  and  expressed 
its  willingness  to  come  home  and  assist  him. 

o 

No  body  of  Indiana  troops  failed  to  remonstrate  arid  to 
signify  emphatically  their  disapproval  of  the  course  of  the 
Legislature. 

General  Rosecrans  also  wrote  to  the  Legislature,  "throw 
ing  all  the  weight  of  his  name  and  fame  against  the  Copper 
heads." 

The  majority  in  the  Legislature  was  sorely  offended  and 
was  not  rendered  less  factious  by  these  proceedings.  One, 
trembling  with  rage,  thought  "it  was  high  time  to  know  if 
there  was  a  Cromwell  at  the  doors."  Another,  Mr.  Wolfe,  in 
sisted  on  reducing  the  pay  of  the  "shoulder-strapped  gentry, 
who,  instead  of  attending  to  their  legitimate  business,  were 
holding  political  meetings  and  passing  resolutions  condemn 
ing  the  free  Representatives  of  the  people.  Perhaps  they 
would  then  mind  their  own  business."  He  called  their  course 
infamous  and  insulting,  and  declared  that  it  was  instigated 
by  Governor  Morton  and  his  minions. 

After  a  series  of  angry  debates,  the  "whole  batch,"  to  use 
the  elegant  language  of  the  Senator  from  Clay  and  Putnam, 
was  rejected.  Nevertheless,  an  apology,  full  of  insinuating 
flatteries,  was  addressed  to  the  soldiers. 

Governor  Morton  was  regarded  as  the  head  and  front  of 
this  vexatious  interference,  and  was  opposed  with  increased 
animosity,  if  that  were  possible. 

According  to  our  Constitution,  the  Governor  is  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  military  forces.  He  may  call  them 
out  to  execute  the  laws,  to  suppress  insurrection,  and  to  repel 
invasion.  He  has  authority  to  commission  all  militia  offi 
cers,  issuing  commissions  in  the  name  of  the  State,  signing 
them  with  his  own  name,  and  sealing  them  with  the  State 
seal.  It  is  his  duty  to  appoint  the  Adjutant,  Quartermaster 
25 


386  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  Commissary  Generals.  The  Indiana  Legion  can  be 
called  into  existence  and  continued  by  him,  every  county  be 
ing  required  to  give  bond,  to  be  approved  by  the  County 
Auditor,  for  the  safe  keeping  and  return  of  all  arms,  accou 
trements  and  munitions,  and  the  counties  being  held  liable 
to  the  State  for  all  arms  distributed. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  February,  Mr.  Hanna  introduced 
into  the  House  a  bill  which,  at  one  fell  blow,  would  revolu 
tionize  the  Government  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  It  included 
the  provisions  of  the  Military  Board  bill,  which,  earlier  in  the 
session,  had  excited  in  the  adherents  of  the  Government  the 
most  serious  apprehensions,  and  which  had  been  laid  aside 
with  private  assurances  from  potent  individuals  that  it  should 
not  again  be  brought  up.  According  to  its  provisions  the 
Auditor,  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  Attorney  General  of  State 
were  to  have  the  arms  of  the  State  in  their  custody,  and  were 
to  be  endowed  with  authority  to  bestow  upon  militia  offi 
cers, — a  Major  General  and  Brigadier  Generals, — certificates, 
which,  in  the  event  of  the  Governor's  refusing  commissions, 
were  to  be  of  equal  authority.  The  Major  General,  so  certifi 
cated,  was  to  select  his  own  staff,  which  should  perform  the 
duties  and  have  the  powers  now  appertaining  to  the  depart 
ments  of  the  Adjutant,  Quartermaster  and  Commissary  Gen 
erals.  The  Indiana  Legion  was  to  be  disarmed  and  dis 
solved,  and  all  commissions  previously  issued  to  its  officers 
to  be  rendered  null  and  void.  Arms  were  to  be  given  out  on 
the  requisition  of  the  Brigadier  Generals,  and  without  bond 
or  security  for  their  preservation  or  return. 

Thus  while  the  bill  showed  a  faint  semblance  of  respect 
for  the  Constitution  by  suffering  the  Governor  to  retain  the 
title  of  Commander-in-Chief,  and  by  allowing  his  staff  to 
continue  in  ostensible  existence,  it  robbed  both  Governor  and 
staff  of  every  vestige  of  military  authority,  and,  in  its  true  and 
manifest  purport,  defied  the  State  and  National  Govern 
ments, 

Governor  Morton,  in  his  message,  had  urged  immediate 
appropriations  for  the  relief  of  soldiers'  families,  for  the  satis 
faction  of  military  claims  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  due  from  the  State,  and  approved  by 


APPROPRIATIONS  CONSIDERED.  387 

the  auditing  committee,  for  the  payment  of  a  large  debt  to 
assist  surgeons  who  had  been  sent  to  the  field  at  various 

O 

times,  and  who  had  rendered  invaluable  services;  and  for  the 
payment  of  officers  and  men  of  the  Indiana  Legion  for  repell 
ing  invasion,  and  protecting  the  border.  But  these  things 
had  all  been  sedulously  deferred,  as  had  also  appropriations 
for  the  support  of  the  arsenal;  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers 
in  the  field;  and  for  the  advance  of  soldiers'  pay,  due  and  in 
arrear  from  the  General  Government,  though  it  had  been 
shown  by  the  Governor  that  this  advance  could  be  made 
with  little  or  no  loss  to  the  State.  Even  the  usual  appropri 
ations  for  the  support  of  the  State  Institutions,  the  Hospital 
for  the  Insane,  the  Institute  for  the  Blind,  and  the  Asylum 
for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  had  been  withheld.  No  money  had 
been  allowed  for  the  support  of  the  penitentiaries,  and  the 
Northern  prison  was  now  deeply  in  debt.  The  Indiana  Le 
gion  had  received  no  pay  since  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
while  the  Southern  border  was  constantly  disturbed  by  the 
danger  of  invasion.  The  only  fund  for  contingent  military 
expenses,  including  the  care  and  relief  of  the  sick  and  wounded, 
was  a  small  remnant  of  the  appropriation  made  in  1861. 
For  the  civil  contingent  expenses  of  the  Executive  Depart 
ment  there  was  no  provision  whatever. 

The  single  appropriation  which  had  been  made  was  for 
legislative  expenses  at  the  opening  of  the  session.  The  sum 
so  hastily  appropriated  was  seventy-five  thousand  dollars, 
more  than  double  the  amount  of  any  former  sum  devoted  to 
the  purpose. 

Affairs  were  in  this  unfinished  and  chaotic  condition  when, 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  February,  but  nine  legislative  days  re 
maining,  the  military  bill  was  pressed  to  its  engrossment,  all 
amendments  and  substitutes  having  been  voted  down,  all 
reference  to  committees  refused,  and  all  debate  cut  off.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  and  coolly  calculating  on  the 
desperation  of  the  perplexed  and  harrassed  minority,  the 
Democrats  held  behind  the  bill,  and  tantalizingly  displayed 
as  dependent  upon  it,  all  the  so  earnestly  desired  appropria 
tions.  Behind  it  also  they  held,  in  shadow  Brown's  resolu 
tions  in  favor  of  secession,  Wolfe's  demanding  an  armistice, 


388  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  Niblack's  depriving  Indianapolis  of  control  over  its  own 
police. 

In  the  ordinary  course  of  events  the  passage  of  the  bill  was 
inevitable,  and  with  it  war  in  Indiana;  for  though  so  open  a 
violation  of  the  Constitution  might  and  must  be  referred  to 
the  civil  courts,  the  law's  slow  delay  would  allow  of  ruinous 
action.  In  any  event  a  legal  decision,  conning  early  or  late, 
would  be  no  more  binding1  to  the  Democratic  party  than  were 
to  Samson  the  withes  of  the  Philistines. 

Driven  by  the  terrible  alternative  of  Revolution,  the  mi 
nority  in  the  House  accepted  the  last  resort,  and  withdrew, 
thus  breaking  a  quorum. 

It  was  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all,  that  twice  in  the  previ 
ous  regular  session,  also  in  1857  and  in  1855,  the  Democrats 
had  bolted  on  comparatively  insignificant  questions.  But 
the  majority,  standing  as  it  always  stood,  on  the  platform  of 
self,  was  not  the  less  exasperated.  It  angrily  debated  the 
propriety  of  arresting  the  absentees,  but  at  length  concluded 
to  go  home,  and  "bring  about  such  a  storm  as  would  force 
the  Governor  to  call  an  extra  session,"  Mr.  Buskirk  compla 
cently  suggesting,  that  "in  a  very  short  time  we  should  have 
nothing  of  a  government  left,  except  what  we  had  in  Indi 
ana,  and  that  it  therefore  behooved  Democrats  to  keep  the 
State  Government  in  its  pristine  strength." 

The  Legislature  adjourned  on  the  ninth  of  March,  after  a 
session  of  fifty-nine  days.  Its  departure  was  the  lifting  of 
an  incubus.  Governor  Morton  immediately  consulted  the 
Auditor  and  Treasurer  of  State,  with  the  hope  of  obtaining 
from  the  Treasury  money  for  the  most  pressing  necessities. 
Those  officers  promptly  decided  that  not  a  single  dollar,  in 
the  absence  of  Legislative  appropriations,  should  be  drawn 
from  the  public  funds.  Governor  Morton  then  appealed  to 
the  loyal  people  of  the  State.  He  also  applied  to  the  Presi 
dent  for  an  advance,  under  an  appropriation  made  by  Con 
gress,  in  July,  1861,  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  partly 
for  the  purpose  of  providing  arms  for  loyal  citizens  of  States 
which  were  threatened  by  Rebellion.  Both  appeals  received 
a  cordial  response.  The  President  advanced  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Counties,  railroad  companies, 


TARES  DILIGENTLY  SOWED.  389 

private  individuals  and  one  bank,  knowing  that  he  had  not 
the  right  to  borrow  the  money,  but  relying  on  the  action  of 
the  Legislature  in  some  future  session,  made  a  farther  and 
ample  supply.  "  Thus,"  said  Governor  Morton,  in  after  days 
narrating  the  events  of  1863,  "thus  the  danger  passed  by, 
and  the  government  of  the  State  went  on." 

The  Democratic  party,  not  content  with  its  action  in  the 
Legislature,  was  exceedingly  busy  in  every  corner  of  the 
State.  Such  a  multitude  of  private  letters  were  written  to 
soldiers  urging  desertion  and  promising  protection  from  ar 
rest,  and  so  productive  were  these  letters  of  evil,  that  the 
army  at  one  period  sent  back  a  counter-current  of  cowards 
almost  equal  in  weight  and  volume  with  the  stream  of  re 
cruits.  In  the  single  month  of  December,  1862,  more  than 
two  thousand  deserters  were  returned  to  the  field  through 
Indianapolis  alone.  Robert  Walpole,  an  active  Democratic 
lawyer,  boasted  that  he  had  aided  five  hundred  soldiers  to 
escape.  Treasonable  books  and  documents  were  sent  in 
great  numbers  to  the  army,  and  were  scattered  over  the 
country. 

The  contemptuous  nicknames  Butternut  and  Copperhead 
were  insolently  adopted;  ornaments  made  of  that  much 
abused  nut,  and  of  heads  cut  from  copper  coin  being  osten 
tatiously  worn,  and  by  women  as  well  as  men.  Influential 
speakers  threatened  the  Government  with  the  anger  of  the 
people,  and  strove  to  rouse  the  people  to  wrath  and  riot  by 
painfully  depicting  their  wrongs.  Daniel  W.  Voorhees, 
member  of  Congress  from  the  Seventh  District,  on  the 
twenty-third  of  February,  1863,  uttered  in  Congress,  during 
a  debate  on  the  Conscript  bill,  the  following  mischievous  lan 
guage:  "You  seek  to  establish  a  despotism  by  this  bill,  in 
order  to  fill  the  ranks  of  the  army  by^force.  Go  back  to 
the  Constitution,  as  you  value  your  lives;  cease,  as  you 
value  the  peace  of  the  country;  cease,  as  you  dread  the 
lurid  flames  of  civil  war,  at  your  own  households;  cease 
these  infractions  of  the  American's  birthright,  the  Constitu 
tion.  Dare  no  more  to  lay  your  hands  on  the  white  man's 
liberty.  Go  no  further  in  the  line  of  policy  which  you  have 
attempted.  I  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that,  as  the  Lord  God 


390  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

reigns  in  Heaven,  you  cannot  go  on  with  your  system  of 
provost  marshals  and  police  officials,  arresting  free  white 
men  for  what  they  conceive  to  be  their  duty  within  the  plain 
provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and  maintain  peace  in  the 
loyal  States.  BLOOD  WILL  FLOW.  You  cannot  and  you 
shall  not  forge  fetters  on  our  limbs  without  a  struggle  for 
the  mastery." 

Senator  Hendricks  proclaimed  similar  sentiments,  and 
plainly  suggested  the  formation  of  a  North- Western  Confed 
eracy.  Political  meetings  throughout  Indiana  endorsed  and 
published  rebellious  principles.  In  January,  1863,  conven 
tions  in  Carroll,  Brown,  Lawrence,  Stark,  Rush,  DeKalb, 
Martin  and  Scott  counties  adopted  resolutions  opposed  to 
the  war  and  the  President's  Proclamation,  and  in  favor  of  an 
armistice,  compromise  and  amnesty  to  Rebels.  In  Febru 
ary,  at  a  festival  given  to  Senator  Hendricks  in  Shelby 
county,  the  Administration,  arbitrary  arrests,  emancipation, 
conscription  and  the  war  were  denounced,  and  Hendricks, 
while  speaking  on  the  subject  of  volunteering,  said:  "Not 
intending  to  enter  the  Union  army  myself,  I  never  asked  any 
one  else  to  do  so."  Also,  in  February,  the  counties  of  Greene, 
Putnam,  Jackson  and  DeKalb  published  revolutionary  reso 
lutions.  In  March,  the  Democratic  club  of  Indianapolis  de 
manded  a  State  convention  because  "the  Legislature  had 
failed  to  protect  the  citizens  against  the  tyranny  of  the  ad 
ministration,"  and  declared  in  favor  of  a  cessation  of  hostil 
ities. 

A  political  meeting  in  Warren  county  opposed  the  con 
scription  and  the  administration.  The  Tenth  and  Eleventh 
districts,  in  convention  at  Fort  Wayne,  arraigned  the  ad 
ministration  as  tyrannical,  and  proposed  revolution  as  a  last 
resort.  The  Democracy  of  Wayne  county  met  at  Cambridge 
City  and  resolved: 

First.  That  the  further  prosecution  of  this  war  will  re 
sult  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Constitution,  in  the  overthrow 
of  civil  liberty,  in  the  elevation  of  the  black  man  and  the  deg- 
redation  of  the  white  man  in  the  social  and  political  status 
of  the  country. 


"FEE,  FAW,  FUM1".  301 

Second.  In  favor  of  an  armistice  and  National  Conven 
tion  of  all  the  States. 

Third.     Denouncing  the  clergy  in  the  following  language: 

"Resolved,  That  the  majority  of  the  clergy  for  the  past 
two  years,  are  the  devil's  select  and  inspired  representatives, 
preaching  envy,  malice,  hate,  vengeance,  blood  and  murder, 
instead  of  love,  charity,  Christianity,  and  the  doctrines  of 
Christ,  and  they  therefore  receive  our  unqualified  and  indig 
nant  condemnation." 

Fourth.  Denouncing  the  Provost  Marshal  system  as  an 
institution  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  subversive  of  State 
Rights,  dangerous  to  liberty,  obnoxious  to  lawful  resistance, 
in  conflict  with  civil  jurisdiction,  and  pregnant  with  demor 
alization  to  society. 

"  Fifth.  That  we  say  to  the  administration  that  as  the 
Lord  reigns  in  Heaven,  it  cannot  go  on  with  its  Provost 
Marshals  and  Police  officials,  arresting  free  white  men  for  what 
they  conceive  to  be  their  duty  within  the  plain  provisions  of 
the  Constitution,  and  maintain  peace  in  the  Northern  States. 
Blood  will  flow!  They  can  not  and  shall  not  forge  fetters 
for  our  limbs,  without  a  struggle  for  the  mastery." 

June  4,  Andrew  Humphreys,  a  member  of  the  Legislature, 
addressing  an  approving  rabble,  represented  President  Lin 
coln  as  an  old  tyrant  and  usurper,  who  wasted  treasure  and 
lives,  killing  forty  thousand  men  a  day.  In  September,  the 
same  gentlemen,  standing  in  a  wagon-bed,  at  a  picnic  in 
Jackson  township,  Sullivan  county,  spoke  with  much  feeling 
to  four  hundred  armed  men  of  the  beauty  and  necessity  of 
peace,  urging  Democrats  not  to  hoard  their  money,  and  not 
to  spend  it  in  levity,  but  to  use  it  in  preparing  for  self-defense. 
After  Mr.  Humphreys,  a  stranger  from  Georgia  mounted  the 
wagon,  partly  to  show  the  crowd  how  a  Rebel  looked,  to 
which  it  responded  that  he  was  "a  good-looking  fellow," 
partly  "to  represent  to  his  friends  the  importance  of  resisting 
the  present  administration  at  the  sacrifice  of  their  means, 
their  families,  and  themselves  if  necessary." 

In  Allen  county,  in  August,  a  convention  declared  "the 
proposed  draft  for  five  hundred  thousand  men  the  most  dam 
nable  of  all  the  outrages  that  have  been  perpetrated  upon  the 


392  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

people  by  this  administration,  and  further,  that  the  honor, 
dignity  and  safety  of  the  people  demand  that,  against  ruin 
and  enslavement,  they  must  afford  to  themselves  that  protec 
tion  which  usurpation  and  tyranny  deny  them." 

The  Crawfordsville  Review,  taking  upon  itself  the  author 
ity  of  prophesy,  declared :  "  The  day  is  coming  when  the 
word  loyalty,  if  that  day  has  not  already  arrived,  will  be  a 
stench  in  the  nostrils  of  every  honest  man." 

Many  pages  might  be  filled  with  the  disloyal  sayings  of 
bad  men,  but  where  would  be  the  use? 

During  the  autumn  of  1863  the  sowers  of  strife  were  not 
without  some  show  of  harvest.  In  Morgan  county  soldiers 
arresting  deserters  were  fired  on.  In  Jay  county  arrested 
deserters  were  rescued.  In  at  least  nine  different  counties 
riots  occurred  in  resistance  to  the  enrollment.  Fletcher  Fre- 
man,  an  enrolling  officer  in  Sullivan  county,  was  murdered 
in  cold  blood  a  few  days  after  the  pic-nic  in  which  Mr.  Hum 
phreys  and  his  Georgian  friend  urged  that  men  should  arm 
themselves  to  maintain  peace.  Frank  Stevens  was  killed  in 
Rush  county  shortly  after  the  Democratic  newspaper  of 
Rushville  advised  enrolling  officers  to  insure  their  lives  be 
fore  entering  on  their  duties.  Captain  McCarty  was  killed 
in  Daviess.  Mr.  Collins  was  shot  in  Terre  Haute.  In  sev 
eral  communities  Union  men  were  warned,  through  anony 
mous  letters,  to  leave  the  neighborhood,  and  their  barns,  hay 
stacks  and  wheat  ricks  were  burned.  In  Brown  county  the 
lives  of  all  Abolitionists  who  refused  to  sign  a  peace  memo 
rial  were  threatened. 

That  murders  were  not  more  numerous  and  riots  were  not 
more  extensive,  in  short,  that  the  seed  of  rebellion  bore  little 
fruit  in  proportion  to  the  diligence  with  which  it  had  been 
scattered,  is  due  to  the  vigilance  and  wisdom  of  our  State 
administration,  to  the  innate  honesty  of  our  people,  and, 
above  all,  to  the  favor  of  our  God,  who  rewarded  the  right 
eous  act  of  emancipation  by  the  victories  of  Gettysburg, 
Vicksburg,  Port  Hudson  and  Helena,  bringing  from  the 
blackness  of  night  the  beauties  of  dawn,  and  advancing  it 
toward  the  perfect  day. 


"WHAT  MEANT  THE  THUNDER  STROKE?"  393 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AFFAIRS  AT  HOME—  Continued. 

To  horse!  to  horse!  the  sabres  gleam; 

High  sounds  our  bugle  call; 
Combined  by  honor's  sacred  tie, 
Our  word  is  Laws  and  Liberty! 

March  forward,  one  and  all! — War  Sony — Scott. 

Wednesday,  the  eighth  of  July,  1863,  at  that  dusky  hour 
between  night  and  day,  when  the  absent  and  the  dead, — the 
soldier  in  his  tent  and  the  soldier  under  the  sod, — claim  their 
vacant  place  at  home,  the  silent  city  of  Indianapolis  was 
startled  by  the  clank  of  the  alarm-bell.  No  cry  of  fire  fol 
lowed.  Between  the  strokes  was  a  deathly  stillness  as  if 
the  town  were  without  inhabitants.  Then  church-bells  and 
fire-bells  struck  in,  and  with  deafening  clamor.  Still  there 
was  no  cry,  nor  flame,  nor  smoke,  and  no  answer  to  the  en 
quiry,  "What  does  it  mean?"  People  streamed  from  the 
most  distant  suburbs  toward  the  centre,  after  the  first  unan 
swered  question  scarcely  speaking.  With  every  square  the 
throngs  increased  until,  before  the  Bates  House,  a  vast, 
silent,  wondering,  alarmed  crowd  was  assembled.  Governor 
Morton  stood  on  the  balcony  with  despatches  in  his  hand. 
John  Morgan  had  crossed  the  Ohio,  and  was  in  Indiana  with 
four  or  five  thousand  horsemen,  and  with  artillery.  "  It  is 
necessary  to  organize  without  delay,"  added  the  Governor, 
"therefore  go  at  once  to  your  wards." 

The  mass  separated  as  rapidly  as  it  had  collected,  women 
back  to  their  homes,  men  to  the  school-houses  or  engine- 
houses  of  their  wards. 

Unexpected  as  was  the  intelligence  to  the  people,  it  had 
not  taken  the  Governor  by  surprise.  On  Saturday,  the 
fourth  of  July,  at  noon,  General  Boyle  telegraphed  that  Gen. 


394  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

John  H.  Morgan,  with  a  large  force,  was  marching  in  the 
direction  of  Louisville,  and  asked  that  such  troops  as  Morton 
had  in  Indianapolis  might  be  sent  to  him.  The  Seventy- 
First  regiment,  Colonel  Biddle,  and  the  Twenty-Third  bat 
tery,  Captain  Myers,  were  forwarded  during  the  afternoon, 
and  arrived  at  Jefferson ville  during  the  night.  Adjutant 
General  Noble  went  down  with  them,  and  ordered  out  the 
Clarke  county  regiment  of  the  Legion,  under  command  of 
Colonel  Wiley.  It  rendezvoused  at  Jeffersonville  Sunday 
afternoon.  The  Seventy-First  regiment  and  Twenty-Third 
battery  crossed  over  to  Louisville,  and  were  sent  out  on  the 
roads  leading  into  the  city. 

The  Legion  of  Floyd  and  Harrison  counties  was  called 
out.  The  Floyd  regiment  arrived  in  New  Albany  Sunday 
afternoon. 

Monday  General  Boyle  learned  that  Morgan  was  at  Salt 
river,  hesitating  as  to  his  course,  though  determined  not  to 
approach  nearer  the  city. 

So  the  Legion  was  sent  home  after  signals  had  been  agreed 
upon  for  assembling,  in  case  of  sudden  need.  Tuesday 
morning  scouts  reported  Morgan  falling  back  in  the  direction 
of  Elizabeth  town. 

Tuesday  afternoon  the  Lady  Pike,  as  she  was  steaming 
up  the  river,  carne  to  a  stop  on  seeing  Rebel  troops  at  Bran 
denburg,  on  the  Kentucky  shore,  and  in  possession  of  two 
United  States  steamers.  Without  making  any  investigation 
as  to  number,  she  turned  and  hastened  down  to  Leavenworth, 
where  she  told  the  news,  and  shortly  after  took  on  board 
thirty  men,  Home-Guards,  with  one  gun,  under  Captain 
Lyon.  She  then  set  off  up  the  river  again,  but  losing  cour 
age  as  she  approached  the  point  of  danger,  she  landed  the 
little  force  three  miles  below  Brandenburg,  on  the  Indiana 
shore.  The  gun  was  dragged  by  hand  two  miles,  to  Mauck- 
port,  where  two  companies  of  the  Sixth  regiment  of  the  Le 
gion  had  hastily  collected,  under  the  direction  of  Major 
Pfrimmer  and  Colonel  Timberlake.  Assisted  by  this  addi 
tional  force,  the  Leavenworth  men  hauled  their  gun  a  mile 
further^  and  at  seven  in  the  morning  put  it  in  position  on  the 
river  bank  opposite  Brandenburg,  which  was  entirely  con- 


MORGAN  CROSSES  THFA  OHIO.  395 

cealed  by  a  heavy  fog.  At  eight  the  captured  boats,  full  of 
Rebels,  could  be  seen  through  breaks  in  the  fog.  Captain 
Lyon's  gun  cast  a  shell  across  the  river,  producing  such  ap 
parent  alarm  and  confusion  as  to  confirm  a  report  that  Mor 
gan  had  not  more  than  two  hundred  men,  and  was  without 
artillery. 

Very  soon  the  Home-Guards  were  undeceived.  A  sharp 
cannonade  opened  on  them  from  the  southern  heights,  and 
two  regiments  pushed  out  from  the  southern  shore.  A  squad 
of  the  Guards  endeavored  to  hold  the  landing,  another  tried 
to  drag  off  the  gun,  and  a  third  attempted  to  hide  the  powder. 
The  last  succeeded,  but  the  first  was  beaten  back  with  loss, 
and  the  gunners,  after  having  hauled  the  gun  a  half  mile 
through  mire  and  brier,  were  compelled  to  leave  it  behind, 
and  attend  to  their  own  safety.  Four  men  were  killed,  one 
died  from  exhaustion,  and  one  was  mortally  wounded. 

By  this  time  militiamen  were  hurrying  in  from  farms,  up 
from  Mauckport,  and  down  from  Corydon,  but  there  was  no 
use  in  trying  to  make  a  stand  on  the  river,  so  they  fell  back 
on  different  roads.  Major  Pfrimmer  moved  directly  north 
ward,  skirmishing  with  Morgan's  advance,  and  joining  Colonel 
Jordan,  who  was  near  Corydon  with  a  reinforcement.  Jor 
dan  extended  his  command,  something  less  than  five  hundred 
men,  so  as  to  cover  all  the  roads  from  the  river  to  Corydon. 
He  then  chopped  down  trees  and  threw  up  breastworks,  but 
he  was  unable  to  hold  his  position.  Accordingly  he  with 
drew  into  the  town,  and  surrendered. 

Meantime  Governor  Morton  issued  a  proclamation  which 
roused  the  State.  Although  the  fields  were  bending  to  the 
harvest,  and  the  country  had  been  so  drained  of  men  that 
women  were  wielding  the  sickle  and  binding  the  sheaf,  no 
less  than  sixty-five  thousand  men  tendered  their  services 
within  forty-eight  hours.  Twenty  thousand  reported  to  ren 
dezvous  at  Indianapolis  alone.  On  Friday,  the  tenth,  they 
began  pouring  into  the  city  along  every  railroad  and  turnpike. 
Within  three  days  thirty  thousand  men  were  organized  into 
regiments,  and  sent  into  the  field.  Saturday  an  order  was 
issued  to  check  further  enlisting. 


396  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Where  Morgan  meant  to  go,  nobody  pretended  to  know. 
What  he  meant  to  do,  everybody  was  able  to  guess.  Con 
sequently  banks  sent  their  gold,  and  most  of  their  currency, 
to  New  York;  the  Branch  of  the  State  at  Indianapolis,  dur 
ing  the  afternoon  of  the  ninth,  cancelled  twenty-three  thou 
sand  dollars  of  its  own  issue,  and  shipped  two  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  dollars  in  gold  and  currency;  families  buried, 
or  otherwise  concealed  their  silver  plate;  horses  were  hurried 
off  to  the  North,  and  everything  that  could  gratify  the  cu 
pidity  of  the  raiders  was  put  out  of  the  way. 

It  was  rumored  that  Morgan  desired,  above  all  things,  to 
burn  Indianapolis,  and  that  he  would  have  no  objection  to 
include  Governor  Morton  in  the  flames:  but  whatever  might 

"  O 

be  his  wishes,  it  was  soon  evident  that  he  had  no  such  de 
termination.  It  is  asserted  that  before  he  left  Kentucky,  his 
plan  was  laid  to  ride  through  Indiana  and  Ohio,  and  to  re- 
cross  the  river  near  Buffington  Island;  but  it  is  certain  that 
no  other  course  was  open  to  him  after  he  left  Corydon,  and 
that  he  could  not  have  rested  forty-eight  hours  without  being 
overwhelmed. 

General  Hobson,  with  cavalry  and  artillery,  which  included 
the  Fifth  Indiana  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Butler,  and  the 
Fifteenth  battery  under  Von  Sehlen,  followed  him  from  the 
southern  part  of  Kentucky.  Nine  miles  from  Brandenburg, 
his  troops  halted,  while  he,  with  a  small  escort,  pushed  on  to 
Rock  Haven,  to  make  arrangements  with  gunboats  for  a  si 
multaneous  night  attack.  The  gunboats  were  not  at  hand, 
and  General  Hobson  went  back,  reaching  his  men  at  one  in 
the  morning.  He  found  it  impossible  to  rouse  them,  so  over 
come  were  they  with  fatigue  and  sleep;  but  he  started  at 
dawn,  and  early  on  the  eighth  reached  the  Ohio  river.  Here 
he  divided  his  force,  sending  one  portion  on  gunboats  up  the 
river,  and  keeping  the  other  on  the  trail  of  the  invaders. 

Scouts  scoured  the  river  counties.  The  Legion  and  Min 
ute  Men  directed  their  march  toward  every  point  which  had 
attractions  for  a  hungry  and  angry  enemy, — to  JefFersonville, 
to  save  the  vast  Government  stores  collected  at  that  point,  to 
places  on  the  various  railroads  to  prevent  their  destruction, 
and  to  all  the  crossings  of  the  Ohio  from  Mount  Vernon  be- 


CORYDON  VISITED.  397 

yond  Lawrenceburg,  in  order  to  hinder  escape.  They  were 
close  on  him,  right  and  left  and  rear,  and  pressing  toward 
his  front.  He  had  little  time  for  replenishing  purses  or 
wardrobes,  or  for  collecting  horses.  At  Corydon,  he  levied 
twenty-one  hundred  dollars  on  mills,  giving  the  owners  the 
alternative  of  fire;  his  men  stole  or  destroyed  everything 
they  could  lay  their  hands  on — from  horses,  of  which  they 
captured  five  hundred  in  the  county,  to  babies'  shoes  and 
women's  dresses.  By  flag  of  truce,  they  induced  Mr.  Glenn, 
who  lived  in  the  suburbs,  to  come  among  them,  and  then 
killed  him,  and  burned  his  houses  and  barns.  They  killed 
William  Heth,  toll-gate  keeper,  and  shot  at  a  number  of  oth 
ers.  In  other  places,  they  committed  comparatively  few  de 
predations.  As  they  were  compelled  to  live  off  the  country, 
of  course  they  appropriated  all  the  food  they  could  find 
along  their  route.  "  There  is  a  custom  prevailing  in  Indiana 
and  Ohio/'  says  Basil  Duke,  Morgan's  historian,  "which  is  of 
admirable  assistance  to  soldiery  and  should  be  encouraged — 
a  practice  of  baking  bread  once  a  week  in  large  quantities. 
Every  house  is  full  of  it." 

Trotting  nineteen  or  twenty  hours  of  the  twenty-four, 
dodging  here  and  there,  breaking  into  small  bands  in  order 
to  slip  through  or  around  large  forces,  or  concentrating  to 
run  over  small  bodies,  the  Rebels  avoided  a  battle  and  sped 
on  night  and  day.  From  Corydon,  they  proceeded  to  Salem, 
which  made  unavailing  resistance. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  tenth,"  says  the  Rebel  annalist, 
"we  set  out  for  Salem.  Major  Webber  was  ordered  to  take 
the  advance,  and  let  nothing  stop  him.  He  accordingly  put 
his  regiment  at  the  head  of  the  column,  and  struck  out 
briskly.  Lieutenant  Welsh,  of  company  K,  had  the  extreme 
advance  with  twelve  men.  As  he  neared  Salem,  he  saw  the 
enemy  forming  to  receive  him,  and,  without  hesitation,  dashed 
in  among  them.  The  party  he  attacked  was  about  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  strong,  but  badly  armed  and  perfectly  raw,  and 
he  quickly  routed  them.  He  pursued  as  they  fled,  and  soon 
supported  by  Captain  W.  J.  Jones'  company,  drove  them 
pell  mell  into  the  town.  Here  some  two  or  three  hundred 
were  collected,  but  as  the  Second  Kentucky  came  pouring 


398  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

upon  them,  they  fled  in  haste,  scattering  their  guns  in  the 
streets.  A  small  swivel  used  by  the  younger  population  of 
Salem  to  celebrate  Christmas  and  Fourth  of  July,  had  been 
planted  to  receive  us;  about  eighteen  inches  long,  it  was 
loaded  to  the  muzzle,  and  mounted  in  the  public  square  by 
being  propped  against  a  stick  of  firewood.  It  was  not  fired, 
however,  for  the  man  deputed  to  perform  that  important  duty, 
somewhat  astounded  by  the  sudden  dash  into  the  town, 
dropped  the  coal  of  fire  with  which  he  should  have  touched 
it  off,  and  before  he  could  get  another,  the  Rebels  captured 
the  piece.  The  shuddering  imagination  refuses  to  contem 
plate  the  consequences  had  that  swivel  been  touched  off. 
Major  Webber  might  have  had  some  trouble  with  this  force, 
which  was  being  rapidly  augmented,  but  for  the  promptness 
and  vigor  of  his  attack. 

"A  short  halt  was  made  in  Salem  to  feed  men  and  horses, 
and  during  that  time  several  railroad  bridges  were  burned. 
The  Provost  guard  had  great  difficulty  in  restraining  the 
men  from  pillaging,  and  was  unsuccessful  in  some  instances. 
Major  Steele,  of  the  Third  Kentucky,  had  been  appointed 
Provost  Marshal  of  the  division,  and  was  assisted  by  picked 
officers  and  men  from  each  of  the  brigades.  Major  Steele 
was  a  most  resolute,  vigilant,  energetic  officer,  and  yet  he 
found  it  impossible  to  stop  a  practice  which  neither  company 
nor  regimental  officers  \Vere  able  to  aid  him  in  suppressing. 
This  disposition  for  wholesale  plunder  exceeded  any  thing 
that  any  of  us  had  ever  seen  before.  The  men  seemed  act 
uated  by  a  desire  to  'pay  off'  in  the  'enemy's  country'  all 
scores  that  the  Federal  army  had  chalked  up  in  the  South. 
The  great  cause  for  apprehension,  which  our  situation  might 
have  inspired,  seemed  only  to  make  them  reckless." 

Ignorant  of  Morgan's  arrival,  a  company  of  the  Washing 
ton  county  Legion  entered  the  town  to  procure  provisions 
and  arms,  and  was  immediately  captured. 

Leaving  Salem  in  the  afternoon,  Morgan  spent  the  night 
in  Lexington.  The  next  day,  Saturday  the  eleventh,  he 
passed  through  Paris,  and  skirmishing  on  the  right  and  left, 
reached  Vernon.  The  troops  from  Indianapolis  ought  here 
to  have  been  in  his  front,  but  they  were  not.  Although,  with 


VERNON  THREATENED.  399 

that  good  fortune  which  seldom  deserts  the  forethoughtful, 
Governor  Morton  had  just  procured  a  large  quantity  of  arms, 
and  was  able  in  consequence  to  answer  every  requisition,  the 
inefficiency,  resulting  from  drunkenness,  of  another  officer, 
interposed  a  delay  of  eight  hours  at  a  crisis  when  every  mo 
ment  was  golden. 

Greatly  to  the  chagrin  of  General  Wallace,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  the  command  of  a  force  to  be  taken  to  Madi 
son,  the  train  which  should  have  left  at  eight  in  the  morning 
of  Saturday,  was  not  off  until  four  in  the  afternoon.  At 
Columbus  another  vexatious  delay  occurred,  and  it  was  Sun 
day  morning  before  Wallace  reached  Vernon,  fifteen  miles 
above  Madison.  Fortunately,  other  troops  had  just  arrived. 
General  Love,  after  going  to  New  Albany  and  Seymour, 
proceeded  to  Vernon,  and  reached  it  in  the  evening  of  Sat 
urday.  At  North  Vernon  he  found  Colonel  Burkbam  with 
part  of  a  regiment,  and  at  Old  Vernon,  a  mile  distant,  Colo 
nel  Williams,  with  two  hundred  men,  besides  a  number  of 
armed  citizens  of  Jennings  county.  Williams  had  just  ar 
rived,  and  had  put  but  a  small  portion  of  his  force  in  position 
when  Morgan  appeared  in  his  front  and  made  a  demand  for 
surrender.  He  replied  that  he  "was  able  to  hold  the  place, 
and  that  if  Morgan  got  it  he  must  take  it  by  hard  fighting." 
Morgan  asked  a  reconsideration.  Williams  detained  the 
bearer  of  the  second  flag  of  truce  because  he  approached 
nearer  than  was  warranted  by  military  usage. 

At  this  juncture,  General  Love  arrived.  He  returned  the 
messenger,  inspected  the  position,  and  then  sent  Williams  to 
Morgan  to  ask  a  delay  of  two  hours  for  the  removal  of 
women  and  children.  After  a  detention  of  an  hour  and  a 
half,  Colonel  Williams  was  informed  that  thirty  minutes 
would  be  allowed  for  the  purpose,  with  fifteen  minutes  for 
his  return  to  our  lines.  The  women  and  children  accord 
ingly  hastened  out  of  Vernon ;  and  General  Love  prepared 
to  receive  the  terrible  onslaught.  He  prepared  and  waited. 
There  was  no  movement,  no  sound  in  the  direction  of  the 
enemy's  lines.  Not  a  gun,  not  even  a  departing  hoof  broke 
the  stillness  of  the  night. 

At  length  it  appeared  that  during  the  prolonged  negotia- 


t 
400  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tions,  the  wily  enemy  had  withdrawn,  and  was  now  swiftly 
pushing  toward  the  east. 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  General  Love  turned  over  his  .com 
mand  to  General  Wallace,  who,  failing  in  all  endeavors  to 
get  means  to  pursue  in  force,  ordered  Colonel  Shuler,  of  the 
Hundred  and  Third  regiment  of  militia,  to  mount  as  many 
men  as  possible  and  follow  Morgan  as  long  as  he  was  within 
the  State  lines.  Shuler  mounted  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
men  and  set  out  at  four  in  the  afternoon.  Monday  forenoon 
he  gained  the  advance  of  Hobson.  Late  in  the  afternoon  he 
began  to  pick  up  Rebel  stragglers. 

The  Hundred  and  Fifth,  Colonel  Shryock,  fell  in  with 
Shuler,  and  although  on  foot,  followed  at  so  rapid  a  pace, 
that  during  the  afternoon  it  marched  more  than  twenty  miles. 
Shuler  reached  the  Whitewater  to  find  the  bridge  burned, 
and  to  see  the  enemy's  rear  resting  at  Harrison,  but  by  the 
time  he  had  forded  the  river  the  Rebels  were  all  gone.  At 
five  in  the  morning  he  started  again,  but  the  raiders  having 
traveled  all  night,  were  now  twenty-five  miles  ahead,  so  at 
Batavia,  Shuler  left  the  chase  to  the  indefatigable  Hobson 
and  the  militia  of  Ohio. 

Morgan  swept  round  Cincinnati,  and  along  many  roads  to 
the  river,  which  he  struck  near  Pomeroy.  Before  he  could 
cross  it  gunboats  steamed  to  his  front,  and  horsemen  mounted 
the  hill  in  his  rear.  He  fled  up  the  river  fourteen  miles,  and 
again  attempted  to  effect  a  crossing.  More  than  three  hun 
dred  of  his  men  succeeded  in  gaining  the  southern  bank  be 
fore  gunboats  in  front  and  pursuers  in  the  rear  again  put  an 
end  to  the  attempt.  Basil  Duke's  command  received  and 
partially  checked  an  assault  which  was  gallantly  made  by 
three  regiments  led  by  a  detachment  of  the  Fifth  Indiana, 
but  after  a  severe  fight  it  was  forced  to  surrender.  Lieuten 
ant  O'Neill, of  the  Fifth,  conducted  himself  with  distinguished 
gallantry  in  this  affair.  Six  days  more  of  hot  and  panting 
chase  brought  down  Morgan  and  the  last  of  his  band. 

Long  before  the  raid  came  to  an  end,  the  militia  of  Indi 
ana  had  disbanded  and  returned  to  the  avocations  of  civil 
life;  even  several  regiments,  which  had  been  stationed  at 
Cincinnati  at  Morton's  request,  had  been  allowed  to  return, 


ORGANIZATION  OF  TROOPS.  401 

The  One  Hundred  and  Fifth,  Colonel  Shryock,  before  dis 
banding,  suffered  from  a  blunder  as  serious  an  injury  as  is 
often  inflicted  in  battle.  While  reconnoitring  near  La\v- 
renceburg  on  the  night  of  the  fourteenth,  a  sudden  alarm, 
produced,  probably,  by  rapidly  approaching  Union  cavalry, 
caused  confusion.  A  single  shot  was  followed  by  rapid 
firing.  It  lasted  but  a  minute,  yet  five  men  were  killed  and 
eighteen  wounded. 

The  fall  elections  of  1863,  which,  in  Indiana,  were  con 
fined  to  county  officers,  were  favorable  to  the  Administra 
tion.  Troops  were  recruited  and  military  organizations  were 
formed,  throughout  the  year,  as  in  the  previous  years  of  the 
war. 

The  Twenty-Second,  Twenty-Third  and  Twenty-Fourth 
batteries,  which  were  organized  in  November  and  December 
of  1862,  were  retained  several  months  for  service  in  Indiana, 
mainly  in  guarding  prisoners  of  war.  The  Twenty-Second 
was  tampered  with  by  Secessionists,  until  many  of  its  mem 
bers  became  dissatisfied  and  deserted.  Six  men,  it  was  af 
terwards  discovered,  belonged  to  the  secret  treasonable  soci 
ety,  whose  existence  was  not  yet  positively  known,  though 
strongly  suspected.  In  March,  it  was  sent  to  Kentucky.  It 
carried  with  it  the  taint  of  treason,  from  which  it  was  only 
purified  by  fire,  but  no  organization  in  the  war  more  nobly 
did  its  duty  when  it  was  fairly  put  to  the  test. 

The  Twenty-Fourth  battery  also  went  to  Kentucky  in 
March.  A  section  of  the  Twenty-Third  accompanied  the 
Seventy-First  under  Colonel  Biddle,  to  Monroe,  Sullivan 
and  Greene  counties,  in  order  to  quell  disturbances. 

The  Fifteenth  battery,  which  was  surrendered  to  the 
enemy  on  Maryland  Heights,  was  returned  to  the  field  in 
March,  1863,  having  been  exchanged  and  provided  with 
new  guns.  In  Kentucky  it  was  employed  against  the  guer 
illas,  especially  Morgan's  band,  which  constantly  kept  thai 
State  in  turmoil. 

In  June,  Governor  Morton  called  upon  each  Congress 
ional  District  for  a  regiment  to  serve  during  a  term  of  six 
months.     But  it  was  now  near  the  time  of  harvest,  and  there 
26 


402  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

was  already  such  a  deficiency  of  labor  in  the  country,  that 
the  harassed  farmers  knew  not  where  to  turn,  consequently 
the  call  received  but  a  cold  response.  Only  four  regiments 
were  organized:  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth,  Colonel 
Mahan;  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth,  Colonel  Kise;  One 
Hundred  and  Seventeenth,  Colonel  Brady,  and  One  Hun 
dred  and  Eighteenth,  Colonel  Jackson.  Before  the  appoint 
ment  of  its  field  officers,  the  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  was  sent 
to  Dearborn,  Michigan,  to  guard  a  United  States  arsenal  at 
that  place.  In  September  it  was  recalled,  and  sent  to 
Nicholasville,  Kentucky,  where  the  six  months  troops  were 
brigaded  together. 

During  the  fall  and  winter,  six  cavalry  regiments  and  six 
infantry  regiments  were  recruited  and  organized  for  three 
years  service,  but,  except  the  Seventh,  they  were  not  sent 
into  the  field  until  the  spring  of  1864. 

The  cavalry  regiments  were  the  Seventh,  Colonel  Shanks; 
Ninth,  Colonel  Jackson;  Tenth,  Colonel  Pace;  Eleventh, 
Colonel  Stewart;  Twelfth,  Colonel  Anderson,  and  Thir 
teenth,  Colonel  Johnson.  The  Infantry  regiments  were  the 
One  Hundred  and  Twentieth,  Colonel  Barter;  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-Third,  Colonel  McQuiston;  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-Fourth,  Colonel  Burgess;  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-Eighth,  Colonel  DeHart;  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-Ninth,  Colonel  Case,  and  One  Hundred  and  Thir 
tieth,  Colonel  Parrish. 

The  Seventh  cavalry  consisted  of  twelve  hundred  and 
thirteen  men  organized  into  twelve  companies.  It  was 
raised  largely  at  the  expense  of  the  private  means  of  J.  P.  C. 
Shanks,  who  was  commissioned  its  commanding  officer. 

Colonel  Shanks  had  already  done  excellent,  though  short 
military  service.  During  the  session  of  Congress,  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  in  1861,  he  accompanied  the  army  to  the 
Bull  Run  battle-field.  When  the  firing  grew  hot,  rout  and 
ruin  threatened,  and  other  civilians  fled,  he  seized  a  musket, 
and,  entering  the  ranks  of  the  Sixty-Ninth  New  York,  fought 
throughout  the  day.  He  afterward,  on  General  Fremont's 
staff,  rendered  efficient  assistance  in  organizing  and  moving 
troops  in  Missouri. 


GENERAL  BRAGG'S  POSITION.  403 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

'   TULLAHOMA. 

There  is  none  of  you  so  mean  and  base 

That  hath  not  noble  lustre  in  your  eyes. 

I  see  you  stand  like  grey-hounds  in  the  slips, 

Straining  upon  the  start.    The  game's  afoot. — King  Henry  F. 

While  General  Rosecrans  gathered  strength  at  Murfrees- 
boro  for  a  further  advance  into  the  South,  General  Bragg 
established  his  army  in  intrenched  camps  behind  the  Coffee 
Hills,  a  high,  rough  and  rocky  spur  of  the  Cumberland  range. 
Eighteen  hundred  infantry,  under  General  Polk,  at  Shelby- 
ville,  protected  by  cavalry  reaching  to  Columbia  and  Spring 
Hill,  formed  his  left.  Twelve  hundred  infantry,  under  Gen 
eral  Hardee,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountain  gaps  on  the  east 
of  Shelbyville,  and  covered  by  cavalry  reaching  to  McMinn- 
ville,  constituted  his  right.  His  centre  was  eighteen  miles 
back  of  Shelbyville,  at  Tullahoma.  General  Buckner's 
division  held  East  Tennessee,  from  Knoxville  to  Chattanooga. 
At  any  point  in  his  front  he  could  readily  concentrate  forty 
thousand  men,  while,  should  a  falling  back  be  advisable  be 
fore  a  battle,  he  could  draw  together  a  larger  army 

Preliminary  to  the  opening  of  the  campaign,  Rosecrans 
made  ostentatious  demonstrations  on  Bragg's  left.  The 
most  important  of  these  was  a  violent  and  successful  attack 
by  General  Mitchell's  cavalry  division  on  a  Rebel  cavalry 
outpost.  The  Fourth  and  Second  Indiana  cavalry  were  in 
Mitchell's  division,  and  were  engaged  in  the  affair. 

The  campaign  began  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June.  The 
same  day  a  dismal  and  protracted  rain  set  in,  immeasurably 
increasing  the  difficulties  and  hardships  of  march,  bivouac 
and  battle.  The  Twentieth  corps,  Me  Cook's,  moved  directly 
toward  Shelbyville,  the  most  prominent  and  accessible  point 


404  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

in  the  enemy's  line,  in  order  still  further  to  delude  him  into 
concentrating  there,  and  to  enable  Thomas  and  Crittenden 
to  gain,  through  the  gaps  in  the  hills  farther  east,  a  passage 
which  would  threaten  the  remote  and  nearly  inaccessible 
rear. 

McCook  started  early.  At  two  in  the  afternoon,  as  he 
began  to  thread  his  way  through  the  hills  toward  Liberty 
Gap,  his  skirmishers,  five  companies  of  the  Thirty-Ninth 
Indiana,  which  was  now  mounted,  met  the  skirmishers  of 
the  enemy,  and  as  they  pushed  on,  discovered  a  force  of  eight 
hundred  infantry  posted  in  front  of  the  gap.  General  Wil- 
lich  advanced  his  brigade,  and  failing  in  an  attempt  on  the 
front,  stretched  out  left  and  right  to  reach  both  flanks.  Fail 
ing  also  in  this,  he  boldly  engaged,  while  Colonel  Miller,  with 
the  Second  brigade,  reinforced  and  lengthened  his  left,  ena 
bling  him  to  stretch  his  right  beyond  the  enemy.  The  left 
and  right  then  changing  front,  closed  in  upon  the  gap,  while 
the  reserve  regiments  advanced  directly  upon  its  entrance. 
The  enemy  fled.  Willich's  and  Miller's  brigades  pursued 
him  a  mile,  then  encamped,  while  Baldwin  took  up  the  ad 
vance.  The  Sixth  Indiana  and  the  Louisville  Legion,  dc- 

O  / 

ployed  as  skirmishers,  kept  up  a  sharp  fire,  and  made  steady 
though  slow  progress  until  night. 

Early  in  the  morning  Willich  advanced  beyond  Baldwin, 
and  posted  the  Thirty-Second  Indiana  and  Eighty-Ninth 
Illinois  in  his  front  on  an  irregular  ridge.  The  enemy,  heavily 
reinforced,  occupied  the  crest,  slope  and  base  of  an  opposite 
ridge.  Desultory  firing  gave  place  near  noon  to  a  series  of 
sharp  engagements.  The  Rebels,  leaving  their  position, 
which  was  secure  and  commanding,  resolutely  advanced  un 
der  cover  of  artillery.  They  were  repulsed,  but  they  repeat 
edly  and  fiercely  renewed  the  movement.  When  Willich's 
ammunition  was  nearly  gone,  Miller  brought  his  brigade  to 
the  front,  and  successfully  met  the  enemy's  struggles. 

While  triumphantly  pushing  forward,  he  was  wounded  by 
a  rifle-ball,  which  entered  his  left  eye.  He  was  borne  from 
the  field,  but  his  men  pressed  on.  Davis'  division  reached 
the  ground,  and  Simonson's  battery  added  its  thunders  to 
the  batteries  of  Johnson's  division.  But  the  Rebels  were 


LIBERTY  GAP.  405 

already  routed.  Nothing  is  known  of  their  loss,  except  that 
seventy-five  dead  were  left  on  the  ground.  Johnson  lost 
thirty-nine  killed  and  seventeen  wounded. 

The  affair  is  in  some  respects  more  particularly  narrated 
in  a  letter  from  Colonel  Baldwin  to  General  Thomas  T. 
Crittenden: 

"  TULLAHOMA,  July  2,  1863. 

"DEAR  GENERAL: — I  snatch  a  few  moments  from  pressing 
duties,  to  tell  you  something  of  our  military  operations  since 
clearing  Murfreesboro  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June.  We 
moved  out  the  Shelbyville  road  to  some  distance,  and  then 
turned  to  the  left,  taking  a  dirt  road  leading  across  the 
country  to  Liberty  Gap,  fourteen  miles  from  Murfreesboro. 
The  order  of  our  march  was  the  First,  Second  and  Third 
brigades.  The  roads  were  bad,  and  it  was  after  twelve 
o'clock  when  I  reached  the  gap.  Willich  had  two  regiments 
deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  was  blazing  away.  The  gap 
is  a  narrow  defile  in  the  mountains,  up  which  runs  p,  crooked, 
bad  road.  It  was  raining  in  torrents,  which  continued  all 
day  and  night.  The  skirmishing  was  sharp,  the  enemy  re 
sisting  stubbornly,  and  men  falling  on  both  sides.  We 
made  but  little  headway  until  two  of  Miller's  regiments 
moved  to  the  right  and  flanked  them,  or  rather  forced  back 
their  left.  They  then  retired  up  the  pass  half  a  mile.  Re 
ceiving  reinforcements  of  five  regiments,  they  made  a  stand 
on  a  strong  position  formed  by  the  road  turning  square  to 
the  left  and  running  five  hundred  yards  along  the  base  of  a 
precipitous  hill,  and  then  entering  the  hills  through  a  narrow 
defile. 

"  There  I  was  put  in.  It  was  five  o'clock  when  the  Reb 
els  retired  from  their  first  position.  I  was  then  ordered  to 
relieve  General  Willich  and  press  them,  but  owing  to  the 
muddy  ground  and  the  change  of  position,  I  did  not  get 
thoroughly  to  work  before  six.  I  deployed  the  Sixth  on  the 
road  extending  to  the  right  and  left  just  before  the  road 
turned,  and  the  Legion  on  the  extreme  right,  with  orders  to 
take  the  hill,  of  which  the  enemy's  position  was  an  extension. 
They  met  with  but  little  trouble,  going  up  in  fine  style, 
though  with  the  loss  of  two  killed  and  seven  wounded. 


400  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"  The  work  of  the  Sixth  was  more  difficult.  Where  the 
road  turned  to  the  left  a  level  plain  extended  to  the  left 
fronted  by  a  hill,  being  a  continuation  of  the  hill  on  which 
their  right  had  to  operate.  They  acted  splendidly,  now  going 
up  with  a  rush,  now  crawling  through  open  ground,  very 
much  exposed  and  meeting  with  considerable  loss,  consider 
ing  the  ground  and  length  of  time  engaged,  which  was  only 
an  hour.  They  took  ten  prisoners,  killed  and  wounded  many. 
It  was  a  beautiful  performance.  I  never  saw  better  skir 
mishing  in  my  life. 

"  This  fight  gave  me  more  insight  into  the  proper  way  of 
attack  and  defense  of  hilly  positions,  and  in  fact,  of  handling 
troops  generally,  than  I  had  before  had. 

"  Miller  was  wounded  on  the  twenty-sixth.  He  had  his 
quarters  in  an  old  church,  and  when  I  moved  my  brigade 
into  reserve  there,  he  gave  me  quarters  with  him,  and  treated 
me  very  kindly  because  of  my  relationship  to  you.  He  talked 
so  kindly  t>f  you  that  he  quite  won  my  heart.  We  received 
orders  at  the  same  time  and  moved  up  at  the  same  time,  and 
it  was  but  a  few  moments  before  I  saw  them  carrying  him 
off.  He  was  shot  when  he  was  riding  along  at  the  turn  of 
the  road,  where  I  fought  two  days  without  being  fired  on 
from  the  top  of  the  hill  at  the  opening  of  the  pass,  five  to  six 
hundred  yards  off.  We  left  there  on  the  night  of  the  twenty- 
sixth,  marching  nearly  all  night,  returning  to  the  Manches 
ter  pike,  thence  to  Manchester,  and  thence  to  this  place, 
reaching  here  to-day  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"It  has  rained  constantly  night  and  day.  The  roads  are 
indescribable.  I  never  saw  such  roads,  nor  such  marching 
as  we  had  to  do ;  but  the  men  stood  it  without  grumbling, 
and  my  health  improved  rapidly.  I  was  quite  unwell  before 
I  started,  and  I  am  confident  that  I  would  have  been  really 
ill  if  we  had  not  moved.  I  have  never  gone  through  such 
exposure,  some  people  would  have  called  it  hardship,  as  on 
this  march, — working  all  day  and  all  night,  snatching  a  few 
moments  sleep  on  the  wet  ground,  and  not  having  even  a 
blanket  with  me." 

While  Me  Cook  was  forcing  his  way  through  Liberty  Gap, 
Thomas  advanced  toward  Hoover's  Gap,  Wilder's  mounted 


HOOVER'S  GAP.  407 

brigade  scouring  the  country  along  the  Manchester  turnpike. 
The  Seventy-Second,  being  the  foremost  regiment,  came 
upon  the  enemy's  skirmishers,  and  pushing  them  impetu 
ously,  drove  them  rapidly.  The  brigade  following  closely, 
entered  and  pressed  half  way  through  Hoover's  Gap,  a  defile 
three  miles  long.  Wilder  then  halted  and  considered  the  ex 
pediency  of  waiting  for  the  rest  of  Reynolds'  division,  which 
he  knew  was  coming  up  as  fast  as  infantry  could  come.  But 
as  even  a  short  delay  would  enable  the  enemy  to  increase 
the  force  at  the  further  extremity  of  the  pass,  and  as  his  dash 
had  thus  far  been  crowned  with  an  unexpected  degree  of 
success,  he  concluded  to  spur  forward.  He  was  shortly 
brought  to  a  stand  by  evidence  of  the  enemy's  readiness  to 
fight.  He  placed  the  guns  of  Lilly's  battery  on  a  command 
ing  point,  a  small  howitzer  on  lower  ground,  and  formed  his 
four  regiments, — the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Third  and 
the  Ninety-Eighth  Illinois,  the  Seventeenth  and  Seventy-Sec 
ond  Indiana, — in  line.  The  artillery  opened  fiercely  on  both 
sides,  and  the  musketry  was  not  slow  to  begin.  The  strug 
gle  was  stout  and  long,  lasting  five  hours,  but  it  was  very  une 
qual,  the  Rebels  having  fifteen  regiments  engaged,  and  would 
doubtless  have  ended  in  Wilder's  defeat,  had  not  Hall's  brig 
ade  opportunely  arrived.  By  night  the  pass  was  cleared. 
All  the  troops  behaved  with  distinguished  gallantry.  Gen 
eral  Thomas  commended  especially  the  Seventy-Second. 
The  chaplain  of  this  regiment,  John  N.  Eddy,  of  Lafayette, 
was  among  the  killed.  According  to  Henry  Campbell,  of 
the  Eighteenth  battery,  the  Seventeenth  regiment  lost  more 
than  any  other  at  Hoover's  Gap.  After  stating  the  propor 
tion,  he  adds: 

"  It  is  very  strange  to  me  that  the  loss  in  our  battery  was 
not  greater.  We  were  exposed  to  the  fire  of  a  Rebel  battery 
and  a  company  of  sharpshooters  during  the  entire  engage 
ment,  and  were  in  plain  sight  of  both,  while  they  were  con 
cealed  from  us.  The  hill  that  they  occupied  being  higher 
ground  than  that  which  we  were  on,  made  it  difficult  to  get 
their  range;  but  the  flash  of  their  guns  informed  us,  and  we 
compelled  them  to  change  position  more  than  once.  The 
boys  were  all  as  cool  as  if  they  were  firing  blank  cartridges. 


408  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  gun  corporals  made  splendid  shots.  During  the  engage 
ment  we  dismounted  two  Rebel  guns.  A  shell  exploded 
under  one  of  them,  tearing  the  gun  from  the  carriage  and 
scattering  the  pieces  in  every  direction.  Every  time  that  we 
would  see  the  Rebel  guns  flash,  some  one  would  cry  out, 
'Down!'  The  men  at  the  guns  would  all  lie  flat  on  the 
ground,  and  the  drivers,  who  were  dismounted  and  held  their 
horses  on  foot,  would  lie  down  too.  Our  horses  stood  very 
well.  I  dismounted  and  made  myself  useful  when  I  was 
needed,  sometimes  carrying  orders,  but  mostly  on  the  top  of  a 
high  hill  on  the  right  of  the  battery,  telling  the  effect  of  the 
shots.  I  was  taking  an  order  over  to  the  section  of  the  Nine 
teenth  battery  that  was  posted  on  the  hill  across  the  road  be 
hind,  when  a  six  pound  ball  whizzed  over  the  back  of  my 
horse  within  a  foot  of  me." 

General  Granger,  who  had  the  extreme  right,  skirmished 
all  the  way  from  Triune  to  Guy's  Gap,  with  Stanley's  cav 
alry  clearing  the  gap,  and  with  Minty's  pursuing  the  Rebels 
seven  miles,  driving  them  into  and  then  out  of  their  rifle  pits 
near  Shelbyville.  Klein's  battalion  charged  a  troop  of  Reb 
els  twice  its  own  number,  and  drove  them  into  the  river. 
Company  G  did  most  of  the  righting,  Lieutenant  Callahan 
leading  the  charge. 

Granger  carried  the  intrenchments  without  difficulty,  took 
more  than  five  hundred  prisoners,  and  rested  the  night  of  the 
twenty-seventh  in  Shelbyville. 

The  danger  of  the  march  was  in  the  front,  where  balls  and 
bullets  were  flying,  but  the  body  of  the  army  had  double  toil 
and  trouble,  as  every  regiment  made  the  mud  deeper  and 
stickier.  A  member  of  the  Eighty-Seventh  Indiana  thus 
describes  the  march  of  that  regiment: 

"In  order  to  avoid  obstructing  the  passage  of  the  wagons 
we  pursued  our  way  principally  across  the  fields,  where  the 
soil  was  anything  but  firm  beneath  the  tramp  of  so  many 
feet.  Beyond  Christiana  we  halted,  built  fires,  procured 
water,  and  pitched  our  tents,  using  guns  for  the  last,  as  wood 
was  scarce.  The  soldiers  crowded  together,  each  one  intent 
on  having  his  bed  on  a  row  rather  than  in  a  furrow.  Rain 
fell  all  night.  Wind  blew  down  our  tents,  and  water  filled 


THE  ENEMY  KETREATS.  409 

our  boots  and  shoes.  The  men  who  rolled  into  furrows  in 
their  sleep  looked  in  the  morning  like  drowned  rats.  About 
ten  the  march  was  resumed,  over  roads  and  through  fields, 
which  were  now  become  lakes  of  mud.  It  is  not  pleasant  to 
be  in  camp  during  inclement  weather,  as  the  frail  shelter-tent 
is  but  a  poor  protection  against  the  driving  storm;  but  the 
most  unpleasant  thing  a  soldier  has  to  do  is  to  march  through 
mud  from  one  to  two  feet  deep,  carrying  his  tent  when  it  is 
thoroughly  soaked  with  water,  and  his  blanket,  its  weight 
increased  by  dampness,  not  to  speak  of  knapsack,  haversack, 
canteen,  gun  and  cartridge-box.  All  day  long  the  sound  of 
cannon  could  be  heard.  At  dark  we  halted  to  prepare  a 
hasty  meal.  In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  groups  of  men 
were  seated  on  stumps  or  stones,  with  coffee-pots,  oyster-cans 
or  tin-cups  by  their  sides,  and  a  huge  hard  tack  and  a  hunk 
of  raw  pork  in  their  hands.  We  continued  the  march  far 
into  the  night." 

Thomas'  corps  was  not  wholly  up  until  the  twenty-sixth. 
On  the  afternoon  of  this  day  Wilder's  brigade  cleared  the 
way  by  seizing  Matt's  Hollow,  a  gorge  two  miles  long,  with 
scarce  room  anywhere  for  wagons  to  pass  each  other.  Press 
ing  on  beyond  the  hollow,  and  skirmishing  heavily,  the  brig 
ade  and  division  reached  Manchester,  where  General  Rose- 
crans  arrived  next  day,  and  where,  within  a  few  days,  the 
whole  army  concentrated. 

Colonel  Wilder  proceeded  round  and  below  Tullahoma  to 
tear  up  the  railroad  bridge,  and  to  destroy  Elk  river  bridge, 
and  large  reconnoitring  parties  sedulously  endeavored  to  dis 
cover  and  disclose  the  enemy's  positions  and  intentions.  But 
Bragg  was  wide  awake  and  convinced  that  discretion  was 
the  better  part  of  valor,  at  least  with  an  army  that  was  out 
flanked,  and  in  danger  of  being  cut  off  from  its  base.  Ac 
cordingly,  while  he  held  Elk  river  bridge  with  a  force  that 
was  invincible  to  Wilder's  brigade,  and  strongly  guarded  all 
the  roads  north,  east  and  west,  he  rapidly  retreated. 

On  the  first  of  July  Brannan's,  Negley's  and  Sheridan's 
divisions  took  possession  of  Tullahoma.  The  Seventy- Fifth 
Indiana  was  the  first  regiment  to  enter  the  Rebel  works.  A 
heavy  pursuit  was  instituted,  but  as  the  Rebels  destroyed  the 


410  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

bridges  on  which  they  crossed  the  streams,  and  the  waters 
were  swollen,  it  effected  little.  Bragg  was  driven  out  of 
Middle  Tennessee,  leaving  behind  him  sixteen  hundred  and 
thirty  men  and  three  guns,  captured.  Rosecrans  lost  five 
hundred  and  sixty  men.  The  campaign  was  thus  eminently 
successful.  It  was  only  of  nine  days'  duration,  but  the  rain 
had  been  constant,  and  the  roads  so  bad  that  Crittenden's 
corps,  which  moved  by  the  most  difficult,  because  the  most 
mountainous  route,  required  four  days  of  incessant  labor  to 
advance  twenty-one  miles,  even  though  large  quantities  of 
the  officers'  baggage  were  thrown  out  and  burned  to  lighten 
the  wagons. 

With  each  step  the  army  found  increased  difficulty  in  mov 
ing,  having  to  make  and  repair  roads  and  bridges,  to  bring 
up  supplies,  and  to  guard,  with  a  heavy  force,  every  mile  of 
road.  Its  lines  were  now  over  three  hundred  miles  of  an 
enemy's  country.  As  it  was  impossible  to  bring  up  a  suffi 
cient  number  of  trains,  it  was  widely  scattered.  While  sev 
eral  brigades  were  thrown  forward  to  the  Tennessee  river, 
the  main  part  went  into  camp  in  the  barrens  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountains,  and  one  or  two  divisions  were  sent  back  to 
positions  they  occupied  previous  to  the  movement. 

The  position,  condition  and  spirit  of  the  army  is  shown  in 

the  soldiers'  letters: 

"ARMY  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND,  July  17. 

"  Our  army  has  been  crowned  with  victorious  laurel,  and 
we  rest  in  security,  conscious  of  having  done  our  duty,  and 
ready  for  the  severer  struggle  that  our  judgment  assures  us 
is  pending  at  no  distant  period.  We  see  here  the  workings 
of  the  great  machinery  of  war.  By  day  the  whistle  of  the 
locomotive  and  the  rumble  of  long  supply  and  transportation 
trains  sound  right  merrily  in  the  ears  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
advanced  army.  The  first  is  like  music  from  the  'horn  of 
plenty,'  and  both  give  aid  and  comfort. 

"By  night  the  signal  flags  are  supplanted  by  lights  whose 
complex  movements  change  the  position  of  armies  as  fate 
the  fortunes  of  men. 

"  We  have  one  of  the  most  beautiful  camps  we  have  yet 
had.  It  is  in  the  lawn  of  a  beautiful  mansion,  owned  by  a 


THE  MOUNTAINS  FULI<  OF  DESERTERS. 

niece  of  James  K.  Polk.  Two  or  three  large  Rebel  houses 
have  been  torn  down  within  a  day  or  two  past,  they  being 
in  the  way  of  our  siege  guns,  and  have  furnished  ample 
material  for  the  comfort  of  the  boys.  We  have  houses  in 
camp  made  of  nothing  but  window-sash  and  blinds,  neatlv 
arranged  'under  canvass/  and  supplied  with  every  variety  of 
household  furniture, — cots  made  in  the  frames  of  mirrors,  and 
floors  of  pannelled  doors.  Such  is  war's  devastation. 

"  WILLIAM  HURBERT." 

FYFFE'S  BRIGADE,  McMiNNViLLE,  July  21. 

"  This  is  a  splendid  place  to  camp.  Our  brigade  is  on  a 
high  hill  at  the  edge  of  town,  and  has  plenty  of  water,  black 
berries,  huckleberries,  potatoes,  &c.  We  have  good  pies. 
The  advantages  we  have  gained  over  the  enemy  since  the 
first  of  this  month  are  very  encouraging.  Many  who  were 
despondent,  and  thought  much  of  home,  are  now  jubilant,  and 
say  they  must  remain  in  the  army  and  see  the  thing  through. 
You  may  depend  that  Bragg's  army  is  demoralized.  These 
mountains  are  full  of  deserters.  About  eight  thousand  have 
deserted,  and  will  not  leave  their  State  again.  Soldiers  and 
citizens  are  coming  into  our  lines  every  hoar,  many  of  them 
joining  the  army  and  taking  the  oath. 

"  I  was  sorry  to  learn  of  the  great  casualties  in  the  Twen 
tieth  Indiana  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  A  regiment 
scarcely  ever  suffers  such  loss  in  battle.  It  is  hard  for  men, 
after  serving  and  suffering  as  long  as  they  have,  to  be  killed, 
and  never  reach  home  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace  that 
they  have  worked  so  hard  to  obtain.  I  feel  very  sorry  for  the 
death  of  Theodore  Day.  He  was  a  good  boy,  and  Colonel 
Dick  says  he  was  a  very  good  soldier.  I  trust  that  the  coun 
try  will  ever  remember  the  honored  dead  who  have  fallen  in 
defence  of  such  a  cause  as  ours. 

"DARWIN  THOMAS." 

"  WILDER'S  BRIGADE,  DECHERD,  August  1. 
"The  mountains  here  are  only  about  eight  hundred  or  a 
thousand  feet  high,  but  that  is  very  well  up  in  the  air.    From 
the  top,  a  good  view  of  the  surrounding  country  for  several 


412  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

miles  can  be  had.  For  the  width  of  about  twenty-five 
miles,  all  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  is  a  level  plain 
with  a  soft  sandy  soil,  very  thickly  covered  with  small  jack- 
oaks.  No  one  lives  on  it,  and  there  are  no  roads.  Every 
body  makes  his  own  road.  When  we  crossed  it,  the  mud 
was  almost  impassable.  We  cut  roads  through  the  timber, 
and  filled  them  up  with  trees  and  brush.  Sometimes  it  took 
ten  horses  to  pull  a  gun  through !  Tullahoma  is  situated  in 
the  midst  of  this  waste,  where  there  is  nothing  whatever  in 
the  formation  of  the  country  which  would  encourage  the 
building  of  a  town.  It  is  very  small,  like  all  Southern  towns. 
I  havn't  seen  one,  with  the  exception  of  Nashville,  as  large 
as  Crawfordsville — by  half.  We  often  pass  through  a  town 
without  knowing  it,  as  they  give  the  name  to  every  black 
smith  shop.  Decherd  consists  of  a  dwelling  house,  a  burnt 
depot,  and  a  water  tank. 

"Everything  is  quiet.  No  movements  are  being  made, 
except  that  the  second  and  third  brigades  of  our  division 
have  been  sent  on  top  of  the  mountains. 

"HENRY  CAMPBELL." 

"HEADQUARTERS  THIRD  BRIGADE,  J 

FOURTH  DIVISION,  FOURTEENTH  CORPS,      > 

UNIVERSITY,  TENNESSEE.  ) 

"  The  brigade  moved  up  to  this  place  on  the  mountain, 
over  a  rough  road,  with  about  two  miles  of  the  way  up  hill, 
on  Saturday.  I  could  not  possibly  have  been  assigned  to  a 
more  disagreeable  position.  General  Crook  had  just  been 
relieved  from  this  command,  and  had  carried  away  with  him 
all  his  staff  officers,  including  Commissary  and  Quarter 
master  and  their  clerks.  General  Turchin  brought  with  him 
only  his  Adjutant  General.  He  was  a  total  stranger  to  his 
command  and  to  his  staff.  The  brigade  was  far  removed 
from  the  world  and  the  necessary  supplies.  What  little 
Commissary  and  Quartermaster  supplies  were  on  hand,  had 
to  be  left  under  guard  at  the  old  carnp,  because  of  the  diffi 
culty  of  pulling  them  up  the  mountain.  You  will  have 
some  idea  of  the  road  when  I  tell  you  that  the  teams  were 
from  one  morning  until  eight  o'clock  the  next  coming  twelve 


ON  THE  HEIGHTS.  413 

miles.  The  prospect  of  getting  supplies  and  feeding  the 
brigade  was  anything  but  pleasant,  I  assure  you.  But  it 
was  doubtless  a  good  thing  to  break  me  in.  I  have  been 
working  early  and  late.  My  clerk  takes  to  his  work  admira 
bly.  We  built  a  shelter  for  our  stores  with  our  paulins,  and 
were  busy  all  day  selling  to  officers. .  I  am  keeping,  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life,  a  retail  grocery.  I  got  here  Sunday 
afternoon  in  a  heavy  rain,  found  everything  in  confusion,  no 
commissary  stores,  and  nothing  to  eat.  (General  Turchin 
having  his  wife  continually  with  him  in  the  field,  does  not 
mess  with  his  staff.)  I  had  my  tent  put  up  on  the  wet 
grass,  and  went  to  bed  hungry.  I  have  a  first-rate  cook,  but 
he  could  not  make  a  meal  out  of  nothing.  Captain  Leech, 
the  division  commander,  is  to-day  hauling  up  supplies  suffi 
cient  for  the  two  brigades  here  and  the  Fifteenth.  He  stores 
them  at  the  University  site,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  from 
here,  on  a  good  mountain  top  road.  There  is  a  railroad 
from  Cowan,  up  the  mountain,  running  quite  near  us  and 
on  to  Tracy  City,  to  the  coal  mines.  It  will  soon  be  put  in 
operation  and  our  supplies  steamed  up. 

"  The  top  of  this  mountain  was  the  site  for  a  grand  South 
ern  college,  to  be  established  at  a  cost  of  three  million  dol 
lars.  It  was  to  be  a  stock  concern  with  shares  of  fifty  dol 
lars  each.  The  corner  stone  was  laid,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  expended,  when  the  scheme  failed. 
Some  of  our  soldiers  tore  up  the  corner  stone,  and  found  a 
hymn-book,  bible,  and  some  gold  coin.  The  hymn-book  is 
said  to  have  been  one  carried  by  General  Scott  all  through 
the  Mexican  war.  The  place  is  twenty-seven  hundred  feet 
above  the  Tennessee  river,  is  ten  miles  from  Decherd  and 
seven  from  Cowan.  The  road  leading  from  the  University 
to  Decherd  runs  on  the  top  some  four  miles  before  it  begins 
to  descend. 

"This  is  a  delightful  place  to  camp.  Beautiful  ground, 
cool  breezes,  and  the  finest  and  clearest  spring-water  I  ever 
saw,  and  plenty  of  it.  No  one  could  ask  a  pleasanter  sum 
mer  residence.  General  Reynolds'  headquarters  and  Colonel 
Wilder's  brigade  are  still  near  Decherd,  and  will  not  come 
up  until  the  railroad  is  working. 


414  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"Heard  yesterday  that  Major  Parrott  and  the  Sergeant 
Major  of  the  One  Hundredth  had  been  killed  by  the  falling 
of  a  tree.  I  don't  know  when  any  news  has  shocked  me  so 
much. 

"  EDWARD  WILLIAMS." 

"  STEVENSON,  ALABAMA,  August  5. 

"  We  are  back  on  the  old  ground,  just  where  we  were  last 
year.  I  arrived  day  before  yesterday,  with  forty-seven  horses, 
after  a  long  and  tedious  trip  from  Nashville. 

"  All  along  the  road,  I  met  friends  and  acquaintances.  I 
have  fully  concluded  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  friends,  es 
pecially  when  traveling  without  a  blanket,  as  I  was,  having 
expected  to  bring  horses  by  the  cars.  The  battery  (Suter- 
meister's)  had  already  arrived.  It  is  probable  it  will  join  our 
brigade  at  Bridgeport,  in  a  few  days.  General  Sheridan 
came  to-day,  he  having  been  commanding  the  corps,  with 
headquarters  at  Winchester,  during  M' Cook's  absence. 

"HENRY  M.  WILLIAMS." 

It  was  thought  that  General  Rosecrans  delayed  unneces 
sarily  after  the  battle  of  Stone  River;  that  half  a  year  for 
rest  and  preparation  was  a  most  extravagant  and  lavish  ex 
penditure  of  time,  when  the  country  seemed  languishing  at 
the  point  of  death.  However  that  may  be,  having  once 
again  set  his  army  afoot,  he  remained  unwillingly  halting  in 
the  hill  country,  and  made  immense  exertions  to  proceed. 
But  an  army  moves,  so  Frederick  the  Great,  or  some  other 
renowned  warrior  asserts,  and  all  commissaries  testify  to  the 
truth  of  the  assertion,  as  the  serpent  in  Paradise  was  con 
demned  to  go — by  means  the  farthest  from  wings.  Conse 
quently,  though  troops  were  gradually  thrown  over  the 
mountains,  it  was  long  weeks  before  the  line  of  the  river 
was  gained. 


ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  TENNESSEE.        415 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CHICKAMAUGA. 

"We  dared  not  speak  to  each  other  at  table  of  Malplaquet,  so  frightful 
were  the  gaps  left  in  our  army  by  the  cannon  of  that  bloody  action.  'Twas 
heart-rending  for  an  officer  who  had  a  heart,  to  look  down  his  line  on  pa 
rade  day,  afterward,  and  miss  hundreds  of  faces  of  comrades — humble,  or 
of  high  rank — that  had  gathered  but  yesterday  full  of  courage  and  cheerful 
ness  round  the  torn  and  blackened  flags.  Where  were  our  friends?  The 
men  had  no  heart  to  cheer.  Not  one  of  them  but  was  thinking,  ' Where's 
my  comrade? — WThere's  my  brother  that  fought  by  me,  or  my  dear  Captain 
that  led  me  yesterday?'" — Henry  Esmond. 

Until  the  middle  of  August,  General  Rosecrans  was  forced 
to  retain  the  main  part  of  his  army  on  the  northern  slopes  of 
the  Cumberland  Mountains.  On  the  sixteenth  of  that  month 
he  started  out  again  with  a  front  extending  from  Athens,  in 
Alabama,  to  the  head  of  the  Sequatchie  valley,  in  Tennessee, 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  Stanley's  cavalry  guarded 
McCook's  corps,  which  moved  on  the  right.  Thomas  fol 
lowed  the  general  line  of  the  railroad  toward  Stevenson  and 
Bridgeport.  Crittenden  climbed  the  heights  and  steeps  of  Se 
quatchie  valley.  The  weather  was  hot  and  dry,  and  the  men, 
so  often  drenched  with  rain  on  their  marches,  now  dripped 
with  sweat,  and  panted  with  heat.  In  the  almost  incredibly 
short  period  of  five  days,  the  wide-spread  host  surmounted 
the  rugged  wall  of  rocks  and  appeared  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tennessee.  On  the  twenty-second,  Lilly's  battery  threw 
shells  across  the  river  into  Chattanooga,  the  stronghold  to 
which  Bragg  had  retreated  and  where  he  awaited  reinforce 
ments, — Buckner  from  East  Tennessee,  Longstreet's  veteran 
corps  from  Virginia,  and  a  division  from  Johnston  in  Missis 
sippi. 

Henry  Campbell  narrates  the  movements  and  action  of 
Lilly's  battery,  which  announced  to  General  Bragg  the  ap 
proach  of  his  antagonist. 


416  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"August  18.  Marched  in  a  general  north-east  direction 
through  thick  woods,  over  bad  roads  and  rocky  hills.  Passed 
Wagner's  brigade  about  three  o'clock.  In  the  morning,  went 
through  a  very  large  pine  forest.  Camped  on  the  banks  of 
a  very  small  stream  in  the  woods.  Forage  scarce  and  rattle 
snakes  plenty.  Marched  about  sixteen  miles. 

"Nineteenth.  Left  camp  this  morning  at  six.  We  have 
been  traveling  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  high  table  land 
ever  since  we  left  University  Springs.  Very  little  of  the 
land  is  fit  for  cultivation.  About  eleven,  commenced  de 
scending  the  mountain  by  a  very  bad  road.  We  are  now  in 
Sequatchie  valley.  After  traveling  through  Jack  Oak  woods 
three  days,  it  is  a  relief  to  see  open  ground  and  farm  houses, 
and  especially  orchards  filled  with  ripe  fruit.  The  valley  is 
about  four  miles  wide  and  very  fertile.  The  Sequatchie  river 
runs  through  its  entire  length.  WTc  marched  up  to  Dunlap 
and  encamped  about  four  o'clock.  At  dark,  Cruft's  brigade, 
of  Palmer's  division,  came  down  into  the  valley  by  a  differ 
ent  road,  and  camped  near  us. 

"  Twentieth.  At  six  this  morning  left  all  our  wagons,  tents, 
knapsacks  and  everything  but  just  what  we  could  carry  on 
our  horses,  and  with  five  days  rations  in  our  haversacks, 
passed  Cruft's  camp,  forded  Sequatchie  river,  and  started  up 
the  mountain.  Were  about  three  hours  getting  up.  Passed 
Hazen's  brigade  at  the  top.  Marched  across  the  top  and 
down  into  a  valley,  where  we  camped  for  the  night.  Seven 
teen  miles  to-day. 

"  Twenty-first.  Left  camp  at  six.  Expect  to  fight  at  Chat 
tanooga  before  we  get  to  another  camp.  The  road  down 
the  valley  is  good.  The  corn  crops  the  best  I  have  seen  in 
Tennessee.  Apples  and  peaches  are  abundant.  All  you 
have  to  do  to  raise  peach  trees  down  here  is  to  scatter  a 
handful  of  peach  seeds  in  a  corn  field,  and  in  a  year  or  two 
you  have  a  good  orchard.  The  people  that  live  in  this  val 
ley  are  all  for  the  Union.  Many  came  to  see  us  as  we 
marched  along  the  road.  About  nine,  as  we  were  ascending 
the  hill  from  which  you  can  see  Chattanooga,  we  were  or 
dered  to  form  into  column.  At  the  same  moment  the  Reb 
els  commenced  firing  on  a  company  of  our  scouts  who  had 


CANNONADING  CHATTANOOGA.  417 

gone  down  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  there  had  captured 
a  lot  of  Rebels  that  were  grazing  their  horses  on  this  side  of 
the  river  at  a  distance  of  one  thousand  yards,  and  placed 
two  guns  on  a  hill  about  five  hundred  yards  to  the  right  of 
the  road,  and  opposite  a  heavy  fort  on  the  other  bank.  Com 
manding  the  hills  which  we  occupy,  are  seven  forts  and  bat 
teries.  If  they  had  the  right  number  of  guns  to  fill  all  the 
embrasures,  they  could  bring  about  twenty-seven  to  bear 
upon  us.  Chattanooga  is  not  as  large  as  Crawfordsville. 
The  two  principal  streets  commence  at  the  river  and  extend 
back  about  a  mile.  The  business  part  of  the  town  is  on 
these  two  streets.  The  private  houses  are  in  a  grove.  Sev 
eral  large  warehouses  are  down  by  the  bank.  Two  steam 
boats  lie  in  the  river,  and  a  pontoon  bridge  is  ready  to  swing 
across.  With  this  rough  sketch  you  can  form  some  idea  of 
Chattanooga. 

"  The  first  gun  from  our  side  was  fired  at  ten  o'clock,  at 
one  of  the  steamboats.  The  shot  struck  it,  and  made  the 
men  who  were  at  work  on  it  scatter  up  the  bank  in  a  hurry. 
We  kept  on  firing  until  we  sunk  the  lower  boat,  and  had 
shot  the  upper  one  through  and  through.  The  Rebels  replied 
from  eighteen  different  guns,  but  all  their  shot  and  shell  fell 
short,  striking  the  ground  and  bursting  about  half  way  up 
the  hill,  without  doing  any  harm. 

"After  we  had  disabled  the  boats,  we  turned  our  guns  on 
the  Rebel  forts.  Four  other  guns  which  were  now  in  posi 
tion  opened  fire  on  a  battery  near  the  warehouse,  on  a  fort 
over  the  cliff,  and  two  other  forts.  The  firing  for  a  few  mo 
ments  was  quite  brisk  on  both  sides;  but  the  Rebels  finding 
that  they  were  only  wasting  ammunition,  ceased,  except  an 
occasional  gun  from  the  high  hill  fort.  We  fired  away 
slowly,  and  although  we  were  at  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a 
quarter,  we  threw  several  shells  into  the  embrasures  whert 
their  guns  were,  and  dismounted  a  gun.  One  of  our  shell.;1 
exploded  within  five  yards  of  a  woman  who  was  walking 
slowly  across  the  street.  We  all  thought  she  would  be 
killed,  but,  when  the  smoke  blew  away,  she  was  still  walk 
ing,  though  more  slowly  than  before.  We  afterward  learned 
27 


418  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

that  a  fragment  of  a  shell  struck  her  in  the  side.  One  of  the 
Rebels,  wishing  to  show  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  Yan 
kees,  rode  up  and  down  in  front  of  one  of  the  forts,  in  a  car 
riage.  One  of  the  boys  sighted  a  gun  at  him  and  sent  a 
shell  which  burst  right  over  the  horse,  and  sent  him  up  the 
street  in  a  big  hurry. 

"About  three  the  firing  ceased,  although  we  remained  in 
position.  An  hour  afterward,  a  movement  was  observed  on 
board  of  a  ferry  boat  that  was  lying  by  one  of  the  steam 
boats.  It  was  thought  they  were  trying  to  get  it  off  and  run 
it  down  the  river,  so  we  commenced  firing  at  it  from  the 
right  gun.  We  had  just  fired  the  fourth  shot,  the  cannon 
eers  and  drivers  of  the  other  guns  were  lying  round,  some 
behind  trees  and  others  watching  the  shot,  when,  at  the  mo 
ment  it  exploded,  a  thirty-two  pound  shell  came  whizzing 
among  us.  Passing  between  the  wheels  of  the  left  gun,  it 
struck  the  ground  about  twelve  feet  from  it.  Abram  M'Cor- 
kle  was  lying  near,  with  his  left  leg  extended  and  his  right 
drawn  up.  The  shell  struck  his  left  leg  between  the  foot 
and  knee,  taking  it  entirely  off.  Glancing  up,  after  striking 
the  ground,  it  killed  four  horses  in  the  caisson  team,  the 
shell  going  through  and  through  every  one  of  them.  If  the 
drivers  had  been  at  their  posts,  they  would  all  have  been 
hurt.  Our  horses  are  so  well  trained  that  they  will  not 
move  from  where  they  are  standing,  and  are  not  alarmed  in 
the  least  by  the  report  of  the  guns.  M'Corkle  was  carried 
off  to  an  ambulance,  the  harness  was  taken  off'  the  dead 
horses,  part  of  the  gun  team  was  changed  to  the  caisson, 
everything  was  straightened  up,  and  we  were  loading  to  re 
ply  to  this  thirty-two  pounder,  when  we  were  ordered  down 
the  road  by  Colonel  Wilder,  to  go  into  camp. 

"  It  was  the  first  shot  the  Rebels  had  fired  from  this  gun, 
which  they  had  just  brought  up.  They  happened  to  get  the 
range  at  once. 

"We  camped  for  the  night  about  five  miles  north  of  Chat 
tanooga,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains. 

"  Twenty-second.  We  staid  in  camp  until  evening,  when 
one  section  of  the  battery  went  up  on  the  hill  in  front  of 
Chattanooga,  and  opened  on  the  thirty-two-pounder.  We 


THE  BULWARKS  OF  CHATTANOOGA.  419 

fired  about  twenty  shot,  putting  some  in  very  close  around 
it  They  fired  five  shots  and  quit.  It  was  too  hot  for  them 
to  remain  near  their  gun,  although  they  were  behind  their 
works. 

"September  25.  We  are  doing  nothing  now  except  lying 
here  to  prevent  the  Rebels  crossing  the  river.  We  go  up 
every  once  in  a  while  and  shell  the  town  just  for  amusement. 
Everything  goes  on  smoothly.  Wagner's  brigade  is  camped 
up  on  the  mountain  above  us.  Palmer's  division  is  back 
about  three  miles  from  us." 

The  lines  which  sever  the  States  of  Tennessee,  Georgia 
and  Alabama  are  drawn  among  the  highest  and  ruggedest 
of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  where  the  broad,  bright  Ten 
nessee,  with  impetus  acquired  from  a  hundred  turbulent  tor 
rents,  cuts  its  way  toward  the  south-west.  Bold,  bleak  spurs 
of  the  Cumberland  Mountain  range,  running  parallel,  cross 
the  corner  of  Georgia,  and  sink  into  the  plains  of  Alabama. 
Raccoon  range,  of  which  the  northern  extremity  is  called 
Sand  Mountain,  skirts  the  river.  Its  summit  is  an  almost 
barren  plateau,  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  wide.  Lookout 
Mountain,  two  miles  east  of  Raccoon,  rises  two  thousand 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  is  so  rugged 
that,  in  fifty  miles,  but  three  wagon-roads  are  practicable,  of 
which,  one  overlooks  the  Tennessee  two  miles  below  Chatta 
nooga,  and  the  others  are  twenty-six  and  forty-two  miles  be 
low  the  same  point.  The  top,  contrary  to  the  expectation  of 
the  fatigued  mountain  climber,  is  table-land,  and  is  beautified 
by  a  heavy  growth  of  trees,  and  by  smooth  though  infrequent 
streams.  At  its  western  base  is  Lookout  valley,  watered  by 
Lookout  creek.  At  its  eastern  base  is  McLemore's  cove,  the 
lower  part  of  which  is  divided  by  Missionary  ridge,  a  chain 
of  wooded  hills,  into  Chattanooga  and  Chickamauga  valleys, 
each  traversed  by  a  stream  of  the  same  name.  Pigeon  ridge 
branches  out  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Lookout  Moun 
tain,  and  forms  the  eastern  wall  of  McLemore's  cove.  The 
three  ranges,  Raccoon,  Lookout  and  Pigeon,  with  Missionary 
ridge,  are,  in  a  special  manner,  guardians  of  Chattanooga, 
and  by  their  position  and  situation,  make  it  what  it  is  appro 
priately  called,  the  "  Central  Citadel  of  the  South." 


420  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Chattanooga  lies  between  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mis 
sionary  ridge,  in  the  mouth  of  the  little  valley  of  its  name. 
The  word  signifies  "Eagle's  Nest,"  and  was  first  and  most 
fitly  applied  to  the  beetling  cliff  of  Lookout  Mountain, 
whence  it  was  transferred  to  the  town  at  its  base.  Chicka- 
mauga  is  said  to  mean  "River  of  Death." 

In  little  more  than  two  weeks  from  its  appearance  on  the 
northern  shores  of  the  Tennessee,  the  army  of  General  Rose- 
crans,  by  the  aid  of  rafts  and  pontoon  bridges,  landed  on  the 
southern  banks.  Me  Cook  and  Thomas  climbed  Raccoon 
ridge  by  different  but  equally  difficult  and  devious  paths,  and 
met  at  Trenton,  in  the  upper  part  of  Lookout  valley.  Thence 
they  proceeded  in  a  south-easterly  direction,  toward  the  At 
lanta  railroad,  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  Rebel  army,  to  cut  its 
communications,  and  to  strike  its  reinforcements  in  detail. 
Crittenden  moved  directly  toward  Chattanooga,  and  discov 
ered,  with  equal  astonishment  and  satisfaction,  that  it  was 
abandoned.  Throwing  into  it  Wagner's  brigade  to  serve  as 
garrison,  with  the  main  part  of  his  corps  he  rapidly  pursued 
the  trail  of  the  enemy. 

Intelligence  of  Bragg's  retreat  gave  new  vigor  to  the  toil 
ing  troops  of  McCook  and  Thomas,  and  they  hastened  to 
intercept  his  march  before  it  should  reach  Rome,  a  strong 
position  on  the  Oostanaula,  the  Etowah  and  the  Coosa. 
McCook  was  at  Alpine,  more  than  forty  miles  south  of  the 
Tennessee  river,  Thomas  was  at  Dug  Gap,  in  Pigeon  ridge, 
and  Crittenden  was  at  Ringgold,  when  Rosecrans  became 
aware  that  Bragg,  though  manoeuvred  out  of  his  mountain 
fastness,  so  far  from  continuing  his  retreat,  was  receiving  re 
inforcements,  and  was  now  concentrating  along  the  highway 
from  Lafayette  to  Gordon's  Mills,  preparatory  to  striking  his 
pursuers  in  detail,  or  to  turning  their  entire  flank,  in  order  to 
return  to  Chattanooga  and  destroy  the  bridges  and  all  means 
of  communicating  with  the  North. 

It  may  be  believed  that  General  Rosecrans  and  his  corps 
commanders  never  so  felt  the  force  of  the  national  maxim, 
"Union  is  strength."  After  making  two  attempts  to  clear 
Dug  Gap,  first  with  Negley's  division  alone,  then  with  Baird 
and  Negley  together,  Thomas  moved  down  McLemore's 


LINE  OF  BATTLE.  421 

cove  on  the  eleventh  of  September.  The  next  day  Critten- 
den  made  a  rapid  flank  march  to  the  left  of  Thomas.  Wil 
der,  who,  in  clearing  the  way  for  his  advance,  had  gone  so 
far  as  Tunnel  Hill,  and  lost,  in  one  skirmish,  thirty  men,  now 
protected  his  rear.  Owing  to  the  treachery  of  his  guide, 
Wilder  was  surrounded,  and  narrowly  escaped  capture;  but 
he  fought  his  way  out,  and  by  a  night's  march  reached  Gor 
don's  Mills.  McCook  faced  about  on  the  thirteenth,  and  re 
tracing  his  laborious  route  over  the  mountains,  was  able,  on 
the  night  of  the  seventeenth,  to  touch  Thomas'  right  with  the 
advance,  Johnson's  division. 

At  this  time  Crittenden,  at  Gordon's  Mills,  which  are  ten 
miles  from  Chattanooga,  and  on  the  Chickamauga  river, 
formed  the  left,  Thomas  the  centre,  and  McCook  the  right, 
the  order  being  the  same  as  on  the  previous  marches,  and  in 
the  battle  of  Stone  river.  Negley,  detached  from  his  corps, 
guarded  Owen's  ford..  Several  miles  to  the  left  the  reserve 
corps,  under  Granger,  guarded  the  approaches  to  Rossville. 
Nearly  every  man  had  twenty  rounds  of  ammunition  in  his 
pocket,  beside  the  usual  quantity  in  his  cartridge-box. 

An  attack  in  strong  force  on  Minty,  and  afterwards  on 
Minty  and  Wilder,  who  were  both  on  Crittenden's  left,  near 
Alexander's  bridge,  four  miles  north-east  of  Gordon's  Mills, 
made  it  evident  that  the  enemy,  unable  to  interpose  between 
Crittenden  and  Thomas,  was  now  crossing  the  Chickamauga 
in  order  to  plant  himself  between  Crittenden  and  Chatta 
nooga,  and  made  it  necessary  to  concentrate  still  more  to  the 
left.  A  constant  shifting  of  divisions  through  Friday,  Friday 
night  and  Saturday  morning  (every  movement  unfortunately 
noted  by  the  enemy,  from  Pigeon  mountain,  where  he  him 
self  was  unseen)  resulted  in  line  of  battle  in  the  following 
order  of  divisions  from  left  to  right:  Brannan,  Baird,  John 
son,  Reynolds,  Palmer,  Van  Cleve,  Wood,  Davis,  Sheridan, 
(the  two  last  withdrawn  from  the  front)  and  Negley.  Wil- 
der's  brigade  having  rejoined  its  division,  occupied  nearly  the 
centre  of  the  line,  and  was  dismounted.  The  army  was 
about  forty-five  thousand  strong.  It  faced  the  east,  lying 
more  than  two  miles  along  the  Chattanooga  and  Lafayette 
road,  the  right  at  Gordon's  Mills,  the  left  two  or  three  miles 


422  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

from  Chattanooga  river,  which  runs  north-east.  General 
Rosecrans'  quarters  were  in  the  rear  of  Crittenden's  corps,  in 
a  log  cabin,  of  which  spinning  wheel  and  loom  formed  the 
chief  furniture. 

General  Bragg  had  possession  of  nearly  all  the  fords,  and 
was  able  to  move  two  thirds  of  his  army  across  the  river. 
Polk  was  in  command  of  his  right,  Hood  of  his  left. 

The  first  blow  of  a  general  battle  was  struck  by  Croxton's 
brigade,  of  Brannan's  division,  about  tep  in  the  morning,  just 
after  that  brigade  had  reached  the  extreme  left.  Croxton 
drove  it  back,  but  being  attacked  by  a  superior  infantry  force, 
he  became  engaged  in  a  desperate  and  doubtful  struggle 
which  was  fast  turning  to  his  disadvantage,  when  Van  Cleve, 
and  at  length  Baird,  came  to  his  aid.  In  this  struggle,  Col 
onel  Carroll,  of  our  Tenth,  fell  mortally  wounded.  Baird 
defeated  and  pursued  the  Rebel  infantry,  but  halting  to  re 
adjust  his  line,  he  learned  from  prisoners  that  the  enemy  was 
in  force  on  his  right  wing.  He  attempted  immediately  to 
withdraw  his  right,  Scribner's  brigade;  but  Scribner  was  al 
ready  reeling  before  overwhelming  numbers.  Loomis'  bat 
tery  was  lost.  Four  pieces  of  the  Fourth  Indiana,  after 
firing  sixty  rounds,  were  captured.  Starkweather,  also  thrown 
into  disorder,  lost  nearly  all  his  artillerymen  and  horses. 
Whole  battalions  of  Regulars  in  King's  brigade,  were  cap 
tured. 

Thus  in  his  turn,  defeated  and  pursued  by  a  larger  force, 
Baird  owed  his  escape  not  more  to  his  own  efforts  than  to 
the  speed  with  which  Johnson,  Reynolds  and  Palmer  has 
tened  to  his  relief.  Johnson's  division  had  just  reached  the 
ground,  after  marching  several  hours  through  intense  heat 
and  thick  dust.  It  was  thrown  into  line,  and  skirmishers  ad 
vanced  without  a  moment's  rest.  The  enemy  fell  back  until 
Johnson's  division,  pushing  him,  was  separated  from  the 
other  divisions,  when  he  turned  fiercely,  and  while  bearing 
down  on  the  front,  outflanked  Johnson's  left.  The  Ninety- 
Third  Ohio  and  Sixth  Indiana  here  met  him,  but  though 
with  their  first  united  fire  they  killed  every  horse  and  disa 
bled  half  the  men  in  a  Rebel  battery,  they  were  not  able  to 
repulse  him,  until  Colonel  Baldwin,  seizing  the  colors  of  the 


«  0  LIFE  AND  DEATH  WERE  IN  THE  SHOUT  1 "  423 

Ohio  regiment,  and  shouting :  "  Rally  round  the  flag,  boys ! " 
led  a  charge  against  the  flankers.  Two  Rebel  guns  were 
left  in  Baldwin's  hands. 

Willich's  and  Dodge's  brigades  repeatedly  repulsed  the 
enemy  from  the  front,  and  at  last,  in  an  impetuous  charge, 
drove  him  off  the  field.  Willich  captured  five  guns  and 
caissons. 

Overpowered  by  Palmer  and  Reynolds,  the  Rebels  fell 
back  to  the  river  with  great  loss. 

For  an  hour  there  was  no  fighting.  Scribner  had  gallantly 
rallied  his  men  and  coolly  reformed  them  under  fire.  Baird 
and  Brannan,  taking  advantage  of  the  pause,  now  organized 
their  broken  lines.  General  Thomas  prepared  his  left  to 
meet  another  onset  of  the  enemy.  But  instead  of  reap- 
proaching  the  extreme  left  in  force,  the  Rebels  massed  in 
front  of  General  Reynolds  and  came  full  upon  him,  pushing 
him  back  and  necessitating  an  immediate  removal  of  Bran- 
nan  from  the  left  to  his  support.  At  the  same  time,  they 
assaulted  the  centre  and  right,  which  had  previously  been 
engaged  only  in  artillery  firing.  Thomas'  front  was  thrown 
into  disorder,  but  was  almost  immediately  restored.  It  not 
only  held  its  ground,  but  repeatedly  hurled  back  its  assail 
ants.  The  battle  now  raged  over  the  whole  ground,  show 
ing  its  ebb  and  flow  only  by  smoke  and  dust,  roar  and  rattle. 
Hood  succeeded  in  pushing  back  Davis'  division,  and  in 
capturing  the  Eighth  Indiana  battery;  but  after  nearly  four 
hours  of  unequal  fighting,  Davis  was  reinforced  by  Bradley's 
brigade  of  Sheridan's  division,  and  enabled  not  only  to  re 
gain  the  battery,  but  to  capture  a  number  of  prisoners.  The 
reserve  corps  was  also  attacked  with  fierceness,  but  after  it 
had  repulsed  a  single  attack  it  remained  unmolested. 

About  five  in  the  afternoon,  a  terrific  assault  was  made 
on  the  front,  flank  and  rear  of  Johnson,  who  was  somewhat 
isolated.  The  sun  sank  to  rest  and  darkness  enveloped  the 
field  while  the  struggle  continued.  The  combatants  grap 
pled  hand  to  hand.  Blows  and  groans  and  curses  and  pray 
ers  loaded  the  air.  Colonel  Baldwin  was  fatally  shot.  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Tripp  was  severely  wounded.  Captain  Rus 
sell  was  shot  dead.  "Captain  Palmer  Dunn  fell  dead  while 


404  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

leading  his  brave  company  on  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
the  banner  of  beauty,  in  one  hand,  and  his  sword  in  the 
other."  *  Captain  Cutler  also  fell  leading  his  company. 
Major  Collins,  and  many  others  of  the  Twenty- Ninth  were 
captured. 

At  length  Baird's  division  became  engaged,  and  in  the 
end  the  enemy  was  repulsed. 

The  Union  army  fought  stoutly  throughout  Saturday  the 
nineteenth,  and  at  night  held  an  unbroken  front  before  which 
lay  a  ghastly  show  of  Rebel  dead ;  but  it  was  too  conscious 
that  it  had  put  forth  its  whole  strength,  and  too  well  aware 
of  the  enemy's  superiority,  to  allow  of  congratulation,  or  of 
sanguine  expectations.  The  Rebel  host,  on  the  contrary, 
was  elated,  and  as  it  was  still  receiving  reinforcements  more 
largely  than  at  the  beginning,  it  outnumbered  its  antagonist. 
During  the  night,  Breckinridge's  division  moved  from  the 
extreme  Rebel  left  to  the  extreme  right,  preparatory  to  strik 
ing  a  bold  and  strong  blow  at  an  early  hour,  for  the  road  to 
Chattanooga. 

Sunday  morning,  a  portion  of  the  left,  the  centre  and  right 
of  Rosecrans'  left  wing,  now  comprising  more  than  half  the 
army,  took  advantage  of  a  heavy  fog  and  threw  up  breast 
works  of  logs  and  rails.  At  the  same  time,  Beatty's  brigade 
of  Negley's  division  marched  to  the  left  and  formed  in  a 
long,  thin  line,  facing  the  north,  and  on  the  right  connecting 
with  Baird.  At  half-past  eight  the  fog  having  risen,  so  that 
there  was  no  longer  danger  of  running  into  hostile  lines,  an 
effort  was  made  to  close  up  M' Cook's  and  Crittenden's 
widely  extended  divisions. 

During  these  movements  on  the  right  and  left,  the  Rebel 
army  was  also  in  motion,  not  changing  positions  nor  con 
centrating,  but  marching  to  assault.  Breckinridge,  followed 
by  all  the  Rebel  right  wing,  pushed  against  Thomas's  left, 
outflanked  it,  and  easily  gained  the  coveted  road.  Here  his 
progress  was  checked,  but,  after  a  short  time,  his  antagonists, 
Baird  and  Beatty,  were  forced  to  fall  back.  They  had  not 
retreated  far  when  Vandever's  brigade,  which  was  Bran-nan's 

*  The  words  of  a  comrade. 


"RECOIL  AND  BALLY,  CHARGE  AND  ROUT."      425 

reserve,  charged  down  the  road  from  the  right,  and  some  of 
Johnson's  troops,  with  Grose's  brigade  of  Palmer's  division, 
and  a  part  of  Stanley's,  met  Breckinridge,  stopped  his  ad 
vance,  turned  his  course,  pursued  him,  scattered  his  force, 
and  regained  the  road.  Under  the  protection  of  artillery, 
Breckinridge  rallied  on  a  commanding  height,  and  being  re 
inforced,  renewed  the  combat  with  more  than  double  his 
previous  strength.  Johnson,  Palmer  and  Reynolds  received 
assault  upon  assault,  almost  unmoved,  behind  their  breast 
works,  while  the  force  on  their  left  swayed  backward  with 
ever  changing  fortune  and  never  flagging  fury. 

On   the   risrht   the   battle   was   confused    and   uncertain. 

o 

General  Wood,  misunderstanding  an  order,  left  his  position 
in  the  front  under  fire,  and  moved  to  the  support  of  General 
Reynolds.  The  enemy  poured  in  after  him,  like  high  waters 
through  a  broken  embankment,  before  Davis,  moving  with 
the  utmost  haste,  could  reach  the  break.  The  confusion 
which  resulted  was  frightful  to  the  extreme  stretch  of  the 
imagination.  Davis'  division,  attacked  on  flank  and  rear, 
was  routed.  Sheridan,  who  was  moving  to  reinforce  Thomas, 
was  overwhelmed.  Parts  of  Brannan's,  Van  Cleve's,  Neg- 
ley's  and  Palmer's  divisions;  Wilder's  brigade,  which 
changes  in  the  line,  had  made  the  extreme  right,  all  the  am 
munition  trains,  General  Rosecrans  himself,  with  Crittenden, 
M'Cook,  Davis,  Sheridan,and  uncounted  subordinate  officers, 
were  swept  off.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  nothing  of 
the  ricrht  wins:  remained. 

O  O 

Meantime,  a  messenger,  whom  Thomas  had  sent  to  has 
ten  the  march  of  Sheridan,  returned  with  the  intelligence 
that  a  very  large  force,  of  doubtful  character,  was  moving 
toward  an  opening  which  commanded  the  rear  of  Reynolds. 
Wood,  though  unaware  of  the  mischief  he  had  done,  con 
firmed  the  report.  In  consequence,  while  he,  with  the  main 
part  of  his  division  was  moved  to  the  left  of  Brannan,  where 
fighting  was  severer,  Harker's  brigade  was  detached  and 
posted  directly  in  front  of  the  new  danger.  Harker  was  too 
weak  to  effect  more  than  a  momentary  check,  but  he  stood 
to  his  task,  firing  sharply  on  advancing  skirmishers.  At  this 
crisis,  General  Granger,  who  had  been  attracted  from  his  dis- 


426  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tant  post  by  the  roar  of  artillery,  came  on  the  ground.  Gen 
eral  Thomas  immediately  despatched  to  him  a  staff  officer, 
Captain  Johnson  of  the  Second  Indiana,  with  orders  to  push 
across  the  field  and  form  on  Brannan's  right.  Rushing  to 
the  gap  which  was  now  disgorging  the  Rebel  force,  Granger 
engaged  in  one  of  the  hardest  struggles  of  the  day.  Bent  on 
clearing  the  pass,  when  cannon  and  muskets  failed,  he  fell 
back  upon  bayonets,  and  with  cold  steel  presented,  had  the 
joy  of  seeing  the  enemy  turn  and  fly.  "A  thousand  of  our 
brave  men,"  says  Rosecrans,  "paid  for  the  possession  of  the 
pass." 

Brannan,  weakened  by  the  loss  of  his  right,  had  much  ado 
to  hold  his  ground,  and  could  not  have  done  it  without  the 
aid  coming  promptly  when  most  needed,  of  the  Ninth,  Sixty- 
Eighth  and  One  Hundred  and  First  Indiana  regiments,  with 
the  Twenty-First  Ohio. 

Thomas'  flanks  were  gradually  pushed  back,  and  his  front 
was  forced  to  retire,  until  his  line  formed  on  an  arc  of  a  cir 
cle  on  a  slope  of  Missionary  ridge,  the  left  resting  on  the  La 
fayette  road,  the  right  on  the  gap  which  commanded  the  rear. 
It  was  a  strong  and  in  every  respect  an  advantageous  posi 
tion.  The  concentrated  Rebel  host  seethed  and  foamed  at 
its  foot,  rose  upon  it  and  fell  back  from  it,  under  the  cover 
and  in  the  face  of  an  incessant  artillery  fire.  But  Thomas' 
troops  were  panting  with  thirst,  a  large  proportion  having 
been  without  water  the  previous  as  well  as  the  present  day. 
His  ammunition  now  was  almost  gone.  The  last  rounds  of 
shot  and  powder  were  distributed,  and  Reynolds  began  the 
retreat.  Turchin,  facing  to  the  right  while  on  the  march, 
routed  and  drove  a  large  Rebel  force  which  was  advancing 
from  the  woods,  where  it  had  formed  unobserved.  He  cap 
tured  two  hundred  prisoners,  and  then  with  Robinson  and 
Willich,  covered  the  rear  of  Reynolds.  Wood,  Brannan, 
Granger  and.  Palmer,  retired  in  turn,  Palmer  fighting,  but 
with  little  loss.  Johnson  and  Baird  left  the  ridge  last,  and 
moved  as  best  they  could  under  the  vindictive  fire  of  the  vic 
torious  enemy. 

Night  was  now  coming  on,  and  as  General  Bragg  was  too 
cautious  to  risk  his  victory  by  a  pursuit  through  darkness 


THE  BATTLE-FIELD.  427 

and  the  uncertain  mazes  of  a  wilderness,  General  Thomas, 
without  interruption  or  disturbance,  formed  the  army  in  front 
of  Rossville,  from  the  left  of  the  Ringgold  road  to  and  along 
Missionary  ridge,  on  the  right  of  Rossville  pass.  Minty's 
cavalry  took  up  a  position  on  the  Ringgold  road,  a  mile  or 
two  in  front.  By  Monday  noon,  in  splendid  line  of  battle, 
the  army  awaited  the  Rebels.  It  saw  them  approach  through 
clouds  of  dust,  halt,  prepare  for  assault,  throw  out  skirmish 
ers  to  feel  for  weak  points,  and  drive  in  Minty's  advance.  In 
array  brave  and  magnificent,  as  if  it  had  never  known  defeat, 
or  disaster,  it  waited  while  the  day  lasted.  But  the  Rebels 
continued  to  hold  off. 

Monday  night  the  army  retired  quietly  and  beautifully  to 
Chattanooga.  It  threw  up  intrenchments  and  made  every 
preparation  to  receive  assault. 

The  Rebels  took  possession  of  the  mountains,  and  looked 
down  in  smiy  silence  upon  the  thronged  streets  of  their  lost 
citadel.  They  held  the  battle-field,  but  wearying  of  the  work 
of  burial,  left  hundreds  to  moulder  and  bleach  in  the  line 
where  the  ball  had  struck  them,  or  in  the  nook  to  which  their 
dying  strength  had  dragged  them.  To  this  day  the  visitor  to 
that  dreary  ground  sees  the  bones  of  men  among  the  peb 
bles  on  the  banks  of  the  River  of  Death. 

Few  modern  fields  have  been  so  overlaid  with  dead.  Gen 
eral  Bragg,  who  had  fully  sixty  thousand  men  engaged,  ad 
mits  a  loss  of  nearly  eighteen  thousand,  nearly  all  killed  and 
wounded.  General  Rosecrans,  who  had  forty-five  thousand 
on  the  field,  lost  upwards  of  sixteen  thousand  in  the  battle, 
several  thousand  in  previous  skirmishes,  and  by  straggling  a 
number  sufficient  to  swell  the  amount  to  twenty  thousand. 
As  there  was  no  water  on  the  battle  field,  his  wounded,  about 
nine  thousand  in  number,  were  all  taken  to  Crawfish  Springs, 
six  miles  to  the  rear,  and  laid  on  the  ground,  as  near  the 
spring  as  possible.  Here  thousands  of  them  were  captured. 
Rosecrans  lost  also  thirty-six  guns. 

The  battle  of  Chickamauga  was  not  planned  by  any  brain, 
nor  was  it,  as  a  whole,  or  even  largely  in  part,  observed  by 
any  eye;  and  it  occupied  so  much  time,  both  of  day  and 
night,  spread  over  so  much  and  such  uneven  ground,  it  was 


428  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

conducted  in  such  disorder,  and  was  followed  by  such  crimi 
nation  and  recrimination,  that  it  remains,  in  its  details,  a 
comparatively  obscure  event.  To  compensate  for  unavoida 
ble  deficiency  in  general  description,  as  full  notice  as  is  pos 
sible  of  Indiana  soldiers,  individually  and  in  regiments,  is 
appended;  also,  epistolary  narratives.  The  proportion  of  In- 
dianians  engaged  was,  of  course,  large.  General  Reynolds 
and  General  Davis  were  on  the  field  with  their  divisions,  and 
Willich,  Dodge,  Cruft,  Grose,  Wilder,  Dick  and  others,  in 
command  of  brigades.  Twenty-eight  regiments  of  infantry, 
two  regiments  and  a  battalion  of  cavalry,  and  eight  batteries 
were  in  the  battle.  From  General  Reynolds,  who  was  grand 
and  brave  as  the  invincible  rock,  and  who  was  second  in  effi 
ciency  only  to  General  Thomas,  down  to  Orderly  Shirk,  who 
died  with  the  ilag  in  his  hand,  and  to  the  private,  who  had  no 
title,  and  who  with  his  life  lost  his  name,  they  did  their  duty. 

The  Sixth  lost  one  hundred  and  eight,  killed  and  wounded, 
eleven  missing.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Tripp,  who  was  in  com 
mand,  was  severely  wounded.  Captain  Russell  was  killed. 
Colonel  Tripp,  Major  Campbell  and  surgeon  Schiissler  were 
specially  commended  by  General  Johnson.  Colonel  Bald 
win,  who  had  charge  of  the  brigade,  was  mortally  wounded 
on  the  nineteenth.  He  was  a  gallant,  kindly  gentleman,  and 
an  able  officer. 

The  Ninth  lost  one  hundred  and  sixteen  out  of  three  hun 
dred  and  thirteen,  killed  and  wounded.  Lieutenants  Cris- 
well,  Nickston  and  Parks  were  killed,  and  Shipherd  was  mor 
tally  wounded.  Captains  Healey,  Craner  and  Merritt,  and 
Lieutenants  Creviston,  Marshall,  Martin  and  Brickett  were 
wounded.  General  Hazen.  in  his  report,  mentions  with  com 
mendation  Lieutenant  Colonel  Lasselle,  Captain  Cole,  Lieu 
tenant  Bierce  and  surgeon  Sherman;  and  after  enumerating 
the  Colonels  of  his  brigade,  Colonel  Suman,  of  the  Ninth,  of 
course,  included,  he  says:  "They,  with  their  regiments,  are 
veterans,  of  so  frequent  trial  that  it  would  be  mockery  to 
praise  them  with  words." 

The  tenth  lost  twenty-four  killed,  one  hundred  and  twen 
ty-seven  wounded,  and  five  missing,  Colonel  Carroll  and 
Lieutenant  Jones  among  the  killed. 


CASUALTIES.  429 

The  Twenty-Ninth  lost  one  hundred  and  seventy,  fully 
one-half  of  its  number.  Two  Captains  were  killed.  Lieu 
tenant  Reese  was  missing.  The  regiment  was  led  by  Colo 
nel  Dunn. 

The  Thirtieth  lost  more  than  half  its  number  on  the  first 
day  of  the  battle.  Six  of  its  officers  were  wounded,  two 
were  killed,  three  were  captured,  and  but  four  remained.  It 
was  warmly  engaged  and  suffered  severely  also  on  the  sec 
ond  day.  Lieutenants  Phelps  and  Eberly  were  the  officers 
who  were  killed.  Colonel  Hurd  was  in  command. 

In  the  Thirty-First  four  were  killed  and  sixty-six  were 
wounded.  Captain  Lease  was  killed.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  faithful  and  able  officers  in  the  regiment,  and  was  a 
man  of  sincere  piety.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Neff  received  a 
severe  wound  in  the  arm  on  Saturday,  but  he  fought  through 
both  days,  and  accompanied  his  regiment  in  its  retreat. 
Colonel  Smith,  in  command,  received  the  commendation  of 
General  Palmer. 

In  the  Thirty-Second  twenty-one  were  killed,  seventy-eight 
were  wounded,  and  seventeen  were  missing.  Captain  Ritter 
was  one  of  the  killed.  Colonel  Erdelmeyer  was  in  command. 

The  Thirty-Fifth  had  nine  killed,  fifty-nine  wounded,  and 
fifty-six  missing,  fourteen  of  the  last  being  wounded.  It  oc 
cupied  one  of  the  most  exposed  positions  on  the  field,  and 
bore  itself  with  Irish  gallantry. 

The  Thirty-Sixth  lost  fourteen  killed,  one  hundred  and  ten 
wounded,  and  thirteen  missing.  Lieutenant  Patterson  was 
killed.  Captain  Graves  and  Lieutenants  Butler  and  Colvin 
were  mortally  wounded.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Carey  was 
wounded  on  Saturday,  but  remained  with  his  command 
throughout  the  day.  Lieutenant  Hilligoss  was  wounded. 
George  Shirk,  Colonel  Grose's  orderly,  was  mortally  wounded 
while  carrying  the  brigade  battle  flag. 

The  Thirty- Seventh  lost  several  wounded  at  Dutch  Gap, 
and  eight  wounded  at  Chickamauga. 

The  Thirty-Eighth  lost  ten  killed,  forty-eight  wounded; 
fifty-one  missing.  It  lost  one  killed  and  several  wounded  at 
Dug  Gap. 


430  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

The  Forty-Second,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Mclntire, 
lost  eight  killed,  fifty-three  wounded  and  thirty-two  missing. 

The  Forty-Fourth  lost  eighty-two  out  of  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  engaged.  Of  these  only  three  were  killed.  After  the 
breaking  up  of  the  right  wing,  the  Forty-Fourth,  with  two 
others  of  Van  Cleve's  regiments,  rallied  and  formed  on 
Thomas'  right.  Captain  Gunsenhouser  was  killed. 

The  Fifty-Eighth  lost  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  out  of 
four  hundred  engaged.  Captain  Bruce,  Lieutenants  Foster 
and  Barnett  were  killed.  General  Wood  complimented 
Colonel  Buell,  Lieutenant  Yaryan  and  private  Robert  Lemon, 
a  brave  and  devoted  boy  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  old,  and 
a  member  of  his  escort.  Wood  also  complimented  Captain 
George,  of  the  Fifteenth. 

The  Sixty-Eighth  lost  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  out  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty-six  men  and  officers.  Colonel  King, 
who  was  in  command,  was  killed.  Major  Espy,  who  suc 
ceeded  him,  was  wounded.  Lieutenant  Price  was  killed. 
The  Sixty-Eighth  was  one  of  the  last  Regiments  to  leave 
the  field  on  the  twentieth.  On  the  two  following  days  it 
repulsed  attacks  of  the  Rebels. 

The  Seventy-Second  lost  ten  killed,  twenty-three  wounded 
and  four  missing. 

The  Seventeenth  lost  one  killed  and  two  wounded,  in  a 
fight  near  Ringgold.  In  the  great  battle,  it  fought  nearly  all 
day  of  Saturday,  making  several  successful  charges,  and  was 
engaged  next  day  until  three  in  the  afternoon,  with  the  loss 
of  four  killed,  nine  wounded  and  three  missing. 

The  Seventy-Fourth  was  one  of  the  first  Regiments  en 
gaged,  and  with  the  Tenth  was  the  last  to  leave  the  field. 
It  lost  twenty-two  killed,  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
wounded,  and  eleven  missing.  Lieutenants  Hall  and  Bodley 
were  killed,  and  Lieutenant  Davis  was  mortally  wounded. 

The  Seventy-Fifth  lost  seventeen  killed,  seven  wounded 
and  four  missing.  The  first  day  of  the  battle  it  was  detached 
from  its  division  in  order  to  relieve  an  entire  brigade,  and 
was  placed  under  the  immediate  command  of  General 
Palmer,  who  on  the  field  complimented  its  gallantry.  In  the 
afternoon  of  Sunday  it  was  commanded  by  Captain  Steele, 


AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 


Colonel  Robinson  having-  been  called  to  the  place  of  Colonel 
King,  Lieutenant  Colonel  O'Brien  having  been  wounded, 
and  Major  McCole  being  sick. 

In  a  previous  reconnoissance  to  Crawfish  Springs  the 
Seventy-ninth  lost  Lieutenant  Clark,  who  was  one  of  its 
best  officers.  When  it  moved  back  to  Gordon's  Mills,  it  left 
six  pickets,  uninformed  of  the  movement,  alone  in  the  woods. 
They  remained  over  night,  when  discovering  their  exposed 
position  they  managed  to  effect  their  escape  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy.  In  the  battle  the  Seventy-Ninth  charged  and 
captured  one  of  Longstreet's  batteries,  the  only  battery  cap 
tured  from  the  Rebels.  Captains  Buchanan  and  Parker 
were  wounded.  Dr.  McFadden,  Lieutenant  Harris  and  two 
men  were  captured.  The  whole  number  of  wounded  was 
forty.  One  was  killed. 

The  Eighty-First  lost  eight  killed,  fifty-nine  wounded  and 
twenty-two   missing.     The    Eighty-First  began   the  battle 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Boone,  but  was  at  an  early 
hour,  and  while  under  fire,  put  under  the  authority  of  Major 
Callaway  of  the  Twenty-First  Illinois.     The  following  pas 
sage  occurs  in  Callaway's  official  report:     "The  enemy  ap 
peared  emerging  from  a  body  of  thick  timber,  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  our  front,  moving  without  skirmish 
ers,  and  as  near  as  I  could  judge  by  the  battle  flags  exhibited, 
four  lines  in  depth.     We  opened  a  terrible  fire.     The  enemy 
steadily  advanced  until  but  three  men  held  his  first  line,  and 
half   his   second  line  was  gone,  when   his  farther  progress 
seemed  checked."     Major    Callaway   won   the   confidence, 
gratitude   and  admiration   of  the   Regiment,  as  a  token  of 
which  a  sword,  with  the  following  inscription,  was  afterwards 
given  to  him:     "Presented  to  Major  James  E.  Callaway, 
Twenty-First  Illinois  Volunteers,  by  the  non-commissioned 
officers  and  privates  of  the  Eighty-First  Indiana  Volunteers, 
as  a  token  of  our  confidence  and  esteem  for  the  gallant  and 
skilful  manner  in  which  he  conducted  us  at  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  September  19  and  20,  1863." 

Captain  Mitchell,  of  the  Eighty-First,  was  mortally 
wounded  in  the  battle.  He  was  an  approved  soldier  in  the 
Thirteenth  Regiment,  in  the  early  part  of  the  war,  but  having 


432  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

been  discharged  on  account  of  a  severe  wound,  he  re-en 
tered  the  service  in  the  Eighty-First.  He  was  a  devoted 
and  conscientious  patriot. 

The  Eighty-Second  arrived  on  the  field  the  morning  of  the 
nineteenth,  after  marching  all  night.  It  was  warmly  engaged 
during  Saturday.  Sunday,  while  it  was  lying  down  in  the 
second  line,  it  was  run  over  by  retreating  troops,  but  retain 
ing  its  composure,  it  charged  on  the  pursuers,  and  repulsed 
them,  though  it  lost  in  the  charge  eighty-eight  men  killed 
and  wounded.  It  was  unsupported,  however,  and  after  a 
brave  struggle,  was  driven  back  to  the  hill  on  which  Thomas, 
somewhat  later,  formed  his  line.  The  Eighty-Second,  under 
half  its  battle-flag,  the  other  half  having  been  shot  away, 
took  up  a  good  position  and  withstood  the  enemy  an  hour 
with  the  assistance  only  of  a  few  scattered  troops  who  rallied 
to  its  aid.  The  regiment  lost  half  its  number  in  killed  and 
wounded,  and  had  thirty-six  holes  shot  through  its  flag.  Cap 
tain  McAllister  was  killed. 

The  Eighty- Fourth,  under  Major  Neff,  was  one  of  the  reg 
iments  which  checked  the  stream  of  Rebels  pouring  through 
the  gap  in  the  hills  on  Thomas'  right  and  rear.  Fired  on 
from  right,  left  and  front,  it  lost  one-third  of  its  men  in  fifteen 
minutes.  Captain  Ellis,  Lieutenants  Hatfield  and  Mason, 
were  killed.  Captain  Sellers,  Lieutenants  Smith  and  Moore, 
were  wounded.  It  lost  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  killed, 
wounded  and  missing. 

The  Eighty-Sixth  lost  fifty-two  killed  and  wounded.  It 
was  under  the  command  of  Major  Dick. 

The  Eighty-Seventh  lost  forty  killed,  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  wounded,  eight  missing,  more  than  half  the  men 
and  officers  engaged.  Captains  Baker,  Hughes  and  Holli- 
day,  Adjutant  Ryland,  Lieutenants  Brown,  Bennett,  Martin 
and  Andrew  were  killed.  Colonel  Gleason  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  regiment. 

The  Eighty-Eighth  lost  three  killed,  thirty-two  wounded, 
and  seventeen  missing.  Captain  LeFevre  was  mortally 
wounded.  Major  Stough  was  severely  wounded  and  cap 
tured.  He  suffered  and  lingered  in  Libby  prison  until  the 
last  of  October,  when  he  died. 


AFTER  THE  BATTLE.  433 

The  One  Hundred  and  First  lost  eleven  killed,  eighty- 
seven  wounded,  and  seventeen  missing.  Lieutenant  Busick 
was  wounded.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Doan  was  in  command. 

The  Eighth  cavalry  had  nine  killed,  fifty-nine  wounded, 
and  forty-two  missing.  Lieutenant  Butler  was  killed.  Lieu 
tenant  Garboden  was  mortally  wounded. 

Lieutenant  Flansburgh,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
Fourth  battery,  and  who,  a  few  days  later,  was  commissioned 
Captain,  was  taken  prisoner.  He  died  in  prison  in  Colum 
bia,  South  Carolina.  The  battery  was  handled  with  great 
skill  during  the  entire  engagement.  Lieutenant  Willits,  who 
assumed  command  after  the  capture  of  Flansburgh,  received 
the  thanks  of  General  Baird.  One  limber-box  was  blown  up 
and  two  axles  were  broken  by  the  recoil  of  the  guns. 
One  man  was  killed,  seventeen  were  wounded  and  six  were 


missing. 


The  Fifth  battery  had  one  killed,  nine  wounded,  and  lost 
two  guns  and  several  horses. 

The  Eighth  battery  lost  two  killed,  nine  wounded  and 
seven  missing,  and  had  forty-three  horses  killed  and  disabled. 

The  Eighteenth  lost  one  killed  and  four  wounded. 

The  Nineteenth,  Harris',  and  the  Twenty-First,  Andrews', 
received  the  commendations  of  General  Thomas  and  Gen 
eral  Reynolds,  for  the  steadiness  with  which  they  supported 
the  division  of  the  latter,  Harris  on  both  days,  Andrews  on 
Sunday.  Captain  Harris  was  wounded  and  was  succeeded 
by  Captain  Lackey,  who  commanded  ably.  The  Nineteenth 
lost  two  men  killed,  sixteen  wounded,  and  two  missing.  It 
lost  two  guns,  one  left  on  the  field  because  the  horses  were 
killed,  the  other  disabled  by  the  enemy's  fire. 

The  Twenty-First  lost  ten  men  wounded  and  one  gun 
abandoned  because  the  harness  broke. 

The  Eleventh  battery,  in  Sheridan's  brigade,  was  stationed 
near  Gordon's  Mills  on  Saturday,  and  was  not  called  into 
action.  Before  dawn,  of  Sunday,  it  was  moved  toward  the 
left.  It  was  desperately  engaged  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  day,  and  suffered  terribly.  Lieutenant  Williams,  the 
commander  of  one  section,  seeing  the  Rebels  bearing  down 
28 


434  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

toward  him  in  overwhelming  force,  made  strenuous  efforts  to 
check  them,  and  at  last  to  save  his  guns.  He  sighted  the  three 
last  shots  himself,  and  fired  at  short  range  with  cannister, 
through  an  advancing  Rebel  regiment,  but  with  ten  out  of 
twelve  horses  shot,  five  out  of  six  drivers  wounded,  his  right 
arm  pierced  by  a  bullet,  he  was  forced  to  leave  his  guns  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  and  retreat  for  his  life. 

The  Seventh  battery  was  found  in  the  road  unemployed, 
on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  by  General  Reynolds,  as  he 
was  moving  into  position,  and  added  to  Harris'  battery  and 
the  Seventy-Fifth  regiment, — to  form  a  reserve  force,  but  it 
was  soon  called  to  the  front. 

Lieutenant  Frank  Sheets,  of  Madison,  Indiana,  aid  to 
General  Johnson,  was  killed  Sunday  morning.  He  was 
scarcely  eighteen  years  old,  and  was  the  pride  and  darling  of 
his  widowed  mother. 

Two  million  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  rounds  of  mus 
ket  cartridges,  and  seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  rounds  of  ammunition  were  expended  in  the  battle. 

Few  officers  attract  as  little  general  attention  as  an  ord 
nance  officer,  yet  not  many  of  equal  rank  have  an  equal 
responsibility,  and  receive  as  little  inspiration  from  the  cir 
cumstances  of  battle.  The  commander  of  a  train  of  ammu 
nition  moves  up  after  the  engagement  has  opened,  too  far  in 
the  rear  to  feel  the  fiery  ardor  which  runs  along  the  line,  to 
hear  the  wild  cheer  or  the  thrilling  command,  or  to  attract 
the  eye  of  the  leader  whose  praise  he  loves.  His  drivers 
have  as  little  to  inspirit  them,  and  less,  as  they  have  not  even 
the  pride  of  position.  His  mules  are  stupid  and  stubborn. 
The  horse  "saith  among  the  trumpets,  ha!  ha!  and  he  smell- 
eth  the  battle  afar  off."  Not  the  mule.  That  less  noble 
creature  stands  stock  still,  or  backs,  or  turns,  or  slavishly 
obeys  under  blows  and  kicks  and  curses.  It  is  a  curious 
thing  that  the  profane  driver  always  invokes  maledictions  on 
the  heart  of  the  mule,  as  if  the  cause  of  his  perversity  was 
the  very  seat  and  centre  of  his  life.  Swear  or  resist,  beat 
or  kick  as  they  may,  the  blood  of  man  and  beast  is  cold, 
and  grows  colder  as  the  field  of  action  is  approached.  Now 
a  ball  falls  near.  Now  a  shell  crashes  through  a  tree  above. 


AN  AMMUNITION  TRAIN  ON  THE  FIELD.  435 

Minies  whistle.  The  wounded  come  limping,  haggard  and 
ghastly,  an  eye  gone,  an  arm  dangling,  blood  spouting. 

A  further  idea  of  the  difficulties  of  the  position,  and  at  the 
same  time  another  glimpse  of  the  confusion  of  the  battle  may 
be  obtained  by  following  on  the  field  of  Chickamauga,  the 
fortunes  of  W.  H.  H.  Sheets,  Lieutenant  and  Ordnance  offi 
cer  for  Van  Cleve's  division. 

Knowing  nothing  of  the  state  of  affairs,  but  fearing  that 
ammunition  might  be  needed,  he  set  out  at  dark  Saturday 
evening  to  inquire.  Another  division  occupied  the  ground 
on  which  Van  Cleve  stood  in  the  morning,  and  had  no 
knowledge  of  its  predecessor.  He  questioned  and  hunted 
from  field  to  hill,  through  gorge  and  wood,  his  anxiety  grow 
ing  with  every  hour.  He  was  almost  in  despair.  He  fan 
cied  the  division,  on  the  following  day,  reduced  to  the  bay 
onet,  overrun,  overpowered,  lost,  dear  friends  reproaching  him 
and  the  commander  reporting  and  surrendering  him  to  dis 
grace.  Pursued  by  these  torturing  thoughts,  he  reached,  at 
midnight,  General  Rosecrans'  quarters,  where  General  Crit- 
tenden  gave  him  information  which  served  to  direct  him 
aright.  From  one  o'clock  until  daylight  he  replenished  the 
caissons  and  cartridge  boxes  of  the  division,  issuing  to  the 
batteries  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  rounds  of  shot  and 
shell,  and  to  the  regiments  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  thou 
sand  rounds  of  infantry  ammunition.  All  of  this  was  ex 
pended  before  the  battle  was  over.  The  expenditure  of  in 
fantry  ammunition  alone,  in  Van  Cleve's  division,  during 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  was  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight  thousand  rounds. 

Having  attended  to  the  duty  of  supplying  the  troops, 
Sheets  withdrew  his  train  to  a  cove  in  Missionary  Ridge. 
It  was  soon  so  plain  that  at  least  part  of  the  army  might  be 
routed,  that  he  kept  his  wagons  in  readiness  to  retreat,  com 
pelling  his  drivers  to  retain  their  seats.  With  his  ordnance 
sergeant,  who  was  an  excellent  officer,  and  who,  like  himself, 
was  armed  with  two  pistols,  he  rode  among  them  constantly 
exhorting  and  threatening.  The  stream  of  fugitives  grew 
thick  and  thicker.  At  twelve  o'clock,  General  M'Cook  ap 
peared,  riding  entirely  without  troops,  and  accompanied  by 


436  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

but  two  or  three  of  his  staff.  The  young  ordnance  officer 
rode  up  to  the  General  and  asked  if  his  train  was  safe  in  the 
cove.  "If  you  don't  move  it,"  replied  M'Cook,  "the  Rebels 
will  have  it  in  five  minutes."  The  train  was  ordered  out  im 
mediately,  and  the  teamsters,  who  each  carried  a  pistol,  were 
directed  to  fire  on  anybody  who  should  try  to  break  their 
line.  It  was  fairly  under  way  when  a  Captain  belonging 
to  Rosecrans'  staff,  galloping  wildly  from  the  direction  of  the 
battle,  and  evidently  unable  in  his  excitement  to  distinguish 
a  line  of  wagons  moving  intact  from  the  broken  trains  which 
were  rushing  every  way,  cried  "Halt!"  The  Rebels  were  in 
sight.  It  was  no  time  for  etiquette.  "Move  on!"  shouted 
the  ordnance  officer,  and  the  wagons  went  on.  The  excited 
Captain  was  wrathful.  He  presented  his  pistol,  and  only 
with  difficulty  was  convinced  of  the  needlessness  and  impro 
priety  of  his  interference.  The  train  reached  Chattanooga 
without  detention.  Lieutenant  Sheets  had  been  thirty-six 
hours  in  the  saddle.  Brannan's  train,  which  was  the  next  in 
order  of  retreat,  was  captured. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle,  Captain  Moreau,  with  thirty- 
one  men,  returned  from  a  hazardous  scouting  expedition,  on 
which  he  had  started  the  sixteenth  of  the  month.  In  finding 
his  way  through  the  enemy's  lines,  he  lost  four  men. 

"LOOKOUT  VALLEY,  September  8,  1863. 
"DEAR  MOTHER: — On  the  second,  we  crossed  the  river  at 
Bridgeport,  moving  about  three  miles  to  Big  Spring,  Hog- 
Jaw  Valley,  at  the  foot  of  Raccoon  Mountain.  The  ori 
ginal  settlers  must  have  been  hard  pressed  for  names.  On 
the  fourth,  we  moved  to  the  top  of  Raccoon  Mountain,  being 
obliged  to  use  ten  horses  to  a  gun,  so  steep  was  the  road. 
The  fifth,  moved  near  Trenton,  Georgia.  The  sixth  and 
seventh  moved  about  twelve  miles  from  Trenton  to  where 
we  now  are,  up  Lookout  Valley.  Where  we  are  going,  I 
do  not  know — perhaps  farther  south,  to  cross  the  Lookout 
range,  and  then  come  back  in  the  Chattanooga  Valley  to 
ward  Chattanooga.  Except  the  almost  intolerable  dust, 
marching  has  been  very  pleasant.  When  my  books  accu 
mulate,  of  course  I  am  obliged  to  abandon  them  in  one  way 


PROGNOSTICATIONS.  437 

or  another.  I  intend  giving  Dr.  Junkin's  "  Political  Falla 
cies"  to  some  intelligent  Southern  family  on  the  road,  if  I 
can  find  any  such  intelligent. 

"We  are  all  in  fine  spirits,  and  think  we  can  whip  an 
equal  number  of  Rebels,  and  perhaps  a  third  more,  in  their 
present  state  of  discouragement.  The  entire,  army  was  never 
in  better  fighting  condition.  Faith  in  General  Rosecrans  is 
is  unbounded.  Our  immediate  commanders,  General  Sher 
idan  and  General  Lytle,  are  beyond  all  doubt  able  men.  I  am 
sure  you  will  hear  a  good  report  from  us,  if  we  are  engaged. 

"  Father  asks  me  to  tell  all  about  my  section.  I  have  two 
three-inch  rifles,  called  Rodman  guns,  having  all  the  good 
qualities  of  the  Parrott,  with  the  advantage  of  being  lighter. 
They  can  reach  at  least  three  or  four  miles. 

"  This  campaign  ought  to  be  decided  in  ten  or  fifteen  days 
at  the  most.  I  do  not  believe  that  General  Rosecrans  will 
go  as  far  as  Atlanta,  unless  a  demonstration  be  made  on 
Mobile  at  the  same  time,  or  on  some  other  points,  which  will 
cause  the  weakening  of  the  Rebel  army  after  it  shall  have 
retreated  to  Atlanta.  Dalton  will  be  our  most  advanced 
post" 

"  CAMP  ON  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN,  GEORGIA,  ) 

September  15.       j 

"  We  have  been  in  the  valley  east  of  the  Mountain  range 
as  far  as  Alpine,  a  day  or  two  past,  and  are  now  returning 
or  retreating,  I  don't  know  which.  We  occupy  the  same 
camp  we  did  on  the  tenth.  It  seems  to  be  uncertain  whether 
the  fate  of  the  campaign  is  yet  decided.  It  is  probable,  our 
flanking  movement  having  compelled  the  enemy  to  leave 
Chattanooga,  we  have  ascended  the  Mountain  again  to 
keep  out  of  his  way  on  his  retreat  through  the  valley,  as  the 
whole  Rebel  army  could  very  easily  overwhelm  our  corps 
twenty  miles  from  support.  Our  entire  line  must  be  thirty 
miles  long. 

"HENRY  M.  WILLIAMS." 

"CHATTANOOGA,  Sunday,  September  27,  1863. 
"DEAR  FATHER: — We  have  seen  rough  times.     On  the 
night  of  the  eighteenth,  Thomas  and  M' Cook's  corps  marched 


438  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

all  night  in  order  to  be  ready  for  the  fight  next  day.  So 
many  troops  being  on  the  move,  the  road  was  pretty  thor 
oughly  blocked,  and  we  made  only  six  miles  during  the 
whole  night.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  you  a  description 
of  the  battle — that  you  have  seen  in  the  papers.  It  was 
probably  as  severe  a  musketry  fight  as  the  war  has  produced. 
On  Sunday,  from  nine  o'clock  until  quarter  after  twelve,  it 
was  terrific.  It  was  then  we  besfan  to  fall  back  to  Chatta- 

O 

nooga.  Captain  Sutermeister  says  Henry  fought  bravely, 
but  that  he  could  not  save  his  guns. 

"  General  Reynolds'  division  stood  through  the  two  days 
fight  splendidly.  General  Turchin  won  great  honor,  and 
managed  his  brigade  so  well  that  his  loss  is  comparatively 
small.  The  men  are  all  attached  to  Turchin  since  the  fight 

"EDWARD  WILLIAMS." 

"  September  28. 

"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER: — You  can  find  a  great  deal  more  in 
the  papers  than  I  can  tell  you,  for  I  don't  know  anything  but 
what  occurred  in  our  front.  Friday  night  and  Saturday 
morning  were  very  cold,  and  no  fires  were  allowed.  We 
shivered  all  night,  and  were  glad  when  the  sun  rose.  The 
battle  commenced  on  the  extreme  left,  where  it  was  expected, 
about  a  mile  from  us.  The  firing  was  very  heavy,  exceeding 
anything  I  ever  expected  to  hear.  It  was  one  continual 
roar.  It  gradually  came  rolling  down  the  line,  almost  to  our 
front.  I  counted  twenty  discharges  of  cannon  in  one  min 
ute.  The  roads  were  so  thick  and  the  ground  so  rough  that 
there  were  few  positions  for  artillery.  Along  the  left  side  of 
the  road  to  Chattanooga  was  a  cornfield  about  one  hundred 
yards  wide,  and  extending  along  the  road  for  some  distance. 
This  field  was  in  front  of  us.  Our  battery  was  posted  in 
the  edge  of  the  woods  on  the  left  of  the  field,  and  the  troops 
lay  before  us  along  a  fence.  In  the  middle  of  the  field  was 
a  ditch  in  which  were  our  sharpshooters  and  skirmishers. 
The  Rebels  were  across  the  road,  in  woods  that  were  so 
thick  they  could  not  get  their  artillery  up  to  fire  on  us,  until 
afternoon.  They  used  very  little  artillery  all  along  their  line, 


RETROSPECTION.  439 

but  they  made  it  up  by  the  superior  number  of  their  infantry, 
playing  their  old  game  of  massing  a  large  force  and  charg 
ing  on  a  weak  place  in  our  lines.  They  tried  their  hardest 
to  turn  our  left  flank  and  get  between  us  and  Chattanooga, 
but  they  failed  every  time.  About  twelve  o'clock  the  firing 
opened  very  heavily  on  us,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  Rebels 
came  charging  across  the  road  and  into  the  field,  driving 
their  skirmishers  out  of  the  ditch  and  back  to  the  main  line. 
We  fired  into  them  with  double-charged  cannister,  just  as 
fast  as  we  could  load.  Every  discharge  would  open  their 
ranks  in  great  gaps,  but  they  would  close  up  again  and  ad 
vance.  They  did  not  reach  the  ditch  before  they  broke  and 
ran.  Our  double-shotted  cannisters  and  seven-shooters  were 
too  much  for  them.  The  ground  was  gray  with  the  dead 
and  wounded.  This  was  the  only  charge  they  made  on  us, 
till  just  before  dark,  when  they  made  another  with  the  same 
result.  All  along  the  line  the  Rebels  would  mass  troops  and 
charge  on  our  forces,  but  they  were  repulsed  nearly  every 
time.  Our  lines  were  so  extended  that  no  troops  could  be 
spared  to  return  these  charges  with  any  vigor;  but  when  our 
troops  did  charge,  they  always  drove  the  Rebels.  A  great 
deal  of  artillery  was  captured  and  recaptured.  Sometimes 
the  guns  would  stand  out  between  the  antagonists  until  one 
or  the  other  charged  and  succeeded  in  pulling  them  off.  The 
battle  ceased  sometime  in  the  night,  and  all  was  still  once 
more,  except  the  groans  of  the  wounded.  All  night  long  we 
could  hear  their  dismal  groans  and  heart-rending  calls  on 
some  friend  to  come  to  them,  as  they  lay  between  the  skirm 
ish  line  and  the  Rebels.  No  one  dared  go  out.  It  was  the 
hardest  part  of  the  battle  to  lie  within  hearing,  and  not  be 
able  to  assist  them.  The  night  was  very  cold.  Rations 
were  issued,  for  which  some  wTere  thankful,  as  we  had  had 
nothing  to  eat  since  morning,  but  some  had  no  way  to  cook 
them. 

"Sunday  morning  the  battle  seemed  to  be  waiting  till 
everything  got  a  good  ready.  About  eight  o'clock,  it  broke 
loose  again,  as  on  Saturday's  fight,  on  the  extreme  left. 
They  seemed  determined  to  turn  our  left  flank,  but  they 
were  met  as  before  by  men  who  were  determined  to  hold 


440  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

their  ground.  At  daylight  our  position  was  changed  farther 
to  the  left,  and  back  about  a  mile,  on  a  hill  in  the  rear  of  a 
field  with  heavy  woods  on  both  sides.  The  regiment  built 
a  line  of  breastworks  of  logs  all  along  the  edge  of  the  woods. 
The  fighting  was  not  very  heavy  in  front  of  us  until  we  were 
charged  by  part  of  Longstreet's  corps,  then  we  advanced  out 
of  our  breastworks  and  moved  down  to  a  place  where  we 
could  rake  them  up  a  hollow.  Here  we  poured  the  grape 
and  canister  into  them  without  mercy,  and  laid  them  in  the 
ditch  by  the  hundreds.  We  repulsed  the  charge  and  saved 
Van  Cleve's  division.  It  was  now  about  twelve  o'clock. 
We  fought  steadily  until  about  three,  when  we  were  ordered 
to  go  to  Chattanooga,  which  was  three  miles  off,  cross  the 
river,  and  guard  the  ford  at  Fryer's  Island.  We  reached 
Chattanooga  about  five  o'clock,  and  went  up  the  island, 
where  we  camped  on  our  old  ground,  placing  two  guns 
down  on  the  bank,  behind  earthworks  thrown  up  for  the  oc 
casion.  HENRY  CAMPBELL." 

"CHATTANOOGA,  September  24,  1863. 

"DEAR  MOTHER: — I  don't  know  that  I  can  write  more 
than  a  word,  for  we  are  lying  in  the  trenches  expecting  an 
attack  any  moment.  You  are  aware  that  we  were  greatly 
defeated  on  last  Saturday  and  Sunday,  and  on  Sunday  night 
fell  back  to  this  place.  We  have  been  fortifying  and  beating 
back  the  enemy  ever  since.  Our  works  are  getting  strong, 
and,  I  think,  if  the  assault  is  made,  the  enemy  will  suffer 
quite  as  much  as  we  have,  although  they  outnumber  us  per 
haps  two  to  one.  None  of  the  boys  from  our  place  are 
killed.  Henry  Flesher  was  left  on  duty  at  the  Field  Hospi 
tal,  which  of  course  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  He  may 
be  released  along  with  our  Surgeons. 

"  We  expected  to  fight  all  day  to-day,  but  there  are  no  de 
monstrations  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  except  an  occasional 
attempt  to  place  batteries  on  commanding  positions.  You 
will  have  learned  all  ere  this  reaches  you.  I  hope  I  may  be 
spared  to  give  you  some  account  of  this  awful  campaign.  I 
am  getting  tired  and  worn  out,  as  is  every  one,  and  anxious 
for  rest. 


BEHIND  1NTRENCIIMENTS.  441 

"This  is  the  seventh  day  since  the  fight  began.  I  am  sit 
ting  under  a  tree  in  the  grave  yard  at  Chattanooga,  upon 
the  grave  of  a  Rebel  soldier.  There  is  about  an  acre  covered 
with  the  dead  from  the  battle  of  Stone  River.  There  is  a 
board  at  the  head  of  each  grave,  with  the  number  upon  it. 
The  highest  number  I  see  now  is  eleven  hundred  and  forty- 
five. 

"  Our  regiment  is  just  in  from  a  twenty-four  hours  skir 
mish  with  the  Rebels.  The  boys  enjoy  the  fun  in  the  day 
time,  but  at  night  it  is  too  cold. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  men  lying  in  the  same  field,  a  few 
hundred  yards  apart,  shooting  at  each  other  whenever  a  head 
appears  above  the  weeds  or  from  behind  a  tree?  Does  it 
seem  possible  that  they  should  get  so  used  to  it  as  to  enjoy 
the  sport?  I  can  not  write  more  as  it  is  four  o'clock,  and  if 
the  enemy  try  us  to-day,  it  will  be  very  soon.  When  they 
come  they  will  come  with  a  shout,  and  in  great  masses. 
Poor  fellows!  We  have  sheets  of  flame,  clouds  of  smoke, 
and  showers  of  lead  prepared  for  them.  In  our  attack  last 
Sunday  morning  we  drove  them  with  great  slaughter,  and 
marched  over  their  dead  and  wounded  for  nearly  a  mile,  but 
we  were  too  weak  and  had  to  give  back  before  their  increas 
ing  numbers." 

"September  28. 

"DEAR  HOME: — I  write  again  only  to  let  you  know  I  am 
still  on  top  of  the  ground,  although  dwelling  among  the  dead. 
Our  camp  or  place,  is  in  a  large  cemetery.  Our  intrench- 
ments  are  just  outside.  I  can  not  give  you  anything  reliable 
in  regard  to  the  status  of  the^two  armies,  only  that  we  are 
behind  good  breastworks  and  occupy  the  Rebel  forts,  while 
the  enemy  is  just  outside,  doing  us  no  visible  damage  at 
present.  His  camp  fires  light  up  the  hill-sides  opposite  to 
us  every  night,  only  about  a  mile  distant.  The  pickets  in 
front  of  General  Thomas  have  a  fight  nearly  every  night, 
but  our  corps  is  not  often  disturbed.  I  think  it  is  probable 
that  some  of  the  immense  force  which  handled  us  so  roughly 
in  Georgia,  has  been  withdrawn  and  that  they  are  afraid  to 
attack  us  here.  Our  whole  train  and  half  the  baggage  has 
been  kept  across  the  river  until  to-day.  We  are  now  al- 


442  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

lowed  our  tents  and  baggage  but  no  wagons.  Our  left  rests 
upon  the  river.  If  we  can  maintain  our  position  here  and 
hold  the  line  of  the  Tennessee,  I  shall  be  well  satisfied  and 
claim  a  victory  for  the  cause,  although  we  suffered  so  much 
in  the  battle  just  fought.  We  need  more  men  than  ever  to 
withstand  the  desperate  efforts  of  the  enemy  to  break  through 
the  lines  that  are  closing  round  them.  What  a  pity  that  we 
could  not  be  reinforced  so  that  we  might  have  defeated  their 
combined  efforts  against  us! 

"  The  loss  in  the  Eighty-Sixth  is  very  light.  I  lost  some 
good  friends  in  other  regiments.  Lieutenant  Wood,  of  Col 
onel  Dick's  staff,  a  splendid  man,  lies  in  his  grave  near  my 
tent.  Captain  Murdock,  of  Van  Cleve's  staff,  was  mortally 
wounded.  It  is  a  wonder  that  more  of  us  are  not  as  they 
are.  Howard  High  was  mortally  wounded  and  left  on  the 
field." 

"Our  ambulances  are  all  engaged  under  the  flag  of  truce, 
in  bringing  in  the  wounded,  our  poor  fellows  having  been 
lying  upon  the  field  all  this  time,  with  but  little  or  no  atten 
tion. 

"  It  is  raining  to-night  for  the  first  time  for  more  than  a 
month.  The  enemy's  camp  fires  shine  brightly  through  the 
darkness. 

"DARWIN   THOMAS." 


A  PROUD  SORROW.  443 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

NATHAN  PALMER  DUNN. 

I  would  not  exchange  my  dead  son  for  any  living  son  in  Christendom. 

— Duke  of  Ormond. 

There  is  a  character  almost  of  repining  in  our  grief  for  the 
youthful  dead,  all  covered  with  smiling  buds  of  promise  as 
they  were.  This  thread-bare  and  work-a-day  world  seems 
cruelly  robbed  of  the  noble  and  needed  deeds  they  would 
have  done.  They,  too,  seem  defrauded  of  earth's  rich,  even 
though  sorrowful  experience,  and  of  their  measure  of  fame. 
Yet  while  we  almost  repine,  we  almost  rejoice  that  they 
entered  the  Celestial  City  directly  through  the  gate  Beautiful, 
after  no  weary  wanderings  in  obscure  ways.  And  if  they 
have  already  done  a  heroic  thing,  with  our  grief,  and  repining, 
and  rejoicing,  mingles  a  mournful  exultation.  We  "bless 
the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay." 

Captain  Dunn  ended  his  life  in  the  third  year  of  his  mili 
tary  service,  and  not  quite  a  month  after  the  birth-day  which 
made  him  twenty-two  years  old.  Only  his  home  and  his 
comrades  knew  him.  Therefore  his  fitting  record  is  his 
mother's  letter,  though  written  with  no  thought  of  publica 
tion,  and  only  in  reply  to  a  friend's  inquiries: 

"  September  9,  1867. 

"DEAR  K: — I  have  made  several  attempts  to  write  to  you, 
but  have  each  time  been  obliged  to  give  it  up.  The  effort 
has  called  up  so  vividly  my  great  loss  that  it  has  seemed  out 
of  my  power. 

"Our  son,  N.  Palmer  Dunn,  was  a  graduate  of  Miami 
University,  and  was  just  ready  to  leave  the  Institution,  when 
the  first  call  was  made  for  troops  in  April,  1861.  He,  with 
almost  the  entire  class,  enlisted  at  once  in  the  Twentieth 


444  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Ohio  volunteers,  and  served  three  months  in  Western  Vir 
ginia.  You  remember  that,  for  some  reason,  the  troops  from 
Ohio  were  not  cared  for  as  ours  were  in  Virginia,  and  when 
he  came  home  he  was  completely  in  rags.  It  was  laughable, 
and  yet  I  could  not  keep  from  crying  to  see  my  son  in  such 
a  condition.  However,  he  was  hearty  and  happy,  and  so  far 
from  being  disgusted  with  the  service  that,  when  he  found 
more  troops  were  wanted,  he  determined  to  reenter  the  army. 
Governor  Morton  gave  him  a  commission  as  Lieutenant, 
and  General  Buell  appointed  him  on  his  staff.  Finding? 
however,  that  his  position  was  informal,  not  being  assigned 
to  any  company,  he  abandoned  his  commission,  and  went 
down  to  the  army  at  Murfreesboro,  where  he  enlisted  as  a 
private  soldier  in  Company  E,  Twenty-Ninth  Indiana. 

"  He  was  in  the  hard-fought  battle  of  Shiloh,  in  the  siege 
of  Corinth,  in  the  engagements  at  Lavergne,  Triune  and  Lib 
erty  Gap,  and  in  the  battle  of  Stone  river.  At  Shiloh  he 
was  slightly  wounded,  and  at  Stone  river  he  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  foot,  and  taken  prisoner.  His  wound  was  of 
such  a  nature  that  the  surgeon  stated  that  he  could  not  be 
removed  with  the  other  prisoners  without  great  danger,  so  he 
was  paroled,  and  came  home.  As  soon  as  he  was  able  to 
return  to  the  regiment,  and  his  exchange  was  effected,  he 
did  so. 

"You  can  judge  of  his  standing  in  his  company  from  the 
fact  that  very  soon  after  he  enlisted,  a  vacancy  occurring,  he 
was  unanimously  chosen  Second  Lieutenant,  not  long  after 
wards  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant,  and  after  the  battle 
of  Stone  river  was  made  Captain.  He  continued  to  fill  that 
place  until  he  fell  in  that  bloody  struggle  where  so  many  of 
our  brave  men  perished.  It  was  at  Chickamauga,  in  a  charge 
of  Johnson's  division  on  the  enemy's  lines,  on  the  nineteenth 
of  September,  1863.  The  color  sergeant  had  been  shot  down 
beside  him,  and  the  flag,  which  he  loved  so  much,  had  twice 
fallen,  when  he  caught  it.  He  held  the  flag  in  one  hand  and 
his  sword  in  the  other,  and  was  urging  and  cheering  on  his 
men,  when  he  \vas  struck  by  a  ball  that  prostrated  him. 
While  he  was  being  carried  from  the  spot  another  ball  pierced 
his  side,  and  his  eyes  closed  forever. 


"THE  CHILD  IS  FATHER  OP  THE  MAN."  445 

"  Preparations  were  being  made  to  send  his  dear  remains 
home,  when  our  army  was  driven  back.  They  were  left,  with 
his  name  written  on  a  paper,  and  pinned  on  his  breast.  We 
did  not  know  for  several  months  that  he  was  buried,  but  Dr. 
Landis,  an  Ohio  surgeon,  who  was  taken  prisoner,  obtained 
leave  to  bury  him  and  several  others.  As  soon  as  Dr.  Lan 
dis  was  released  he  gave  notice  through  the  Cincinnati 
Gazette,  but  before  that  time  his  uncle,  Colonel  D.  M.  Dunn, 
of  Logansport,  had  recovered  the  body  and  brought  it  home. 

"  He  now  rests  in  the  cemetery  near  the  home  of  his  boy 
hood.  A  handsome  monument,  erected  by  his  company, 
marks  the  spot. 

"Thousands  of  valuable  lives  were  sacrificed  in  putting 
down  the  rebellion,  yet  we  can  but  feel  that  ours  is  no  com 
mon  loss.  Fitted  by  nature  and  education  to  act  his  part, 
our  dear  son  had  a  heart  that  prompted  him  to  every  good 
work.  We  saw  in  him  the  promise  of  a  life  of  usefulness. 

"  I  should  like  to  add  one  thing,  though  I  am  afraid  you 
will  think  I  exaggerate,  as  mothers  often  do.  But  I  am  sure 
this  is  correct,  that  so  far  as  his  father  and  I  can  recollect  he 
never  uttered  a  falsehood,  or  in  any  way  swerved  from  the 
truth,  not  in  his  earliest  boyhood,  when  children  are  so  easily 
tempted  or  frightened  into  untruth. 

"  This  letter,  very  imperfectly  written,  and  with  many  tears, 
is  but  to  assure  you  that  I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  your 
request." 

To  the  modest  and  tender  testimony  of  his  mother  may  be 
added  the  just  tributes  of  others.  His  commanding  officer 
writes  of  Captain  Dunn : 

"  Free  from  all  those  vices  too  common  in  a  soldier's  life, 
and  ambitious  to  succeed  in  his  undertaking,  his  ability,  en 
ergy  and  bravery  soon  gave  him  an  enviable  reputation  in 
his  regiment,  and  among  his  fellow  officers.  Fully  assured 
in  his  own  mind  that  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged  was 
just,  he  threw  all  the  vigor  of  his  young  and  ardent  life  into 
the  work  before  him  with  a  conscientiousness  and  devotion 
unsurpassed  in  the  army.  He  bore  his  part  like  a  true  sol 
dier  on  all  the  bloody  battle  fields  in  which  his  regiment  was 
engaged." 


446  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

His  pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Irwin,  says:  "From  his  very  child 
hood  he  was  never  known  to  disobey  those  in  authority  over 
him.  He  was  proverbial  for  his  truthfulness,  conscientious 
ness  and  sincerity.  Mild  and  gentle  in  his  demeanor,  and 
generous  in  all  his  instincts,  he  was  one  to  attach  to  himself 
not  only  the  respect  but  the  affection  of  his  comrades  and 
friends.  Singleness  of  purpose,  clearness  of  perception,  an 
earnest  and  honest  perseverance  and  fidelity,  together  with  a 
certain  ardor  and  enthusiasm  in  his  pursuits,  were  other  ele 
ments  in  his  character  which  laid  the  foundation  for  a  noble, 
useful  and  heroic  life. 

"  In  his  literary  career  he  fought  as  one  not  beating  the  air. 
His  reports  were  uniformly  of  the  highest  grade.  In  Miami 
University  he  maintained  his  character  and  standing. 

"  His  last  experience  of  earth  was  the  dash  of  armies,  the 
confusion  and  roar  of  battle,  and  the  garments  dipped  in 
blood.  How  great  the  contrast  as  a  moment  afterward,  if 
our  hope  be  true,  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  the  infinite  calm, 
the  perpetual  joy,  the  intense  blessedness  of  the  cloudless, 
sinless,  sorrowless  land.  He  is  known  to  have  thought  much, 
as  such  a  nature  must,  upon  the  great  themes  of  religion  and 
salvation.  He  was  a  child  of  the  covenant.  Early  dedicated 
to  God  by  parental  piety,  he  lived  such  a  life  of  purity  and 
goodness  that  one  could  scarcely  think  otherwise  than  that 
he  was  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  perhaps  insensibly  to  him 
self,  into  the  paths  of  everlasting  peace. 

"  His  character  was  singularly  faultless,  and  his  life,  short 
as  it  was,  must  be  accounted  a  royal  success." 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh  young  Dunn  wrote 
to  his  home:  "A  kind  Providence  watched  over  me.  I 
thought  often  of  you  all  during  the  battle,  still  I  never  felt 
afraid.  If  I  had  fallen  it  would  have  been  in  a  good  cause, 
and  I  hope  I  should  have  died  in  the  faith  of  my  fathers." 


POSITION  OF  THE  ARMIES.  447 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CHATTANOOGA. 

"Many  loved  Truth,  and  lavished  life's  best  oil 

Amid  the  dust  of  books  to  find  her, 
Content  at  last  for  guerdon  of  their  toil, 
With  the  cast  mantle  she  has  left  behind  her; 
Many  in  sad  faith  sought,  for  her, 
Many  with  crossed  hands  sighed  for  her, 
But  these,  our  brothers,  fought  for  her, 

At  life's  dear  peril  wrought  for  her, 
So  loved  her  that  they  died  for  her, 

Tasting  the  raptured  flcetnes 

Of  her  divine  completeness; 
Their  higher  instinct  knew 
Those  love  her  best  who  to  themselves  are  true, 
And  what  they  dare  to  dream  of,  dare  to  do ; 
They  followed  her  and  found  her 
Where  all  may  hope  to  find, 

Not  in  the  ashes  of  the  burnt  out  mind, 
But  beautiful,  with  danger's  sweetness  round  her; 

Where  faith  made  whole  with  deed 

Breathes  its  awakening  breath 
Into  the  lifeless  creed, 

They  saAv  her  plumed  and  mailed, 

With  sweet,  stern  face  unvailed, 
And  all  repaying  eyes  look  proud  on  them  in  death." 

— Harvard  Commemoration  Ode.     LOWELL. 

In  the  position  which  the  antagonists  assumed  on  the  Ten 
nessee,  the  Southern  army  lay  on  Missionary  Ridge,  across 
Chattanooga  Valley,  and  on  Lookout  Mountain,  its  picket 
line  stretching  along  the  river  many  miles  above,  turning  out 
near  Citico  creek,  running  in  front  of  Orchard  Knob,  a  soli 
tary  hill  east  of  Chattanooga,  and  returning  to  the  river  at 
the  foot  of  Lookout  to  extend  to  Bridgeport,  twenty-eight 
miles  further;  while  the  Northern  army  was  within  the  en 
closed  area,  its  right  flank  at  the  mouth  of  Chattanooga 


448  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

creek  at  the  foot  of  the  one  mountain,  its  left  near  Citico 
creek  not  far  from  the  upper  knob  of  the  other.  The  moun 
tains  commanded  an  unobstructed  view  of  the  plain,  and  an 
observer  on  the  plain  had  but  to  cast  his  eye  upward  to  note 
the  character  and  extent  of  the  Rebel  front.  The  hostile 
pickets  were  within  talking  distance,  the  neutral  ground  be 
ing  little  more  than  two  hundred  yards  in  breadth.  A  Rebel 
brigade  in  Lookout  Valley  and  on  Raccoon  Mountain,  with 
sharpshooters  strengthening  the  picket  line,  held  the  railroad 
on  the  south  and  west  bank  of  the  river,  the  bridge  over 
which  was  destroyed.  With  every  approach  cut  off  from 
the  south,  east  and  west;  with  his  line  of  communication  and 
supply  but  the  single  track  of  the  Louisville  and  Nashville 
Railroad  to  Bridgeport,  and  from  that  point  the  circuitous 
and  precarious  route  of  sixty  miles  over  Walden's  Ridge 
and  through  Sequatchie  Valley,  General  Rosecrans  could  do 
no  more  for  weeks,  and  perhaps  months  to  come,  than  to 
hold  his  ground  and  feed  his  troops.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
same  circumstances  gave  to  General  Bragg  the  expectation 
amounting  almost  to  certainty,  of  accomplishing  by  starva 
tion  what  he  had  failed  to  do  by  strategy  and  force  of  arms. 
That  he  understood  his  advantages  and  meant  to  turn  them 
to  account,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  paragraph  of  his 
official  report: 

"  These  dispositions,  faithfully  sustained,  insured  the  ene 
my's  speedy  evacuation  of  Chattanooga,  for  want  of  food 
and  forage.  Possessed  of  the  shortest  route  to  his  depot,  and 
the  one  by  which  reinforcements  must  reach  him,  we  held 
him  at  our  mercy,  and  his  destruction  was  only  a  question 
of  time." 

The  Southern  public  entertained  the  same,  which  was  in 
deed  not  an  unreasonable,  view  of  the  situation,  but  had  no 
mind  to  abide  the  issue  of  time.  It  could  not  afford  to  wait, 
nor  limit  its  ambition  to  the  destruction  of  Rosecrans.  The 
Chattanooga  Rebel,  a  newspaper  which  had  retreated  from 
its  original  location  to  Atlanta,  stated  both  its  wants  and  as 
pirations  in  an  issue  of  the  ninth  of  October,  1863. 

"  Food  and  raiment  are  our  needs.  Kentucky  and  middle 
Tennessee  alone  can  supply  them.  Better  give  up  the  sea- 


REBEL  RAID  IN  THE  REAR.  449 

coast.  Better  give  up  the  South- West,  aye  better  give  up 
Richmond  without  a  struggle  than  lose  the  golden  fields 
whose  grain  and  wool  are  our  sole  hope.  We  must  gain 
one  signal  Stonewall  Jackson  campaign;  run  Rosecrans  to 
the  Ohio  river;  retake  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi;  secure 
the  election  of  a  peace  Democrat  to  the  Presidency,  and  ar 
range  the  terms  of  treaty  and  independence." 

To  accomplish  his  object  neither  of  the  commanders  spared 
his  strength.  The  one  threw  up  works  on  hills  which  in 
themselves  were  bulwarks,  and  kept  his  numerous  and  well- 
mounted  cavalry  on  predatory  excursions.  The  other  built 
fortifications  of  the  strongest  character,  kept  out  heavy  picket 
lines,  and  sent  numerous  bodies  of  troops  as  foragers,  as  es 
corts  to  trains,  and  in  pursuit  of  Rebel  raiders.  The  foragers 
were  compelled  to  take  grain  from  friend  and  foe  alike,  leav 
ing  many  families  with  very  inadequate  stores  for  the  win 
ter.  But  the  mountaineers  were  generally  loyal,  and  gave 
assurances  that  they  would  rather  contribute  all  they  had 
than  be  left  again  in  the  hands  of  the  Rebels. 

The  last  day  of  September,  General  Crook,  with  Wilder'* 
mounted  brigade,  from  Friar's  Island,  and  Colonel  Ed. 
Me  Cook,  with  three  cavalry  regiments  from  the  vicinity  of 
Bridgeport,  left  their  encampment  and  hurried  to  the  rescue 
of  the  wagon-line,  which  was  in  immediate  and  imminent 
danger  from  Wharton  and  Wheeler.  M'Cook  came  upon  the 
raiding  forces  October  2,  in  Sequatchie  valley,  after  they  had 
captured  and  while  they  were  burning  nearly  a  thousand  wa 
gons,  laden  with  supplies.  In  a  sharp  fight  he  gained  the 
advantage,  but  during  the  following  night,  the  Rebels,  whose 
object  was  not  fighting,  but  the  destruction  of  stores,  escaped. 

General  Crook,  who  crossed  the  Tennessee  about  sixty 
miles  above  the  crossing  of  McCook,  worked  his  way  through 
the  mountains  with  immense  toil,  hoisting  Lilly's  battery 
fifty  men  to  a  gun,  up  cliffs  which  it  was  barely  practicable 
to  pass.  At  dusk  of  the  fourth  day  Colonel  Crew's  Rebel 
brigade  was  discovered  close  at  hand  in  Thompson's  cove. 
Wilder's  brigade  moved  to  an  immediate  attack.  The  Sev 
enteenth  Indiana,  in  advance,  wound  cautiously  and  silently 
29 


450  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

along  the  narrow  and  broken  mountain  road,  and  halted  at 
the  entrance  of  the  cove.  "Who  are  you?"  demanded  the 
enemy.  "Who  are  you?"  returned  Major  Jones,  in  com 
mand  of  the  Seventeenth.  "  We're  Rebels,  come  over,"  was 
the  response.  Jones  addressed  his  men :  "  Forward!  Double- 
quick!  Charge!"  They  sprang  forward.  Their  rifles  lighted 
up  the  gorge.  The  residue  of  the  brigade  moved  up.  So 
sudden  was  the  onset  that  the  Rebels  scarcely  offered  resist 
ance.  They  fled,  leaving  a  few  wounded  and  killed,  a  great 
number  of  arms,  and  the  battle  flag  of  the  Second  Kentucky 
cavalry. 

Hastening  on  to  McMinnville,  Crook  found  Wheeler  in 
possession  of  the  place,  and  of  the  garrison  of  six  hundred 
men,  who  had  surrendered  without  a  struggle.  The  com 
placent  victor  was  burning  heaps  of  supplies,  and  trains  of 
wagons  and  cars,  but  after  a  sharp  fight  he  was  forced  to  fly. 
As  they  passed  through  McMinnville  the  pursuers  picked  up 
crackers  which  the  Rebels  had  scattered,  and  ate  them  hun 
grily,  having  started  in  the  morning  without  breakfast,  and 
having  had  nothing  during  the  chase  but  what  they  could 
gather  up. 

Crook  followed  to  Murfreesboro,  back  to  Shelbyville,  and 
on  to  Farmington.  There  Wheeler  turned  like  a  bear  at  bay, 
and  fought  furiously,  but  he  was  well  beaten,  losing  four 
guns  and  hundreds  of  prisoners,  beside  a  large  number  of 
killed  and  wounded.  His  troops  were  nearly  all  comfortably 
arrayed  in  the  clothing  which  had  been  sent  from  the  North 
to  our  shivering  army  at  Chattanooga. 

The  fight  at  Farmington  took  place  on  the  evening  of 
October  7.  Crook  resumed  the  pursuit  at  daylight.  He 
was  unable  again  to  overtake  the  main  force,  but  he  cap 
tured  the  rear-guard  of  seventy  men,  on  the  Tennessee,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Elk. 

The  Seventeenth  Indiana  lost  fifty-five,  in  killed  and 
wounded,  in  the  various  encounters  of  this  chase. 

The  Seventy-Second  suffered  in  the  same  proportion. 

The  troops  and  teamsters  taken  with  the  train  on  Walden 
ridge  were  marched  forty-eight  hours  without  rest,  food  or 
water,  and  at  McMinnville,  while  so  exhausted  they  could 


IN  THE  SEQUATCHIE  VALLEY.  451 

scarcely  stand,  were  compelled  to  carry  the  Government 
stores  from  the  Court  House  to  the  fires  in  the  street.  Five 
miles  beyond  McMinnville  they  were  released,  having  been 
robbed  of  money,  overcoats,  hats  and  boots. 

Wilder's  brigade  lost  eighty,  killed  and  wounded.  A  por 
tion  of  the  force  now  rested,  but  another  portion,  which  in 
cluded  the  Seventeenth,  continued  many  weeks  longer  in 
search  or  in  pursuit  of  Roddy,  Forrest,  Wharton,  Wheeler 
and  others,  who  were  always  meddling  with  the  line  of  com 
munication.  From  the  eleventh  to  the  seventeenth  of  Octo 
ber  the  Seventeenth  Indiana  marched  one  hundred  and  sev 
enty  miles. 

For  the  sake  of  obtaining  forage,  as  well  as  to  guard  the 
valley,  several  regiments  encamped  on  the  Sequatchie.  Im 
mediately  after  Wheeler's  raid  the  Thirty-Ninth,  which  had 
been  reorganized  as  the  Eighth  cavalry,  with  the  addition  of 
two  companies,  pitched  its  tents  on  the  east  bank  of  the  lit 
tle  mountain  river.  The  following  notes  are  from  the  diary 
of  Leroy  Fallis : 

"  Wednesday,  October  14.  It  has  been  raining  several  days, 
and  the  camp  is  very  wet.  The  boys  keep  up  a  continual 
strain  of  singing  and  joking,  so  as  to  make  everything  appear 
as  lively  as  possible. 

"Fifteenth.  Raining  still.  Received  orders  to  saddle  at 
one  o'clock  last  night,  and  move  to  higher  ground,  but  it  was 
so  dark  we  could  not  see  to  get  out  of  the  woods,  and  we 
did  not  move  till  daylight.  We  had  almost  to  swim  our 
horses.  The  water  pours  in  torrents  down  the  roads.  The 
valley  is  completely  overflowed.  We  went  about  two  miles 
on  the  mountain,  and  went  into  camp  about  dark.  At  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  the  charred  ruins  of  wagons  lie  in 
heaps. 

"Sixteenth.  Pleasant.  Dug  over  a  potato  patch,  and  ob 
tained  any  amount  of  nice  Irish  potatoes,  which  answer  for 
bread. 

"Seventeenth.  No  forage  to  be  found  for  man  or  beast. 
Citizens  are  in  bad  condition.  The  boys  run  upon  some 
honey,  which  they  went  for,  orders  having  been  given  to  take 
whatever  we  could  find. 


452  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

"Eighteenth.  Rained  all  day.  Last  night  received  orders 
to  move  to  Poe's  cross-roads.  We  went  down  the  mountain 
at  Wild  Cat  pass,  a  steep,  rugged  pass. 

"Nineteenth.  At  ten  last  night  ordered  to  saddle  up,  and 
move  to  Harrison's  Landing.  Arrived  near  Dallas  at  three 
this  morning.  Roads  very  bad.  At  noon  went  on  picket. 

"  Twenty-second.  The  Potomac  boys  have  been  here  about 
three  weeks.  They  wonder  why  they  don't  go  into  winter 
quarters,  why  they  have  no  straw,  and  have  to  live  on  sow 
belly  and  hard-tack.  They  had  cheese  and  such  like  before 
they  came  here." 

The  fall  rains  rendered  the  mountain  roads,  at  times,  abso 
lutely  impassable,  and  the  vigilance  of  Rebel  cavalry  made 
it  always  difficult  to  secure  the  passage  of  supply  trains.  In 
consequence  it  became  necessary  to  reduce  the  whole  com 
mand  to  half  rations  within  a  few  days  of  the  withdrawal 
from  Chickamauga.  Horses  and  mules  bore  the  brunt  of 
hardship.  The  miserable  creatures  were  unable  to  draw 
half  a  load,  yet  as  long  as  they  could  stand  were  compelled 
to  go.  Ten  thousand,  it  is  computed,  died  in  and  around 
Chattanooga  of  starvation  and  overwork.  In  November  a 
member  of  the  Eighty- First  regiment  declares:  "  We  might 
have  constructed  a  pontoon  bridge  of  their  carcasses  from 
Chattanooga  to  Bridgeport,  and  had  a  surplus  of  several 
hundred." 

After  living  several  weeks  on  half  rations,  the  troops  were, 
for  a  time,  reduced  to  quarter  rations.  For  eleven  days  offi 
cers  and  soldiers  received  one  cracker  a  day,  accompanied  by 
a  small  allowance  of  meat.  "  I  saw  many  men  of  the  gallant 
Carlin's  brigade,"  says  Major  Callaway,  "  subsisting  for  days 
on  less  than  a  sufficiency  for  a  single  meal.  I  often  saw 
them,  with  patient  and  industrious  care,  pick  from  the  dirt 
and  break  the  little  bits  of  half-sound  bread  from  the  corners 
of  spoiled  crackers,  thrown  away  by  the  commissary.  When 
I  would  say,  'Boys,  this  is  a  hard  fate,'  they  would  answer, 
*  Yes  it  is  a  hard  fate,  but  we  will  climb  the  mountains  from 
Bridgeport  to  Chattanooga,  with  boxes  of  crackers  on  our 
backs,  before  the  Rebels  shall  have  Chattanooga,  if  Rosy 
says  stay?" 


HARD  TIMES  IN  CAMP.  453 

Hunger  is  not  dainty,  and  men  picked  up  and  ate  not  only 
crumbs  of  crackers  from  the  mud,  but  grains  of  corn  where 
horses  had  been  fed  days  or  even  weeks  before.  Three  thou 
sand  wounded  soldiers  in  the  hospitals  suffered,  and  a  vast 
number  died  for  want  of  proper  nutriment. 

^The  season  was  cold  and  wet.  During  six  weeks  rain  was 
almost  constant,  yet  clothing  was  scanty,  as  the  troops  had 
started  on  the  campaign  with  no  overcoats,  and  but  one 
blanket  a  piece,  which,  in  the  fight  on  Chickamauga,  or  in 
the  retreat,  they  had  thrown  away.  There  was  a  propor 
tional  deficiency  in  tents.  Many  were  thin  and  leaky.  Some 
regiments  had  none  at  all.  Our  Eighty-Fourth  was  without 
both  tents  and  blankets  until  the  middle  of  November,  and 
nine  days  and  nights  of  the  time  held  a  picket  line  two  miles 
down  the  river,  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  at  intervals. 
Firewood  was  also  far  from  abundant.  It  was  necessary  to 
dig  up  roots  of  trees  and  shrubs,  and  even  with  these  camp- 
fires  burnt  low.  Every  day  men  went  to  the  front  and  cut 
wood,  and  hauled  it  off' in  full  view  of  the  Rebel  pickets. 

A  member  of  the  Fifty-Seventh  tells  the  following  story: 
"  One  day  when  our  regiment  was  on  the  line,  some  boys 
from  the  camp  came  out  to  procure  wood,  and  one  of  them 
cut  a  tree  that  stood  near  the  line.  Unfortunately  it  fell  with 
the  body  and  top  outside.  Stepping  over  the  line  and  mount 
ing  the  log,  he  commenced  chopping,  when  a  Rebel  picket, 
who  was  watching  him  through  the  bushes,  ordered  him  to 
stop  and  recross  the  line.  Reluctantly  the  Yankee  shoul 
dered  his  axe  and  obeyed  the  order." 

The  army  was  reorganized  in  October.  It  was  consoli 
dated  into  two  corps,  the  Fourth,  under  General  Granger, 
and  the  Fourteenth,  after  a  few  changes,  under  General  Pal 
mer.  Crittenden,  Me  Cook  and  Reynolds  were  relieved  from 
command,  the  first  two  to  submit  to  trial  for  their  behavior 
at  Chickamauga,  the  last  who  received  universal  commenda 
tion  for  his  conduct  in  the  battle,  to  be  placed  chief  on  the 
staff  of  General  Rosecrans.  Several  divisions  were  abolished. 
Six  remained — Stanley's  Sheridan's  and  Wood's,  in  Gran 
ger's  corps;  and  Johnson's,  Davis'  and  Baircl's,  in  the  Four 
teenth.  Brigades  were  enlarged,  and  many  Colonels  who 


454  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

had  been  acting  Brigadiers  were  remanded  to  their  regiments. 
A  stroke  of  General  Halleck's  pen  gave  the  finishing  touch 
to  the  reorganization  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  by  de 
posing  its  commander. 

General  Rosecrans,  in  the  excitement  of  the  race  over  the 
mountains,  had  apparently  grasped  at  more  than  his  cqol 
wisdom  had  planned,  and  in  the  battle  he  had  performed  an 
insignificant  and  singular  part,  but  he  had  gained  Chatta 
nooga,  the  original  object  of  the  campaign,  and  he  had  not 
lost  the  esteem  and  affection  of  his  soldiers.  They  looked 
after  him  regretfully,  as  he  turned  his  back  on  the  mountains 
and  the  disputed  field.  General  Thomas  assumed  temporary 
command,  while  General  Grant  was  called  from  the  farther 
West  to  become  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  and  of  additional  forces  which  now  be^an  to 

O 

concentrate  about  Chattanooga. 

In  the  middle  of  September,  when  satisfied  that  Bragg 
was  receiving  reinforcements  from  the  Army  of  Virginia, 
but  too  late  for  the  impending  conflict,  General  Halleck  im 
peratively  directed  Burnside  and  Hurlbut  in  East  and  West 
Tennessee,  Grant  in  Mississippi,  Schofield  in  Missouri,  and 
Pope  in  the  Northwest,  to  detach  and  forward  portions  of 
their  forces.  Immediately  after  the  battle,  he  withdrew  from 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  forwarded  the  Eleventh  and 
Twelfth  corps,  under  the  command  of  General  Hooker. 
These  last  were  the  first  upon  the  ground,  reaching  Bridge 
port  the  first  of  October.  As  they  were  twenty  thousand 
more  mouths  to  feed,  to  say  nothing  of  their  horses  and 
mules,  their  arrival  was  but  a  misfortune,  unless  they  could 
open  the  railroad  from  Bridgeport,  for  which  the  prospect 
was  not  favorable. 

Before  the  arrival  of  Hooker,  Rosecrans  advanced  from 
Nashville,  and  other  points  small  bodies  which  had  been  left 
to  guard  his  rear.  Half  of  the  Twelfth  Indiana  battery, 
which  had  been  in  Fort  Negley  more  than  a  year,  arrived  at 
Bridgeport,  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Dunwoody,  on  the 
twenty-sixth  of  September,  and  was  sent  over  Walden's 
bridge,  without  delay  to  Chattanooga. 


BROWN'S  FERRY.  455 

111  consequence,  General  Hooker  was  obliged  to  leave 
troops  along  the  line  of  communication.  His  only  Indiana 
regiment,  the  Twenty-Seventh,  was  stationed  at  Tullahoma. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  October,  General  Grant,  on  his  way 
to  his  new  field,  telegraphed  from  Louisville  to  General 
Thomas  to  hold  Chattanooga  at  all  hazards.  "  I  will  hold 
on  till  we  starve,"  was  the  reply,  and  it  expressed  not  only 
the  decision  of  General  Thomas,  but  the  resolution  of  the 
troops.  They  were  entirely  patient  and  cheerful,  under 
hardships  greater  than  they  had  ever  before  endured. 

October  26,  a  movement  was  set  on  foot  to  gain  possess 
ion  of  the  railroad  from  Bridgeport  to  the  mouth  of  Lookout 
Valley.  Hooker  crossed  the  river  at  Bridgeport,  and  with 
Howard's  corps  and  Geary's  division  of  Slocum's,  took  up 
the  line  of  march  along  the  base  of  Raccoon  Mountain, 
pushing  the  Rebel  pickets  before  him.  He  was  supported 
by  one  division  of  the  Fourteenth  corps,  under  Palmer,  who 
had  marched  from  Chattanooga  on  a  road  north  of  the  river, 
hauling  his  guns  and  caissons,  (a  hundred  men  to  each  gun 
of  Cox's  battery,)  up  the  Walden  hills  by  picket  ropes.  Both 
Palmer  and  Hooker  were  closely  observed,  but  they  were  not 
molested.  The  same  day,  Turchin's  brigade  crossed  the 
river  from  Chattanooga,  and  marching  out  of  view,  estab 
lished  itself  in  a  concealed  camp  near  the  eastern  bank, 
where  the  river,  thrown  to  the  north  by  the  obtruding  foot  of 
Lookout,  forms  a  peninsula  called  Moccasin  Point,  from  its 
resemblance  to  an  Indian  moccasin.  In  the  night,  sixty 
pontoon  boats,  each  laden  with  thirty  men,  armed  with 
guns  and  axes,  and  all  under  the  command  of  General  Ha- 
zen,  put  out  from  Chattanooga,  floated  silently  round  Moc 
casin  Point,  there  being  no  need  of  oars  in  the  strong  current, 
passed  the  enemy's  pickets  without  attracting  their  attention, 
and  landed  at  Brown's  Ferry  on  the  western  shore,  opposite 
the  concealed  camp.  The  boats  then  rowed  across,  and  re 
turned  with  Turchin's  troops  and  with  bridge  material.  The 
enemy,  who  was  now  alarmed,  was  driven  back.  Strong 
intrenchments  on  a  good  position,  and  a  bridge  two  hundred 
feet  long,  were  commenced  at  once,  and  were  completed  be 
fore  noon  of  the  twenty-eighth. 


456  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

By  this  time,  Hooker,  who  had  followed  a  little  stream, 
the  Running  Water,  through  a  gorge,  was  in  Lookout  valley. 
From  the  heights  on  the  west  and  from  a  succession  of  tim 
bered  hills  \vith  narrow  crests,  running  three  miles  along  the 
middle  of  the  valley,  the  enemy  kept  up  an  ineffectual  artil 
lery  fire,  and  once  with  musketry  from  the  dense  forest  of  one 
of  the  central  hills,  arrested  the  column,  but  he  offered  no  se 
rious  opposition.  He  was  effectually  taken  by  surprise. 
When  Hooker  halted  at  night,  his  line  fronted  the  east,  his 
left  being  on  the  Tennessee  river  at  Brown's  ferry,  and  his 
right  up  the  valley  at  Wauhatchie.  At  one  in  the  morning 
the  enemy  attacked  him,  and  fought  hard  during  several 
hours,  but  he  was  defeated,  and  was  hurried  into  inglorious 
flight  by  a  pack  of  frightened -mules  mistaken  for  a  body  of 
cavalry. 

Hooker  established  his  line  strongly  behind  Lookout  creek, 
his  left  flank  on  the  Tennessee,  his  right  on  Raccoon  moun 
tain.  Palmer's  brigades  at  Bridgeport,  Shell  Mound,  White- 
side  and  Tyner's  stations  protected  the  railroad  and  river. 
The  Tenth  Indiana  battery,  now  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Naylor,  remained  at  Moccasin  Point,  in  a  position 
which  enabled  it  to  throw  shells  on  the  front  of  Lookout  and 
in  the  valleys  of  Lookout  and  Chattanooga.  Turchin's  brig 
ade,  which  included  the  Eighty-Second  Indiana,  and  Ha- 
zen's,  in  which  was  the  Sixth  Indiana,  returned  to  the  forti 
fications  of  Chattanooga. 

The  Rebel  line  on  Lookout  was  now  in  the  form  of  a  V, 
the  point  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  more  than  a  thou 
sand  feet  above  the  batteries  on  Moccasin  Point.  On  the 
east  it  stretched  back  four  or  five  miles,  forming  a  junction 
with  the  line  on  Missionary  ridge.  From  the  north  end  of 
Missionary  ridge  to  the  north  end  of  Lookout,  the  Rebel 
front  was  about  six  miles  long. 

The  situation  of  the  Union  army  at  this  time  is  partially 
described  by  Major  Learning: 

"  We  discover  in  the  newspapers,  published  away  up  north 
as  they  are,  that  we  are  a  wonderful  set  of  fellows,  and  can 
take  a  battery,  for  instance,  (as  in  the  case  of  the  repeated 
captures  of  Lookout  mountain)  on  the  top  of  a  perpendicu- 


THE  SITUATION.  457 

lar  cliff  two  hundred  feet  high,  (which  one  man  could  defend 
with  stones  for  a  year)  simply  by  making  a  grand  charge 
with  bayonets.  Now  the  truth  is,  that  same  battery  and 
mountain  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Rebel  rascals  this  moment, 
and  from  them  they  send  in  daily  their  compliments  in  the 
shape  of  shot  and  shell.  It  is  true  that  we  have  the  river  to 
within  some  three  miles  of  this  place,  and  steamboats  arrive 
at  the  landing  below  Lookout,  loaded  with  supplies,  every  day, 
and  that  there  is  no  danger  now  of  being  starved  out.  The 
river  after  passing  here  runs  south  to  the  very  foot  of  Look 
out  mountain,  then  doubling  on  its  course,  runs  back  almost 
due  north  for  several  miles,  and  then  passes  through  the  gap 
between  Walden  ridge  and  Raccoon  mountain.  We  have 
possession  of  the  latter  point  on  the  south  side  of  the  river, 
and  the  peninsula  enclosed .  in  the  bend,  but  at  the  extreme 
southern  curve,  where  the  river  strikes  Lookout,  and  then 
turns  north,  the  Rebels  hold  entire  possession,  and  of  course 
the  river  is  not  navigable  just  there.  The  distance  by  the 
river  around  the  bend  is  twelve  miles.  Across  the  base  of  the 
peninsula  thus  formed,  it  is  only  about  two  miles.  To  this 
point,  then,  our  steamers  come,  and,  having  unloaded,  the 
supplies  are  hauled  in  wagons  across  the  country  and  over 
the  pontoon  bridge  to  Chattanooga. 

"  The  question  now  is,  will  we  permit  the  Rebel  army  to 
sit  quietly  down  in  our  front  all  winter,  while  we  await  the 
results  of  the  conscription  in  the  spring?  If  we  drive  them 
away  now,  or  soon,  the  triangle  of  railroads,  with  Dalton  as 
the  apex  and  Chattanooga  and  Cleveland  as  the  base,  would 
make  us  a  magnificent  line  of  supplies,  with  our  army  lying 
in  the  enclosed  space,  and  would  at  the  same  time  make  our 
connection  with  Burnside  safe  and  expeditious.  This  would 
give  us,  too,  the  use  of  the  Tennessee  river  to  Knoxville. 
Perhaps  small  gunboats  could  be  placed  upon  the  river,  and 
thus,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  make  an  excellent  pa 
trol  for  that  stream.  'All  of  which  is  most  respectfully  sub 
mitted,'  as  our  red  tape  documents  say.  For  my  part  I  am 
most  anxious  to  get  matters  in  the  shape  I  have  spoken  of, 
before  winter  sets  in,  and  am  entirely  willing  to  take  a  hand 
in  having  it  done.  We  ivant  men.  We  must  have  men! 


458  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Give  them  to  us  now,  or  in  the  spring,  and  we  will  wind  up 
this  rebellion,  and  let  them  go  home  in  the  fall.  It  might 
have  been  done  this  year,  but  the  infernal  Copperheads  made 
such  a  row  that  the  Government  was  scared  off." 

Sherman  began  to  move  his  corps  from  the  Big  Black  on 
the  twenty-second  of  September.  John  E.  Smith's  division, 
which  was  at  Helena,  was  transferred  from  the  Seventeenth 
corps  to  the  Fifteenth,  and  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  latter 
was  left  at  Vicksburg,  whence  the  remainder  proceeded  up 
the  Mississippi.  Being  forced  by  want  of  fuel,  to  gather 
fence  rails  in  some  places,  and  to  land  wagons  and  haul 
wood  from  the  interior  in  others,  the  voyage  was  slow,  and 
it  was  the  fourth  of  October  before  Sherman  landed  at  Mem 
phis.  The  wagon  trains  were  moved  under  escort.  Three 
divisions  of  troops  were  transported  on  the  railroad  as  far  as 
Corinth.  The  Fourth  division,  Swing's,  left  Memphis  on 
foot  and  made  long  marches  each  day.  Small  but  active 
bodies  of  the  enemy  infested  the  way  throughout.  As  Sher 
man  approached  Colliersville,  at  noon  of  the  day  he  left 
Memphis,  he  became  aware  of  a  fight  in  his  front.  At  the 
same  moment  the  train  was  stopped  by  the  enemy's  fire. 
Six  companies  of  the  Sixty-Sixth  Indiana,  in  a  stockade, 
were  defending  themselves  gallantly  against  an  investing 
force,  but  were  sorely  pressed.  Sherman's  escort,  a  single 
batallion,  advanced  in  charge,  whereupon,  the  enemy,  who 
had  already  as  much  as  he  could  do,  abandoned  the  field. 
Nearly  sixty  of  the  small  Union  force  were  killed  or  wounded. 

The  marches  of  Ewing's  division  were  excessively  long. 
October  13,  it  went  from  Colliersville  to  LaGrange,  thirty- 
three  miles.  It  is  not  possible  to  imagine  the  weariness  of 
men  in  the  last  ten  miles  of  a  march  of  this  length,  nor  the 
profanity.  One  man  swears  that  his  feet  are  worn  off,  an 
other  that  he  has  slung  away  his  legs,  and  is  stumping  on 
his  bloody  knees,  a  third  that  he  is  forced  to  go  on  his  bloody 
trunk.  But  the  most,  forbearing  even  such  grim  jokes,  in 
dulge  their  impotent  rage  in  loud-mouthed  imprecations 
against  their  superiors,  of  whose  blind  tyranny  they  seem  to 
be  the  helpless  victims.  They  curse  their  Captain,  their 
Major,  their  Lieutenant  Colonel,  their  Colonel.  They  curse 


SHERMAN'S  MARCH  FROM  MEMPHIS.  459 

their  Generals  of  every  degree.  They  curse  the  kind  Presi 
dent.  They  curse  the  war.  They  curse  the  Rebels,  and, 
above  all,  the  Copperheads  at  home,  by  whose  machinations 
the  war  is  prolonged.  It  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  our  army 
swore  terribly.  Yet  in  the  ranks  there  were  lofty-souled 
men,  and  not  a  few,  whose  lips  an  oath  never  stained ;  who 
trudged  along  in  uncomplaining  patience,  while  their  feet 
smarted,  their  shoulders  ached,  and  up  and  down  their  backs 
crept  the  chills  of  feverish  fatigue;  who  were  sharply  wounded 
when  beloved  names  were  dragged  down  from  Heaven  into 
the  dirt,  and  yet  were  silent. 

From  Corinth  progress  was  slow,  as  the  stringers  and 
cross-ties  of  the  railroad  were  burned,  the  rails  were  bent,  and 
the  bridges  destroyed.  For  one  day's  advance  two  days 
were  spent  in  work  and  waiting.  On  the  twenty-seventh, 
after  a  severe  fight  at  Cane  creek,  the  advance  occupied  Tus- 
cumbia.  The  same  day  Sherman,  in  consequence  of  an  or 
der  from  Grant,  dropped  all  work  on  the  railroad,  and  spurred 
forward.  His  corps  consisted  of  four  divisions,  commanded, 
the  First  by  Osterhaus,  the  Second  by  Morgan  L.  Smith,  the 
Third  by  John  E.  Smith,  and  the  Fourth  by  Ewing.  In  the 
Third  division  were  the  Forty-Eighth  and  Fifty-Ninth  Indi- 
diana.  In  the  Fourth  were  the  Twelfth,  Ninety- Ninth  and 
One  Hundredth.  The  Eighty-Third  and  NinetyrSeventh 
were  also  included  in  Sherman's  corps.  The  Tennessee 
river  was  crossed  at  Chickasaw,  ten  miles  north-east  of  luka, 
on  boats  sent  up  from  Cairo  for  the  service.  The  Elk,  at 
Rogersville,  when  Sherman  reached  it,  was  impassable,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  prolong  his  march  up  to  Fayetteville, 
where  he  crossed  on  a  stone  bridge.  He  went  by  Winches 
ter  and  Decherd,  descending  the  mountains  into  the  valley 
of  Battle  creek.  November  15,  the  column  reached  Bridge 
port,  having  marched  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and 
the  commander  reported  to  Grant  at  Chattanooga.  The 
tired  troops  were  immediately  set  to  work  in  a  series  of 
marches  and  countermarches,  which  were  to  end  in  a  series 
cf  blows  upon  the  secure  enemy. 

General  Grant  knew  an  opportunity  when  it  stared  him  in 
the  face,  and  unlike  most  men,  recognized  its  fleeting  nature. 


460  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

An  opportunity  now  offered  itself.  Bragg  had  sent  Long- 
street's  strong  division  into  East  Tennessee,  and  Burnside 
had  lured  the  Virginia  veterans  to  the  vicinity  of  Knoxville. 
But  Burnside  was  sorely  beset,  and  must  succumb  if  not  re 
lieved  within  a  few  days,  while  if  ever  there  was  a  moment 
in  which  the  hills  round  Chattanooga  could  be  assaulted,  it 
was  the  present,  when  they  were  shorn  of  a  portion  of  their 
strength. 

The  emergency,  and  the  half-starved  condition  of  the  men 
and  animals  about  Chattanooga  as  well,  roused  Sherman 
and  his  troops  to  herculean  exertions.  They  crossed  the 
river  on  the  pontoon  bridge  at  Bridgeport.  Ewing's  division 
moved  to  Shell  Mound,  thence  along  a  deep  gorge  called 
Nickajack  cove,  and  up  the  steep  acclivity  until  at  night  it 
reached  the  summit  of  Raccoon  Mountain.  The  eighteenth 

o 

of  November  was  a  calm,  clear  day.  The  solemn  glories  of 
the  mountains  stirred  the  souls  of  the  men  who  had  wan 
dered 

"Through  many  a  dark  and  dreary  vale, 

And  many  a  region  dolorous, 
Kocka,  caves,  lakes,  fens,  bogs,  dens  and  shades  of  death," 

and  roused  anew  the  ardor  of  their  patriotism.  They  were 
weary,  but  they  desired  no  rest.  Nor  at  this  moment  could 
rest,  on  any  terms,  have  been  granted  them.  Every  hour 
increased  the  peril  of  Burnside. 

Sherman's  advance  drove  out  of  Trenton  a  small  force  of 
the  enemy.  One  brigade  occupied  the  little  town,  while  an 
other  reconnoitred  up  the  valley,  and  still  another  held  a  po 
sition  on  the  mountain.  The  last  built  camp-fires  sufficient 
for  the  whole  corps,  so  as  to  make  it  appear  that  a  large  force 
was  concentrating  at  the  point.  Meantime  the  divisions  of 
Osterhaus  and  the  two  Smiths,  with  the  Forty-Eighth  Indi 
ana,  as  rear  guard,  entered  Lookout  valley.  Ewing  and  the 
Smiths  then,  marching  all  day  and  all  night  of  the  nineteenth, 
passed  quietly  in  the  darkness  through  Hooker's  camps, 
while  the  Rebel  camp-fires,  lit  up  the  mountain  side  for 
miles  along  the  line,  crossed  the  Tennessee  again,  and 
pushed  on  over  frightful  roads  until  they  gained  a  secluded 
valley,  entirely  concealed  by  high  ridges,  four  miles  above 


CAPTURE  OF  ORCHARD  KNOB.  461 

Chattanooga,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  Oster- 
haus  was  detained  at  Brown's  ferry  by  a  break  in  the  bridge, 
caused  partly  by  drift-wood  on  the  river,  which  was  swollen 
by  heavy  rains,  and  partly  by  logs  thrown  into  the  stream  by 
the  enemy.  Notwithstanding  incessant  toil,  it  was  the 
twenty-third  of  November  before  the  troops  were  in  such  or 
der  as  to  warrant  movement  for  attack.  Then  the  line  ran 
thus:  In  Lookout  valley,  near  Brown's  ferry,  Hooker,  with 
his  Twelfth  corps,  Osterhaus  and  Cruft,  the  last  temporarily 
in  command  of  two  of  Stanley's  brigades,  of  Palmer's  corps ; 
on  Moccasin  Point,  artillery,  under  Captain  Naylor;  about 
Chattanooga,  and  forming  the  centre,  Thomas,  the  divisions 
of  Sheridan  and  Wood  forming  his  front,  the  division  of 
Johnson,  and  the  corps  of  Howard  and  Palmer  his  rear;  and 
Sherman,  with  Davis'  division,  to  take  the  place  of  that  of 
Osterhaus,  about  as  far  above  as  Hooker  was  below  Chatta 
nooga.  The  line  crossed  the  Tennessee  three  times,  and  its 
extremities  were  thirteen  miles  apart.  The  frowning  heights, 
studded  with  Rebel  artillery,  and  lifting  their  brazen  heads  to 
the  clouds,  seemed  not  less  impregnable  than  when  defended 
by  the  whole  of  Bragg's  army.  But  the  enemy,  when  he 
awoke  to  the  situation,  was  silent,  anxious  and  bewildered. 
Early  on  Monday,  the  twenty-third,  a  deserter  reported  to 
Grant  that  one  of  Buckner's  divisions  had  gone  to  join  Long- 
street,  that  another  had  started,  and  that  Bragg  was  with 
drawing  his  army.  After  all  the  vast  effort  that  had  been 
made,  the  coveted  opportunity  seemed  on  the  point  of  elud 
ing  the  eager  grasp.  But  as  Sherman's  force  was  strained 
to  the  utmost  to  get  inta  position,  the  assault  could  not  be 
hastened.  Thomas  prepared  to  throw  out  a  strong  recon- 
noissance,  of  Wood's  division  supported  by  Sheridan's, 
toward  Orchard  Knob,  a  bald,  conical  mound,  a  hundred 
feet  high,  and  three  quarters  of  a  mile  directly  to  the  front. 
At  two  in  the  afternoon  Wagner,  Harker  and  Colonel  Sher 
man  advanced  their  brigades  to  the  music  of  the  drum,  so 
steadily  and  beautifully  that  it  is  said  the  Rebels  in  front 
supposed  the  movement  to  be  a  grand  parade,  and  watched 
it,  leaning  on  their  rifles ;  and  so  rapidly  that  they  swept  be 
fore  them  pickets  and  picket  reserve,  captured  the  rifle-pits, 


462  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

with  over  two  hundred  men,  and  established  themselves  on 
Orchard  Knob,  before  Bragg  had  time  to  send  up  reinforce 
ments  from  his  main  camp. 

A  passage  from  a  letter  of  Captain  Williams,  in  Turchin's 
brigade,  describes  the  movement  as  seen  from  one  of  the 
forts  in  Chattanooga: 

"Yesterday  afternoon  the  whole  army  moved  out  of  its 
camps,  and  took  position  in  line  of  battle  along  the  picket 
lines.  Our  heavy  guns  in  the  forts  opened  up,  and  threw 
their  scorching  shells  into  the  Rebel  camps  on  Missionary 
Ridge,  and  the  Rebels,  in  turn,  paid  their  compliments  to  us. 
I  stood  upon  the  parapet  of  Fort  Negley,  beside  two  thirty- 
pounder  Parrotts.  General  Palmer,  who  now  commands  the 
Fourteenth  corps,  and  General  Johnston,  the  successor  of 
General  Rousseau,  were  there,  viewing  the  movement  through 
their  glasses.  I  never  expect  to  see  such  a  grand  sight  again. 
It  is  not  often  that  one  can  take  in,  in  one  view,  the  well- 
defined  lines  of  two  such  armies.  But  little  fighting  was 
done,  however,  except  the  driving  in  of  the  enemy's  pickets 
on  our  left,  and  the  capturing  of  some  two  hundred  pris 
oners." 

Hooker  was  early  at  work  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  — , 
bridging  Lookout  creek,  which  had  suddenly  risen,  throwing 
troops  up  the  valley  to  cross  near  Wauhatchie,  and  posting 
batteries  on  every  available  hill  to  enfilade  the  Rebel  intrench- 
ments,  preparatory  to  a  demonstration  which  was  to  be  a 
feint  or  a  serious  attack,  according  to  circumstances,  and 
which  was  undertaken  to  draw  the  attention  of  the  enemy 
from  Sherman's  proceedings.  Redoubts,  redans  and  pits, 
low  down  the  face  of  Lookout,  repelled  approach  from  the 
direction  of  the  river,  and  restricted  operations  to  the  left 
flank,  which,  though  also  well  fortified,  presented  a  less  for 
midable  front. 

Geary  and  Cruft,  while  the  enemy  was  engrossed  by  the 
bridge-building  near  the  mouth  of  Lookout  creek,  marched 
up  the  valley,  and  under  cover  of  a  heavy  fog,  captured  the 
pickets  along  the  creek,  swung  round  near  Wauhatchie,  and 
marched  northward,  their  right,  Whitaker's  brigade,  far  up 
the  rugged  steep,  and  their  left,  the  brigades  of  Grose  and 


THE  BATTLE  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS.          463 

Wood,  on  the  east  bank  of  Lookout  creek.  They  dipped 
down  through  gullies  and  gorges,  climbed  over  ledges,  and 
bowlders,  and  breastworks,  in  the  face  of  heavy  opposition, 
and,  with  the  help  of  the  artillery  on  the  hills,  in  Lookout 
valley,  on  Moccasin  Point,  and  even  in  Fort  Negley  at 
Chattanooga,  gained  the  whole  western  slope,  and  struggled 
round  to  the  north,  where,  midway  between  the  summit  and 
the  river,  was  a  line  of  earthworks  on  a  projecting  shelf. 

It  was  a  dark  day,  but  at  this  point  and  upward  the  as 
cending  columns  were  occasionally  seen  from  Chattanooga 
and  watched  with  the  intensest  interest,  through  rifts  in  the 
clouds  hanging  round  the  top  and  sides.  At  noon  the  com 
bat  was  plainly  visible  on  the  verge  of  the  beetling  cliff,  the 
national  banner  fluttering  in  the  breezes  of  that  lofty  region, 
and  slowly  ascending  from  rock  to  rock.  Then  the  scene 
was  all  shut  out,  and  the  mountain  was  wrapt  in  an  impen 
etrable  mantle  of  gray,  while  only  the  roar  and  crash  of  arms, 
and  shouts,  ringing  out  clear  and  shrill,  reached  the  anxious 
valley. 

Hooker's  troops  had  been  ordered  to  halt  on  the  summit, 
but  fired  by  success,  they  pressed  on,  driving  their  antago 
nists  from  walls  and  pits,  over  the  rocks  and  down  the  steeps. 
They  were  not  ten  thousand  in  number,  and  were  in  three 
divisions,  which  never  before  had  been  brought  together,  but 
they  moved  with  the  weight  and  with  the  harmony  of  a  host, 
infused  and  inspired  by  one  soul.  At  four  o'clock  their  line 
was  established,  and  was  invulnerable,  from  the  palisades  on 
the  eastern  brow  of  the  mountain  to  the  mouth  of  Chatta 
nooga  creek.  Carlin's  brigade  then  moved  from  Thomas' 
extreme  right,  and  lashing  boats  together,  crossed  the  creek, 
and  united  the  right  wing  with  the  centre.  After  night,  in 
the  misty  moonlight,  the  enemy  made  an  attempt  to  regain 
his  lost  ground,  and  the  mountain  rang  once  more  with  bat 
tle  cries,  and  flashed  with  battle  fires.  He  was  unsuccessful, 
and  at  midnight  ceased  his  struggles. 

While  Hooker  mounted  and  surmounted  Lookout,  Sher 
man  was  less  noisy,  but  was  equally  busy  at  the  other  end 
of  the  line.  At  midnight  his  troops  moved  out  of  the  valley, 
and  rapidly  up  the  river  to  the  pontoon  boats,  which  had  been 


464  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

prepared,  in  the  mouth  of  the  North  Chickamauga.  The 
night  was  cloudy.  The  river  was  shrouded  in  darkness. 
Neither  the  national  sentinels  on  the  north  bank,  nor  the 
Rebel  pickets  on  the  south,  perceived  the  boats  as  they  glided 
downward.  Not  a  whisper  broke  the  stillness.  Not  a  sound 
was  heard  save  the  measured  dip  of  the  oars.  Yet  eighty 
boats  carried  at  each  passage  a  brigade  of  men.  A  small 
advance  captured  the  out-guard  along  the  river.  The  troops, 
as  they  landed  and  moved  into  designated  positions,  com 
menced  intrenching,  such  as  had  no  tools  working  with  their 
tin-plates,  cups  and  spoons.  Day  dawned  upon  a  strong  line 
of  rifle-pits,  the  length  of  two  divisions.  Rain  drizzled, 
and  fog  rolled  down  the  mountains,  and  spread  through 
the  valley,  covering  Sherman's  proceedings  from  the 
enemy.  Davis'  division  crossed  before  noon.  Meantime 
pontoon  bridges  were  commenced.  By  midday  a  bridge, 
thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  spanned  the  swollen 
Tennessee,  and  a  shorter  one  crossed  the  Chickamauga. 
Five  thousand  cavalry  and  ten  batteries  of  artillery  passed 
over. 

Meanwhile  the  line  moved  forward,  and  having  gained 
three  quarters  of  a  mile,  again  intrenched,  seeing  dimly 
through  the  fog  the  top  of  Missionary  ridge,  and  hearing  the 
sullen  roar  of  Hooker's  battle  miles  away  on  the  right.  At 
two  o'clock,  it  moved  out  in  column  of  division  toward  a 
long  strip  of  timber  behind  which  the  enemy  was  supposed 
to  be  in  force.  John  E.  Smith  was  in  the  centre,  with  Ew- 
ing  on  the  right,  and  Morgan  L.  Smith  on  the  left.  The 
brigade  of  Colonel  Alexander  entered  the  timber  in  advance, 
moved  through  a  difficult  swamp,  at  the  sharp  sound  of  ri 
fles  deployed  into  line  of  battle,  cleared  the  woods  and 
reached  the  railroad,  seeing  the  skirmishers  half  way  up  the 
mountain  side,  with  here  and  there  a  Rebel  disappearing 
over  the  crest.  A  few  minutes  more  and  the  summit  was 
gained,  the  enemy  retreating  to  the  next  height.  About  four 
o'clock  he  attempted  to  regain  his  hastily  abandoned  posi 
tion,  but  failed,  though  he  occasioned  Sherman  severe  loss. 

General  Thomas  strengthened  his  positions  during  the  day, 
and  threw  Howard's  corps  up  the  Tennessee  to  Sherman's 


SHERMAN'S  ASSAULTS.  465 

right  Late  at  night,  the  sky  cleared  and  a  cold  frost  filled 
the  air.  Camp  fires,  far  extended  on  right  and  left,  revealed 
to  both  armies  the  lengthening  of  the  Union  line. 

In  our  war  there  were  battles  of  such  gloom  and  terrible- 
ness,  that,  in  spite  of  the  great  hearts  which  figured  in  them, 
the  reader  turns  from  their  perusal  with  shuddering  shame 
and  horror.  Such  were  Shiloh  and  Chickamauga.  But  the 
battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  November, 
was  all  glorious.  The  preceding  conflicts,  in  their  singular 
success,  had  stirred  the  enthusiasm  of  the  troops.  They 
sprang  to  arms  at  dawn,  and  saluted  with  shouts  the  'banner 
of  beauty  and  glory'  fluttering  on  the  peak  of  Lookout. 
The  sun  himself,  rising  in  an  unclouded  sky,  and  scattering 
the  shades  from  the  noble  amphitheatre  of  Chattanooga, 
seemed  to  promise  a  crowning  victory. 

General  Thomas  formed  his  lines  in  front  of  the  centre, 
prepared  to  move  out  when  Hooker  should  have  advanced 
across  the  stream  and  valley  of  Chattanooga  to  the  heights 
near  Rossville,  and  when  Sherman  should  have  drawn  to  his 
front  the  larger  portion  of  the  enemy's  forces. 

The  Rebels  fled  down  Lookout  in  such  haste  that  they 
left  twenty  thousand  rations  and  the  camp  equipage  of  three 
brigades;  but  they  took  time  to  burn  the  bridge  over  Chatta 
nooga  creek,  consequently  Hooker  was  detained  four  hours. 
After  he  was  across  the  stream  he  pushed  on  irresistibly. 

Beyond  the  deep,  narrow  valley  in  Sherman's  front,  rose 
two  lofty  hills,  steep,  rugged,  chiefly  forest-covered  and  sur 
mounted  by  fortifications,  the  further  hill  the  higher,  the 
more  strongly  fortified,  and  the  more  heavily  defended.  The 
point  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  Rebels,  as  it  cov 
ered  the  railroad,  their  line  of  supply  and  retreat.  General 
Hardee  was  in  command.  At  the  blast  of  the  bugle,  Corse's 
brigade  moved  out  from  Sherman's  right  centre,  with  wings 
supporting, — Morgan  L.  Smith  on  his  left,  Colonel  Loomis 
on  his  right.  Three  brigades,  Cockrell's,  Alexander's  and 
Lightburn's,  remained  on  the  hill,  which  had  been  fortified 
in  the  night,  and  which  Sherman  considered  his  key-point. 
The  Forty-Eighth  Indiana,  which  had  held  the  picket  line 
30 


466  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

during  the  night,  now  supported  a  battery  on  a  commanding 
point  at  the  right  of  Howard's  corps,  which  stretched  away 
from  this  position  down  to  Chickamauga  creek.  The  Ninety- 
Ninth  was  also  in  reserve,  with  the  exception  of  fifty  men 
under  Lieutenant  Myers  in  the  skirmish  line.  The  Twelfth 
and  one  Hundredth  regiments  were  on  the  right  of  the  ad 
vance,  the  Twelfth  on  the  extreme  right.  The  Ninety- 
Seventh  and  Eighty-Third  were  also  in  the  line. 

Corse  went  down  into  the  valley  and  up  the  frightful  slope 
in  the  face  of  musketry  and  artillery,  and  constantly  increas 
ing  numbers,  until  he  was  eighty  yards  from  the  intrench- 
ments  on  the  top.  His  was  the  centre  of  the  fire,  but  the 
wings,  Loomis  and  Smith,  were  also  hotly  engaged.  Hours 
passed,  Hardee  hurling  column  after  column  on  his  sturdy 
assailants,  and  posting  gun  after  gun  on  the  hills  and  spurs 
which  commanded  their  movements,  Sherman  now  sweeping 
up  the  second  hill,  now  falling  back  to  the  first,  but  refusing 
reinforcements  because  he  had  not  space  for  additional 
troops  and  could  make  no  change  in  his  fiery  front. 

Meantime  Hooker  pursued  his  way  along  the  Missionary 
hills  toward  Chattanooga.  At  Rossville  he  divided  his 
lines  in  three,  Osterhaus  on  the  east,  Geary  on  the  west,  and 
Cruft  on  the  top  of  the  ridge,  which  was  so  broken  that  the 
last  was  soon  forced  to  move  in  two  lines.  Cruft,  with  his 
staff,  preceded  his  column,  and  met  the  enemy's  skirmishers. 
Immediately  the  Ninth  and  Thirty-Sixth  Indiana  sprang  for 
ward,  ran  into  line  under  fire,  and  charged  upon  the  skirm 
ishers,  while  the  residue  of  Cruft's  force  formed  line,  the 
Fifty-First  Ohio  and  Thirty-Fifth  Indiana  in  advance, 
Grose's  brigade  following,  and  in  the  rear  the  other  regiments 
of  Whitaker.  The  enemy  was  drawn  up  behind  works  built 
by  Thomas'  troops  the  last  day  of  Chickamauga,  but  so 
swiftly  was  he  overrun  that  his  first  line,  and  then  his  second 
line,  fled  down  the  hills  into  the  arms  of  Osterhaus  and 
Geary,  or  back  toward  Thomas,  who  was  now  moving  up. 
The  Ninth  Indiana  had  the  pleasure  of  recovering  its  own 
breastworks. 

At  twenty  minutes  of  four,  in  the  afternoon,  six  signal 
guns  in  Thomas'  fortifications  opened  the  bellowing  mouths 


THE  CENTRE  SCALES  THE  MOUNTAIN.  467 

of  all  the  cannon  in  the  lines  about  Chattanooga,  and  set 
Baird's,  "Woods',  Sheridan's  and  Johnson's  divisions  in  si 
multaneous  motion.  In  their  front  was  a  wooded  valley. 
Beyond,  rising  steeply  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  plain, 
was  Missionary  ridge,  its  crest  bristling  with  breastworks 
and  batteries,  its  base  lined  with  rifle-pits.  With  silent  guns 
and  with  voices  hushed  in  stern  expectation,  with  the  awful 
tread  of  a  rushing,  mighty  host,  and  the  terrible  glitter  of  a 
mass  of  bayonets,  they  swiftly  followed  their  double  lines  of 
skirmishers  through  the  woods  and  up  to  the  foot  of  the  hills. 
Here  they  were  expected  to  stop  and  turn  with  bold  skill  the 
enemy's  breastworks  to  their  own  defence.  But  the  order 
had  not  been  given,  and  how  should  they  know  the  expecta 
tion  of  their  commanders?  So  they  dashed  over  and  into  the 
pits,  while  out  the  Rebels  swarmed  like  bees  from  a  hive. 
They  captured  a  thousand  at  a  word,  and,  sending  them  to 
the  rear,  halted  to  reform  their  lines.  Then  they  began  the 
bold  ascent,  which  was  now  gray  with  the  scrambling  en 
emy.  Under  canister,  shell  and  whistling  bullet,  and,  until 
they  neared  the  top,  without  returning  the  fire  of  a  single 
gun,  they  strained  upward.  The  strong  outran  the  weak, 
and,  in  each  regiment,  with  the  color-bearers,  and  the  com 
manders,  formed  the  apex  of  a  triangular  column.  Sheeted 
fire  and  rolling  smoke  wrapped  them  from  sight.  "I  fear 
they  will  never  reach  the  top,"  said  Thomas  to  Grant,  as 
they  stood  side  by  side  on  Orchard  Knob.  "  Give  'em  time. 
Give  'em  time,"  returned  the  other  quietly. 

In  the  centre  of  the  central  division,  on  the  steepest  and 
ruggedest  part  of  the  mountain,  was  Beatty's  brigade,  in  ad 
vance  of  all  others,  and  in  the  front  were  our  Seventy- Ninth 
and  Eighty-Sixth,  both  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Knef- 
ler,  whose  horse  had  been  shot  in  the  valley.  "  The  steep 
ness  of  the  mountain,"  said  Knefler,  narrating  afterwards  the 
events  of  the  assault,  "was  in  our  favor,  because  the  enemy's 
artillery  went  over  our  heads.  We  soon  got  close  to  the  top. 
The  uproar  was  astounding.  The  Rebels  were  yelling  and 
cursing  and  raving,  hurling  down  stones,  firing  the  rammers 
out  of  their  guns,  shooting  their  muskets  without  aim,  offi 
cers  even,  wre  could  see  the  big  yellow  braid  on  their  arms, 


468  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

pointing  their  revolvers  over  their  works,  while  they  kept 
their  heads  down, — and  we,  roaring  as  madly.  Captain 
Howe  put  his  mouth  to  my  ear  and  said :  '  Colonel  Knefler, 
do  you  know  that  we  are  alone?'  I  looked  round.  We 
were  alone.  We  had  climbed  up  and  pushed  on,  never  look 
ing  to  the  right  nor  left,  nor  behind,  just  minding  our  own 
business,  which  is  as  much  as  anybody  can  do  in  battle,  and 
we  had  outrun  not  only  all  other  brigades,  but  all  the  other 
regiments  of  our  brigade.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  say  it,  I  was 
scared  to  death!  My  hair  ought  to  be  gray  now  for  that 
fright.  Halt!  I  cried.  The  men  sought  cover,  but  their 
blood  was  up,  and  they  still  cheered  and  fired.  I  waited  a 
lifetime  it  seemed  to  me,  though  it  was  not  many  minutes, 
then  I  saw  a  shining  India-rubber  coat  which  an  eccentric 
officer,  whom  I  well  knew  always  wore,  and  then  troops 
everywhere  toiling  up.  Charge  !  I  ordered.  The  bugler  at 
my  side  blew  a  blast  which  might  have  raised  the  dead!" 

In  fifty  minutes  from  the  first  movement,  the  stars  and 
stripes  were  waving  on  the  top.  A  few  regiments  pursued 
the  flying  enemy.  A  number  turned  to  the  left  to  gain  the 
rear  of  Sherman's  opponents.  The  majority  remained  on 
the  summit,  partly  from  fatigue,  partly  because  forbidden  by 
cautious  officers  to  move  on. 

When,  in  the  still  cloudless  sky,  so  serene  and  pure  through 
out  the  day  that  even  the  sulphurous  smoke  vanished  into 
thin  and  impalpable  air,  the  sun  sank  behind  the  hoary 
mountains  in  the  west,  the  thunders  of  battle  died  away. 
Cheer  answered  cheer.  Such  shouts  never  before  swept 
over  Chattanooga,  and  never  will  again  as  long  as  the  world 
stands.  The  delight  of  the  victors  was  beyond  expression. 
They  shook  hands.  They  smiled  in  each  others'  faces.  They 
fondly  patted  the  captured  guns,  nearly  forty  in  number, 
peering  into  their  mouths  and  examining  their  carriages. 
More  than  one  general,  it  ia  reported,  said :  "  Soldiers,  you 
ought  to  be  court-martialed,  you  were  ordered  to  take  the 
rifle-pits  below,  and  you  scaled  the  mountain!" 

The  narrow  escapes  were  almost  incredible.  "  Look  here ! " 
cried  a  German,  "a  pullet  hit  de  preach  of  mine  gun,  a  pul 
let  in  mine  pocket-book,  a  pullet  in  mine  coat  tail!  Dey 


THE  ENEMY  RETREATS.  469 

shoots  me  fife  time  and  mine  skin  is  not  scratch!"     In  one 
little  tree  were  twenty-eight  bullets. 

They  who  fell  in  the  assault  died  proudly,  knowing  the 
victory  was  theirs.  The  grave  diggers  of  the  next  day  say 
there  was  a  look  of  lofty  satisfaction  on  the  faces  of  the 
dead,  such  as  they  never  before  saw. 

"  A  day,  an  hour  of  glorious  life 
Is  worth  an  age  without  a  name." 

While  the  battle  was  raging,  a  portion  of  the  cavalry  which 
had  crossed  the  Tennessee  and  the  Chickamauga  on  Sher 
man's  pontoon  bridges,  moved  out  toward  Cleveland,  went 
round  by  Tyner's  station  and  destroyed  trains  and  stores 
within  seven  miles  of  Ringgold.  The  force  did  not  return 
until  the  twenty-seventh.  It  included  twenty -five  picked 
men  from  each  company  of  the  Seventeenth  Indiana. 

Sherman  and  Hooker  started  in  pursuit  at  daylight,  the 
first  along  the  railroad,  the  other  on  the  Rossville  road  to 
ward  Ringgold.  Palmer,  who  was  included  in  Hooker's 
command,  and  who  had  his  advance,  overtook  the  Rebel  rear, 
and  captured  three  guns  before  reaching  the  Chickamauga. 
The  next  day,  at  a  gap  in  Taylor's  ridge,  which  Cleburne 
held  with  guns  well  posted,  Hooker  engaged  in  a  serious  en 
counter.  The  troops  were  so  eager  for  battle  that  they  were 
irrestrainable.  They  were  several  times  repulsed,  before,  by 
the  arrival  of  guns,  which  had  been  detained  at  the  crossing 
of  the  Chickamauga,  and  by  a  flanking  movement  they  were 
able  to  push  Cleburne  out.  Four  hundred  and  thirty-two  of 
the  pursuers  were  killed  and  wounded,  while  the  enemy  was 
so  well  posted  that  he  lost  but  one  hundred  and  thirty. 
Hooker  continued  the  pursuit  nearly  to  Tunnel  Hill,  twenty 
miles.  Grose's  brigade,  on  its  return,  halted  on  the  field  of 
Chickamauga,  and  buried  the  bones  of  comrades  who  had 
fallen  more  than  two  months  before.  Geary  and  Cruft  re 
turned  to  Lookout  valley.  Osterhaus  encamped  in  Chatta 
nooga  valley.  Palmer  went  back  to  Chattanooga. 

In  Sherman's  march,  Jeff.  C.  Davis'  division,  which  had 
been  the  reserve  during  the  battle,  became  the  advance,  cross 
ing  the  pontoon  bridge  near  the  mouth  of  the  Chickamauga, 
and  reaching  the  Rebel  depot  at  eleven  in  the  morning  of 


470  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  twenty-sixth.  Davis  drove  the  enemy  from  two  neigh 
boring  hills,  on  which  he  was  partially  intrenched,  and  pushed 
on,  coming  sharply  in  contact  with  him  toward  evening.  At 
Greysville,  on  the  twenty-seventh,  Sherman  came  up  with 
Palmer,  who  was  now  detached  from  Hooker,  and  on  his 
left.  He  sent  Howard  to  destroy  the  railroad  between  Dai- 
ton  and  Cleveland,  in  order  to  cut  communication  between 
Bragg  and  Longstreet,  and  sent  Davis  to  assist  Hooker.  But 
Bragg  was  now  out  of  Tennessee,  and  the  pursuit  was  not 
continued. 

Sending  his  artillery  wagons  and  all  impediments  directly 
to  Chattanooga,  Sherman  made  a  circuit  toward  the  north 
as  far  as  the  Hiawassee,  which  he  reached  on  the  thirtieth. 
Having  brought  his  troops  from  their  camps  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Tennessee  seven  days  before,  with  two  days  rations, 
without  a  change  of  clothing,  stripped  for  the  fight,  with  but 
a  single  blanket,  or  coat  per  man, — from  himself  to  the  pri 
vate,  included, — and  the  weather  having  become,  meantime, 
bitter  cold,  he  was  scarcely  in  a  condition  to  prolong  his 
march.  But  he  heard  here  that  Burnside,  eighty-four  miles 
distant,  with  twelve  thousand  men,  was  beleaguered  in  Knox- 
ville,  and  must  have  relief  within  three  days;  and  at  the  same 
time  he  received  orders  to  take  command  of  Granger,  who 
had  left  Chattanooga  with  reluctance  and  complaint,  and  to 
proceed  forthwith  to  the  succor  of  their  comrades. 

With  these  orders  the  Chattanooga  campaign  closed. 

It  had  been  a  great  campaign,  and  was  the  occasion  of 
immense  satisfaction.  The  letters  which  our  soldiers  wrote 
describing  it  are  full  of  pride. 

"  The  scaling  of  Missionary  ridge,"  writes  Captain  Ed 
ward  P.Williams,  "was  the  most  brilliant  feat  of  arms  in  the 
whole  war,  and  did  not  require  more  than  an  hour  and  a  half 
for  its  accomplishment.  They  call  Grant  a  'lucky  General !' 
Can  luck  always  follow  a  General?  It  is  not  all  luck,  I  as 
sure  you.  Our  brigade,  Turchin's,  was  on  top  of  the  hill 
among  the  first,  and  captured  ten  pieces  of  artillery." 

Adjutant  Thomas  writes  in  detail: 

"Six  terrible  shots  were  fired  over  our  heads  from  the 
1  knob'  at  the  enemy  as  a  signal  for  us  to  charge  and  take  the 


THE  EIGHTY-SIXTH.  471 

works  at  the  foot.  The  whole  line  went  forward  double 
quick  with  a  shout.  As  soon  as  we  came  within  easy  range, 
the  ridge  seemed  to  blaze  with  cannon,  and  the  bursting  shell 
filled  the  valley.  We  had  to  pass  over  a  rocky  rise  in  the 
ground,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  works.  Upon 
these  works  the  balls  and  shells  fell,  and  glanced,  and  ex 
ploded.  It  was  like  a  hail  storm  when  the  hail,  the  rain,  the 
thunder,  and  lightning,  and  clouds  all  come  down  together. 
We  dashed  through  and  reached  the  breastworks  at  the  foot, 

O 

which  were  filled  with  the  enemy,  afraid  to  move,  even  to 
raise  their  heads.  Here  the  line  halted,  excepting  our  regi 
ment  and  the  Seventy-Ninth,  which  dashed  ahead  up  the 
side  of  the  ridge  without  stopping  until  the  flags  were  planted 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  works  on  the  top! 

"  Captain  Southard,  with  too  much  bravery,  stood  up  in 
front  of  the  enemy's  works,  calling  to  the  men  below  to  come 
forward.  He  was  shot  through  the  heart  and  fell  only  a  few 
feet  from  the  enemy's  guns.  (He  said  the  day  before  that 
he  had  a  presentiment  that  he  would  be  killed  in  the  battle.) 

"  Sergeant  Stephen  Cronkhite,  with  bravery  unsurpassed, 
bore  the  flag  of  the  Eighty-Sixth  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
works  in  advance  of  every  other  man,  and  then  kept  it  with 
nothing  but  a  small  stump  between  him  and  death.  This 
daring  act,  and  the  danger  the  colors  were  in,  drew  the  men 
forward  one  by  one,  until  quite  a  number  were  near  him  pro 
tected  somewhat  by  stones,  stumps  and  a  little  log.  They 
fired  with  great  precision,  and  succeeded  in  shooting  enough 
of  the  Rebels'  heads  off  to  inspire  them  with  some  fear.  A 
great  many  ran  away,  while  others  lay  flat  in  the  ditches 
shaking  their  old  hats  in  token  of  surrender.  Many  of  those 
who  had  courage  enough  left  to  shoot,  forgot  to  take  the 
rammers  from  their  guns,  and  sent  them  flying  and  whistling 
down  the  hill  at  us. 

"  Cronkhite  was  disabled,  by  a  ball  hitting  him  in  the  fore 
head.  Cooper,  a  color-guard,  next  took  the  flag.  He  was 
soon  mortally  wounded.  Sergeant  Graves  seized  it  in  the 
last  desperate  dash  which  brought  the  bayonets  into  execu 
tion,  bore  it  in  triumph,  the  first  flag  on  the  ridge.  The  flag 
of  the  Thirty-Fifth  Illinois  was  almost  in  ahead  of  ours,  but 


472  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

its  gallant  bearer  fell,  shot  through  the  head,  a  few  feet  from 
the  works. 

"  Colonel  Dick  displayed  great  courage  in  his  efforts  to  get 
the  men  forward  in  sufficient  numbers  to  hold  the  danger 
ous  position  the  regiment  had  taken. 

"  I  never  expect  to  see  a  grander  sight  than  was  presented 
when  we  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain, — the  flying  Rebels, 
frightened,  wounded  horses  running  down  the  mountain  with 
artillery,  pursued  by  shouting  Yankees,  the  roar  of  Sherman's 
musketry  advancing  and  doubling  back  the  enemy's  lines 
upon  us,  our  boys  bringing  back  the  artillery  to  the  crest,  and 
turning  it  upon  the  enemy  with  almost  deafening  sound  as 
they  ran  for  life  far  down  in  the  valley,  the  sun  just  going 
down  behind  Raccoon  mountain,  the  full  moon,  that  I  had 
seen  the  night  before  almost  totally  eclipsed,  as  if  disgusted 
with  Hooker  for  making  so  much  noise  during  her  peaceful 
trip  across  the  sky,  showing  her  serene  face  again  above  the 
Smoky  mountains  that  divide  this  State  from  North  Carolina. 
Between  these  mountains  and  the  ridge  where  we  were  is  a 
vast  country  of  smaller  mountains,  over  which  the  smoke  of 
battle,  of  burning  bridges  and  trains,  settled  down  with  the 
darkness  of  the  night.  The  mountainous  country  extends 
far  to  the  east  and  north  and  south,  through  which  the  en 
emy  fled,  setting  fire  to  every  bridge,  wagon  train,  every 
stack  and  crib  of  forage  that  came  in  his  way.  The  depot 
and  all  their  store-houses  from  which  the  Rebels  had  supplied 
their  army  were  burned  at  Chickamauga  station,  and  by 
midnight  the  country  was  full  of  fires  of  every  shape,  from 
the  long  winding  train  to  the  little  railroad  bridge.  It  was 
a  cold  night,  and  many  of  us  took  such  colds  after  the  ex 
haustion  of  coming  up  the  mountain,  that  we  could  hardly 
speak  for  several  days.  We  remained  on  the  mountain  all 
the  next  day  with  our  torn  flag  hanging  upon  our  gun  stacks. 

"  It  was  visited  by  hundreds  of  persons  from  different  parts 
of  the  army,  who  had  anxiously  watched  it  the  day  before. 
It  had  eighty-eight  bullet  holes  put  through  it,  and  the  staff 
was  shot  in  two. 

"Before  midnight  we  received  orders  to  march  back  to  our 
camps,  which  we  were  very  willing  to  do,  for  we  were  almost 


TBE  FORTIETH.  473 

sick  with  colds  and  fatigue.  As  we  reached  the  entrance  to 
the  fortifications  the  band  met  us,  and  played  '  Hail  Colum 
bia.' 

"  We  slept  as  only  tired  soldiers  can  sleep,  although  our 
corps  had  orders  to  march  for  Knoxville  at  four  in  the  morn 
ing.  We  felt  refreshed  after  our  night's  rest,  and  looked 
upon  Mission  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain  with  the  great 
est  satisfaction." 

Two  days  after  the  battle  Major  Learning,  of  the  Fortieth, 
gives  a  spirited  description  of  the  race  up  the  mountain : 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  could  interest  you  by  attempting  a 
description  of  the  battle  of  last  Wednesday,  but  some  of  its 
incidents  will  never  by  me  be  forgotten.  Stone  river  was  a 
skirmish,  as  far  as  our  regiment  was  concerned,  to  this  affair. 
In  fact  the  Fortieth,  being  in  the  front  line,  formed,  with  the 
regiments  on  its  flanks,  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  storming  party. 
Now,  if  you  will  reflect  that  we  had  to  advance  more  than  a 
mile,  without  cover  of  any  sort,  over  a  dead  level,  com 
manded  at  all  points  by  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  for  the 
last  quarter  of  a  mile  under  the  fire  of  the  infantry,  you  will 
wonder  with  me  that  any  ever  succeeded  in  reaching  the  foot 
of  the  ridge,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ascent  afterwards.  I  could 
see  our  brave  boys  dropping  all  around  me  as  we  moved  for 
ward,  some  killed,  others  desperately  wounded,  but  the  ad 
vance  was  not  even  checked.  It  moved  on  as  if  each  man 
felt  himself  invulnerable.  As  I  lost  my  horse  before  we 
were  half  way  across  the  plain,  I  had  to  take  it  on  foot,  and 
after  running  more  than  a  half  mile,  had  the  mountain  to 
climb.  It  is  about  as  steep  and  about  twice  as  high  as  the 
hill  just  back  of  Camp  Tippecanoe,  at  Lafayette,  perhaps 
higher.  After  running  so  far,  of  course  I  was  about  gone  up 
before  I  got  to  the  mountain  foot,  and  from  there  to  the  top 
was  just  the  biggest  job  of  climbing  I  ever  undertook,  not  to 
speak  of  the  rascals  on  the  top,  who  objected  to  our  going  up. 

"  I  never  have  seen  anything  so  vicious  as  the  artillery  fire 
from  the  ridge.  Grape,  canister  and  shell  flew  through  and 
over  our  ranks  like  a  flock  of  birds.  I  was  blinded  time  and 
again  by  the  dirt  thrown  in  my  face  by  some  of  the  missiles 
striking  the  ground  in  front  of  me.  The  flight  of  canister 


474  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

much  resembles  the  noise  of  a  covey  of  quails  just  springing 
from  the  ground.  I  heard  a  soldier  say,  as  a  charge  of  can 
ister  rushed  along,  'Here  goes  your  quails!' 

"As  we  lay  behind  the  rifle-pits  a  few  moments,  taking 
breath  for  the  next  rush,  the  firing  from  the  artillery  was 
most  accurate  and  rapid.  The  bank  we  were  behind  was 
not  more  than  three  feet  high,  and  as  the  Rebels  w^ere  so 
much  above  us,  they  plumped  their  shell  right  down  on  us. 
Once  I  remember,  as  I  lay  close  up  on  my  side  to  the  para 
pet,  with  my  legs  behind  me,  a  twenty-four  shell  struck  not 
three  inches  from  my  feet,  and  glancing,  exploded  about  fifty 
feet  in  the  rear.  You  can  easily  imagine  that  I  drew  in  my 
legs  as  far  as  possible  toward  my  chin.  I  mention  these 
things  of  my  own  experience  that  you  may  form  a  better  idea 
of  how  hot  the  place  was  for  us  all.  As  we  were  going  up 
the  mountain  side,  directly  at  the  battery,  we  could  feel  the 
hot  smoke  puff  right  into  our  faces.  The  pieces  were  de 
pressed  so  much  as  actually  to  blow  off  huge  masses  of  earth 
from  the  edge  of  the  hill  on  the  top. 

u  The  prisoners  say  that  our  attempt  to  scale  the  height 
was  laughed  at  by  them  as  absurd  and  impossible.  They 
thought  us  insane  to  undertake  it.  After  the  thing  was  over, 
and  I  could  see  just  what  had  been  done,  I  came  to  pretty 
much  the  same  conclusion.  Of  course  we  did,  but  why  we 
should  succeed  I  cannot  see.  No  artillery  could  be  used  by 
us.  All  depended  on  the  bull-dog  perseverance  of  the  in 
fantry.  In  fact  we  mobbed  the  Rebels  out  of  their  position, 
every  fellow  fighting  on  his  own  hook.  A  man  behind  a 
stump  would  move  forward  to  another  just  vacated  in  ad 
vance  of  him,  and  thus  make  room  for  another  behind  him. 
Thus  the  whole  thing  was  gradually  rushed  up  the  hill,  and 
when  we  got  to  the  top  the  Rebels  were  mostly  at  the  bot 
tom  on  the  other  side.  'Twas  a  clean  thrashing  they  got,  all 
the  advantages  on  their  side,  all  the  success  on  ours. 

"After  we  drove  the  Rebels  from  the  ridge,  we  could  see 
them  running  without  any  sort  of  order,  each  man  for  him 
self,  throwing  away  everything, — guns,  cartridge-boxes,  blan 
kets,  and  even  pulling  off  their  coats  and  throwing  them 
away.  We  found  numbers  of  cartridge-boxes  with  the  belts 


MORE  FRIGHTENED  THAN  HURT.          475 

cut,  the  owners  not  having  taken  time  to  unbuckle  them. 
While  this  was  going  on  a  part  of  our  men  were  gathered 
together,  and  moved  down  the  road  after  the  crowd  of  Reb 
els.  We  struck  them  posted  on  a  high  hill,  over  which  the 
road  ran,  and  which,  being  crescent-shaped,  with  the  horns 
encircling  the  road,  commanded  it  most  effectually.  We  got 
to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  but  as  we  had  only  a  remnant  of  our 
regiment,  with  a  few  of  the  Ninety-Seventh  Ohio,  our  force 
was  plainly  not  sufficient  to  storm  it.  So  we  stopped  and 
commenced  firing.  We  held  our  own  an  hour  and  a  quarter, 
with  a  fire  poured  into  us  from  both  flanks,  as  well  as  front. 
Finally  a  regiment  was  sent  along  the  ridge  to  our  left,  and 
the  Rebels,  fearing  a  movement  upon  their  flank,  fled  at 
once.  We  got  here  three  pieces  of  artillery,  a  wagon  loaded 
with  rifle  ammunition,  another  loaded  with  new  rifles,  and 
a  third  with  commissary  stores. 

"I  was  standing  in  the  road  watching  the  firing,  when  I 
felt  a  pain  shoot  from  my  toes  to  my  shoulders.  I  knew  that 
I  was  struck  about  the  knee,  and  I  thought  to  myself,  'Now 
for  a  wooden  leg;'  but  I  did  not  put  my  hand  down  to  see 
what  was  done  for  ten  minutes.  I  was  afraid  to,  expecting 
to  find  the  bone  shattered.  So  I  lay  down — I  couldn't  stand, 
and  after  a  while  became  curious  to  see  the  damage.  Sure 

o 

enough  the  shot  had  struck  plump  on  the  bone,  but  my 
heavy  overcoat  had  stopped  its  force  somewhat,  and  this, 
with  the  distance  it  had  come,  prevented  it  from  making 
anything  more  than  an  ugly  contusion.  If  it  had  come  with 
the  slightest  additional  force,  my  leg  would  have  been  a 
goner.  For  a  long  time  it  was  as  useless  for  walking  pur 
poses  as  a  stick. 

"  This  fight  was  a  mile  beyond  the  ridge  we  scaled.  We 
marched  on  till  four  in  the  morning,  then  lay  on  the  ground, 
white  with  frost.  I  got  a  cold  that  racks  every  bone  in  my 
body. 

"The  Fortieth  took  two  hundred  prisoners,  and  eight 
pieces  of  artillery.  The  guns  were  of  the  famous  Washing 
ton  battery,  one  that  did  our  regiment  much  harm  at  Stone 
river.  One  of  the  pieces  was  marked  Lady  Bragg,  another 
Lady  Buckner.  These  were  two  hundred  and  forty  smooth 


476  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

bore,  two  rifled  Parrotts  one  hundred,  the  others  brass  how 
itzers.  Bragg  himself  was  on  the  ridge  not  ten  minutes  be 
fore  we  got  there,  and  with  Breckinridge  made  his  escape  in 
good  time  to  save  his  skin. 

"  We  found  that  every  preparation  for  winter  quarters  had 
been  made  by  the  Rebels.  Cabins  without  number  were 
scattered  through  the  woods  for  miles,  many  built  of  large 
logs,  and  well  chinked  and  daubed.  This  freezing  weather 
will  prove  a  great  hardship  to  them  without  any  shelter  at 
all. 

"  I  told  you  that  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  not 
whipped  at  Chickamauga,  and  when  we  went  for  them  again 
we  would  prove  it.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  of 
the  check  there,  the  men  were  not,  in  any  sense,  whipped. 
This  will,  I  think,  be  plain  enough  now.  The  back-bone  of 
the  Rebellion  was  broken  last  Wednesday.  No  tinkering 
can  restore  it.  The  patient  may  linger,  but  death  is  certain, 
and  cannot  long  be  delayed. 

"I  have  written  to  poor  Mrs.  Cooper,  Jimmy  Dick's  sister. 
It  was  indeed  a  painful  thing  to  do,  and  I  confess  my  heart 
was  sad  enough.  Never  was  there  a  better  fellow  than  he. 
I  was,  as  all  others  were,  attached  most  closely  to  him.  A 
brave  and  noble  gentleman. 

"  The  day  of  the  fight  was  my  birthday.  The  armies  were 
celebrating  it.  Less  noise  would  have  suited  me  as  well." 

General  Grant  reported  the  losses  in  the  three  days  battle 
of  Chattanooga  at  seven  hundred  and  fifty-seven  killed,  four 
thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-nine  wounded,  and  three 
hundred  and  thirty  missing, — total,  five  thousand  six  hund 
red  and  sixteen. 

The  enemy,  fighting  under  cover,  had  but  about  three 
thousand  killed  and  wounded.  He  lost  more  than  six  thou 
sand  prisoners,  perhaps  a  thousand  stragglers,  forty  pieces 
of  artillery,  sixty-nine  artillery  carriages  and  caissons,  and 
seven  thousand  stand  of  small  arms. 

In  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain  on  Tuesday,  also  in 
the  advance  from  Lookout  to  and  along  Mission  Ridge, 
Wednesday,  the  following  Indiana  regiments  were  engaged; 
the  Ninth,  Thirty-Sixth,  Thirty-Fifth,  Forty-Second,  Eighty- 


THE  NUMBER  OF  FALLEN.  477 

Eighth  and  Thirty-Eighth;  the  last, being  in  Carlin's  brigade, 
was  in  the  moonlight  fight  on  the  extreme  right. 

The  Ninth  lost  twenty-five  in  killed  and  wounded.  The 
Thirty-Eighth  the  same  number.  Major  Carter  was  seri 
ously  wounded.  Colonel  Scribner  is  said  to  have  spent  the 
greater  part  of  the  night  of  the  twenty-fourth  attending  to 
the  wounded  in  the  hospital,  where  surgical  attendance  was 
very  limited. 

The  Forty- Second  lost  forty-three  in  killed  and  wounded. 

In  Sherman's  wing  of  the  army,  the  Twelfth,  Eighty- 
Third,  Ninety-Seventh  and  One  Hundredth,  and  a  portion 
of  the  Ninety- Ninth,  were  in  the  front,  and  the  Forty-Eighth 
and  Fifty-Ninth  were  in  reserve.  In  the  Twelfth,  nine  were 
killed  and  fifty-two  were  wounded.  Three  of  the  last  died 
of  their  wounds.  Captains  Bowman,  Huston  and  Beeson, 
Adjutant  Bond,  Quartermaster  M'Clellan  and  Lieutenant 
J.  E.  Hart  were  among  the  wounded.  The  right  foot  of 
Captain  Beeson  was  struck  by  a  cannon  ball.  He  refused 
to  submit  to  amputation,  and  was  recovering,  when  erysipe 
las  'attacked  the  mangled  limb  and  caused  his  death.  He 
was  deeply  lamented  by  his  company  and  by  all  who  knew 
him.  Captain  Aveline  was  shot  through  the  head. 

The  Ninety-Ninth  had  three  wounded,  two  of  whom  died. 

In  the  Hundredth,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Heath  was  severely 
wounded  early  in  the  action,  and  Major  Johnson  assumed 
command.  Captain  Harland  was  killed.  Captains 
Smith  and  Brouse,  Lieutenants  Swihart  and  Shanks,  were 
wounded.  Major  Johnson  received  a  slight  wound,  but 
joined  in  the  pursuit.  The  regiment  lost  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  killed  and  wounded. 

In  the  assault  on  the  Rebel  centre  were  the  Sixth,  Fif 
teenth,  Twenty-Second,  Thirty- Second,  Fortieth,  Fifty-Sev 
enth,  Fifty-Eighth,  Sixty-Eighth,  Seventy-Fourth,  Seventy- 
Fifth,  Seventy-Ninth,  Eighty-Second,  Eighty-Sixth,  Eighty- 
Eighth  and  One  Hundred  and  First, — so  large  a  number 
that  Indiana  may  almost  lay  claim  to  the  victory  at  this 
point,  especially  as  the  Seventy-Ninth  and  Eighty-Sixth 
were  the  first  to  reach  and  the  first  to  plant  the  banner  on 
the  top. 


478  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  Seventy-Ninth  lost  twenty-three.  Its  Colonel's  were 
the  first  eagle-embroidered  straps  which  entered  the  enemy's 
works.  He  was  one  of  the  bravest  men  in  the  service.  And 
his  regiment  was  heroic,  from  the  drummer,  Walter  Hart- 
pence,  who  pressed  upward,  rifle  in  hand,  and  was  wounded, 
to  every  other  man,  above  or  below  in  rank.  But  what  regi 
ment  on  that  inspiring  field  was  not  heroic? 

Twelve  battles  had  witnessed  the  devotion  of  Colonel 
Dick  of  the  Eighty-Sixth, — Missionary  Ridge  was  his  thir 
teenth  and  his  proudest.  The  regiment  considered  the 
storming  of  Missionary  Ridge  the  crowning  achievement  of 
all  its  operations  during  the  war.  General  Thomas  sent  for 
the  names  of  the  brave  fellows  who  carried  the  flag  so  gal 
lantly  up  the  ridge.  He  said  he  would  remember  them. 
Perhaps  he  did,  but  he  gave  them  no  further  notice.  The 
regiment  lost  thirty-six. 

The  troops  whose  fortune  it  had  been  to  climb  the  moun 
tain  where  it  was  less  steep,  suffered  more  severely.  Wag 
ner's  brigade,  while  it  halted  to  take  breath  and  shelter  in  a 
ravine  two-thirds  of  the  way  up,  was  ordered  back  to  the 
breastworks  at  the  base.  It  had  hardly  regained  them  when 
it  was  directed  again  to  storm  the  steep.  Up  it  went  once 
more  through  the  murderous  fire. 

O 

The  Fifteenth  Regiment  lost  thirty-two  killed  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty-five  wounded  out  of  three  hundred  and 
thirty-five.  Captain  Monroe  and  Lieutenant  Sering  were 
killed.  The  commanding  officer,  Major  White,  was  wounded. 
Every  color-bearer  was  shot  down.  Sergeant  Banks  carried 
the  colors  until  he  was  shot  three  times.  Lieutenant  Gra 
ham  planted  them  on  the  works. 

The  Fortieth  lost  twenty  killed  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty  wounded,  and  was  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  effective  men. 

The  Fifty-Seventh,  which,  deployed  five  paces  apart,  formed 
the  advance  at  the  start,  lost  ninety-four  killed  and  wounded. 

The  Fifty-Eighth  lost  sixty-six.  Captain  Smith  and  Lieu 
tenants  Milburn  and  Hill  were  among  the  wounded. 

The  Sixth  lost  seventy-six.  Captain  Strader  died  of  a 
wound  which  he  received. 


POSITION  OF  DISENGAGED  REGIMENTS.  479 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Glass  and  Lieutenant  Schelz  of  the 
Thirty-Second  were  killed.  The  regiment  lost  forty-four 
in  all. 

The  Sixty-Eighth  lost  eighty-two  men  and  officers. 

The  Seventy-Fifth  captured  a  piece  of  artillery  on  the 
summit,  rushing  over  a  regiment  in  its  front  in  the  charge. 
It  lost  twenty-two.  Captain  Bryant  died  of  wounds  received 
in  the  pursuit  to  Ringgold. 

The  Eighty-Second  lost  twenty-six. 

The  Eighty-Seventh  lost  sixteen.  Lieutenant  Russel  died 
of  his  wounds. 

The  One  Hundred  and  First  lost  thirty-four.  The  Eighty- 
Seventh  and  One  Hundred  and  First,  with  the  Second  Min 
nesota  and  the  Thirty-Fifth  Ohio,  were  the  foremost  of 
Baird's  regiments. 

The  Fourth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth, 
Nineteenth  and  Twenty-First  batteries  were  all  engaged  on 
Wednesday,  but  being  either  within  fortifications,  or  at  a 
distance  from  the  field,  suffered  no  loss.  The  Nineteenth 
was  in  the  pursuit  to  Ringgold. 

General  Cruft  commanded  a  division.  General  Wagner, 
Colonel  Grose,  Colonel  Alexander  and  perhaps  other  Indiana 
officers,  commanded  brigades. 

The  Thirty-Seventh,  within  the  fortifications,  and  the 
Forty-Fourth,  on  provost  duty  in  Chattanooga;  the  Twenty- 
Ninth,  Thirty-First  and  Eighty-First,  at  Bridgeport;  the 
Eighty-Fourth  regiment  and  the  Fifth  battery  at  Shell 
Mound,  and  the  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-Sixth,  at  Whiteside 
and  Tyner's  Station,  were  not  engaged. 


480  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FRANCIS  H.  AVELINE. 

The  air  is  full  of  farewells  to  the  dying, 

And  mourning  for  the  dead; 
The  heart  of  Rachel  for  her  children  crying, 

Will  not  be  comforted. — Longfellow. 

Captain  Aveline  was  a  gallant  officer,  and  as  pleasant  in 
camp  as  he  was  brave  in  the  field;  but  on  the  night  of  the 
twenty-fourth  of  November,  as  he  stood  by  his  camp-fire  on 
Missionary  ridge,  and  watched  the  tired  soldiers  preparing 
for  sleep,  now  and  then  exchanging  with  them  a  remark,  his 
manner  was  melancholy,  and  he  said  "good  night"  as  if  it 
were  good-bye,  and  meant,  "We  may  not  meet  again,  or 
meet  only  to  part  forever."  They  afterwards  recalled  his 
words  and  tones. 

The  next  morning  Captain  Aveline,  with  his  friend,  Major 
Baldwin,  went  out  to  see  the  enemy's  works.  The  thought 
ful  sadness  still  rested  on  the  young  man's  face.  His  com 
panion  was  struck  with  it,  and  pointing  to  the  range  of  hills 
taken  the  day  before,  exclaimed,  "Why  look  so  sad,  Frank? 
We  shall  be  victorious."  "  I  know  we  shall  gain  the  day," 
was  the  reply,  "  but  you  will  look  sad,  too,  before  night.  The 
stoutest  hearts  will  quail." 

They  returned  to  the  camp-fire,  and  Captain  Aveline, 
shaking  off  his  despondency,  wore  again  his  own  hopeful, 
genial  manner.  The  battle  soon  opened,  and  he  wTas  in  the 
midst  of  the  fire  and  fury.  Twice  his  sword  was  struck. 
He  raised  it  above  his  head  and  cried,  "  Forward,  boys,  and 
keep  your  lines  steady!"  The  words  were  yet  on  his  lips, 
and  the  glory  of  the  warrior's  soul  shone  in  his  face,  when  a 
bullet  entered  his  temple,  and,  as  if  that  were  not  enough, 
another  penetrated  his  ear.  Francis  Aveline  was  in  his 


BRAVE  AND  PATIENT.  431 

twenty-first  year  when  his  spirit  went  up  from  the  field  of 
battle  and  victory. 

When,  in  the  spring  of  1861,  the  first  rumor  of  war  reached 
the  ears  of  his  parents,  they  congratulated  themselves  that 
their  high-spirited  son  was  performing  the  duties  of  Deputy 
Clerk  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Noble,  and  was,  as  they  sup 
posed,  out  of  the  reach  of  excitement.  But  almost  as  soon 
as  the  alarm  began  to  sound  in  the  streets  of  his  native  city, 
Fort  Wayne,  his  mother  received  from  him  a  letter,  pleading 
for  her  consent  to  his  volunteering,  and  asserting  that  there 
was  no  necessity  to  ask  his  father.  The  mother  yielded,  and 
he  joined  the  Twelfth  regiment. 

Just  before  he  went  away  his  mother  said  to  him,  "  My 
son,  you  are  a  private,  and  will  get  but  eleven  dollars  a  month. 
You  have  been  tenderly  brought  up,  and  are  not  used  to  such 
hardships  as  I  fear  you  must  endure.  Promise  me  that  you 
will  let  us  know  when  you  need  money." 

"  I  cannot  do  that,  mother,"  he  answered.  "  I  cannot  eat 
better  food  than  my  comrades."  He  carried  this  principle 
with  him  to  his  death,  never  asking  for  one  dollar  from  home, 
and  never  complaining  of  hardship.  When  others  grumbled 
about  scanty  food,  or  because  they  were  huddled  together 
like  cattle  in  freight  cars,  he  recalled  the  heroes  of  the  Revo 
lution,  and  saying  they  would  have  been  glad  of  any  mode 
of  conveyance  that  would  have  rested  their  poor,  swollen 
feet,  he  was  content. 

At  the  expiration  of  its  first  term  of  service,  in  May,  1862, 
the  Twelfth  received  from  President  Lincoln  a  short  com 
mendatory  address,  every  word  of  which  Frank  Aveline 
treasured  up. 

He  ardently  desired  to  reenter  the  service,  but  he  could  not 
bear  to  see  his  mother's  struggle  between  her  duty  to  her 
country  and  her  love  for  her  son,  and  he  went  back  to  his  old 
work  in  the  Clerk's  office.  However,  Colonel  Link  and 
Lieutenant  Baldwin  successfully  interceded  for  him.  He  re- 
enlisted,  and  was  made  First  Lieutenant  of  Company  B. 

In  the  battle  of  Richmond,  Kentucky,  the  young  Lieuten 
ant  was  haunted  by  the  parting  words  of  his  father:  "My 
31 


482  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

son,  if  you  are  wounded  I  hope  it  will  not  be  in  the  back/' 
He  was  so  much  afraid  of  what  might  be  regarded  a  dis 
graceful  wound,  that  when  compelled  to  retreat  he  frequently 
walked  backwards. 

In  May,  1863,  he  was  made  Assistant  Inspector  of  the 
First  brigade,  of  his  division,  and  was  ordered  on  Colonel 
Loo  mis'  staff.  But  he  asked  to  be  allowed  to  remain  with 
his  men,  saying  that  he  would  rather  share  their  toilsome 
marches  on  foot  with  them  than  consider  himself  a  sort  of 
genteel  servant  on  any  officer's  staff,  much  as  he  liked  Colo 
nel  Loomis.  Shortly  afterward  he  became  Captain,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  promotion  of  Baldwin  to  the  majority.  Af 
ter  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  and  the  capture  of  Jackson, 
Captain  Aveline,  with  several  other  officers  of  the  Twelfth, 
was  allowed  twelve  days'  leave  of  absence.  During  his  visit 
he  said  to  his  mother,  "  I  have  never  felt  that  I  should  be 
killed,  but  I  pray  and  wish  you  to  pray  that  I  may  not  die 
of  disease  in  camp  or  hospital,  and  that  I  may  never  be  shut 
up  in  a  Rebel  prison.  If  I  am  to  die  in  this  war,  I  pray  it 
may  be  with  my  face  to  the  foe,  leading  my  men  on  to  vic 
tory." 

He  was  deeply  wounded  to  discover  that  many  of  his  old 
schoolmates  and  friends  were  southern  sympathizers.  After 
his  return  to  the  army  he  wrote:  "Two  years  and  a  half 
ago,  when  I  left  home,  I  would  not  have  believed  that  I  could 
ever  be  soured  and  disgusted  with  society  as  I  found  myself. 
The  whole  thing  seems  to  be  hollow,  a  school  of  flattery  and 
deceit.  Even  the  mates  of  my  boyhood  are  miniature  trait 
ors.  I  can  never  live  among  them  again.  If  my  life  is 
spared  to  see  the  close  of  the  war,  I  shall  join  the  regular 
army,  or  try  to  get  into  the  navy.  I  find  among  the  rough 
soldiers  true  hearts." 

And  again,  after  speaking  of  his  grief  on  leaving  the  dead 
of  his  company  in  Rebel  soil:  "I  do  wish  this  war  would 
close;  though  rather  than  yield  one  inch  to  the  wretched  men 
who  have  caused  my  country  so  much  sorrow,  I  would  vote 
that  the  last  man  and  the  last  dollar  in  the  North  be  sacri 
ficed." 

His  last  letter,  written  at  Bridgeport  on  the  sixteenth  of 


THE  RETURN.  483 

November,  tells  of  the  fifty-five  days  march  without  rest,  ex 
cept  at  night,  and  of  the  sore  and  even  shoeless  condition  of 
many  a  poor  soldier's  feet.  It  was  received  at  home  on  the 
evening  of  Wednesday,  the  twenty-fifth,  and  read  while  he 
who  penned  it  lay  cold  and  still  on  Missionary  ridge,  within 
the  enemy's  lines,  his  bent  sword  beside  him,  and  his  little 
Testament  next  his  heart.  The  book  had  been  given  him 
when  a  child,  and  contained  a  lock  of  his  mother's  hair,  and 
the  song,  "  Rock  me  to  sleep,  mother." 

A  few  days  later  his  father  reclaimed  the  remains.  He 
had  them  embalmed  in  Nashville,  and  thus  brought  back  to 
the  weeping  mother  her  first-born  son.  Hundreds  came  to 
look  upon  the  dead  soldier  as  he  lay,  beautiful  and  calm,  be 
neath  a  canopy  of  banners  pierced  and  torn  in  many  battles, 
one  of  them  the  flag  of  his  own  regiment  in  the  first  year  of 
the  war.  Kind  hands  wrapped  the  old  flag  round  him  as 
they  laid  him  down  to  rest.  His  company  erected  to  his 
memory  a  marble  monument,  on  which  is  carved  a  drooping 
flag,  and  his  last  words,  "  Forward,  boys,  and  keep  your  lines 
steady."  His  beloved  Colonel  Link's  grave  is  near.  Beside 
him  lies  the  tender  father,  who,  though  he  lingered  two  years, 
was  crushed  by  the  blow  which  destroyed  the  son. 

Of  the  mother, 

"The  world  goes  whispering  to  its  own, 

'This  anguish  pierces  to  the  bone; ' 
And  tender  friends  go  sighing  round, 
'What  love  can  ever  cure  this  wound? '  " 


484  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

EAST  TENNESSEE. 

li  Hungry  and  cold  were  the  poor  fellows  who  had  so  long  been  keeping 
the  field ;  for  provisions  were  scant,  clothing  worn  out,  and  so  badly  off 
were  they  for  shoes,  that  the  footsteps  of  many  might  be  tracked  in  blood/' — 
March  to  Valley  Forge.  Irving' s  Life  of  Washington. 

General  Burnside  was  assigned,  in  March,  1863,  to  the  de 
partment  of  the  Ohio,  to  execute  the  grateful  task  of  liberat 
ing  East  Tennessee,  which  had  lain  since  the  beginning  of 
the  war  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy ;  but  a  sufficient  force 
was  not  at  his  disposal  for  several  months,  the  Ninth  corps, 
his  main  dependence,  being  required  in  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  and  the  Twenty-Third  corps,  or  the  troops  which  af 
terwards  formed  that  corps,  being  occupied  by  Rebel  raids 
into  and  beyond  Kentucky.  He  set  out  the  middle  of  Au 
gust,  simultaneously  with  Rosecrans'  advance  from  Tulla- 
homa.  With  a  force  of  about  eighteen  thousand  men,  in 
light  marching  order  he  moved  in  five  converging  lines 
through  the  south-eastern  part  of  Kentucky,  and  to  Mont 
gomery,  in  Tennessee.  Of  Indiana  organizations  he  had 
the  Fifteenth  and  Twenty-Fourth  batteries,  the  Eightieth  in 
fantry,  the  Sixty-Fifth,  mounted  since  April,  the  Fifth  cav 
alry  and  the  first  batallion  of  the  Sixth  cavalry,  all  of  which, 
and  especially  the  Fifth,  had  been  during  many  months  in- 
defatigably  engaged  with  the  troublesome  guerillas  and 
raiding  forces  furnished  or  encouraged  by  Kentucky.  Wag 
ons  were  prepared  to  follow  when  the  mountain  passes 
should  be  cleared.  Meantime  pack  mules  carried  stores  and 
ammunition,  and  corn  fields  along  the  route  furnished  the 
main  part  of  subsistence.  The  draught  animals  were  worked 
to  the  utmost  extent  of  their  ability,  and  great  numbers  broke 
down  and  died.  But  the  men,  whose  labor  was  proportion- 


THE  WELCOME  OF  THE  MOUNTAINEERS.  485 

ably  severe,  having  to  move  the  artillery  by  hand  most  of  the 
way,  hoisting  it  from  height  to  height,  and  dropping  it  from 
rock  to  rock  by  means  of  ropes,  continued  stout  and  well,  no 
doubt  strengthened  by  the  prospect  of  carrying  deliverance 
to  a  captive  land,  and  stimulated  by  the  magnificent  scenery 
as  yet  free  from  the  gloom  with  which  association  afterward 
invested  the  bleak  hills  of  Tennessee. 

The  Twenty-Fourth  Indiana  was  the  first  battery  to  cross 
the  mountains.  Colonel  Foster's  brigade  was  the  first  brig 
ade  to  reach  Montgomery. 

On  the  thirty-first  of  August,  while  General  Burnside,  with 
the  main  force,  marched  to  the  right,  toward  Kingston,  Col 
onel  Foster,  with  his  single  brigade,  advanced  to  the  left,  to 
ward  Knoxville.  He  occupied  Winter's  gap  at  sundown 
without  opposition,  and  pushed  on  early  the  next  day,  the 
enemy  seeming  to  melt  away,  and  friends,  with  radiant  faces 
of  welcome,  to  rise  from  rocks  and  ravines.  Baskets  and 
buckets  of  refreshment  and  sweet  \vater  from  the  mountain 
springs  were  offered  at  every  hand.  Poor  mountaineers,  who 
had  been  for  weeks  on  the  brink  of  starvation,  held  out  their 
little  all  of  corn  meal,  saying,  "God  bless  you!  Take  it! 
We  can  live  on  roasting  ears  until  we  get  more."  Tennes 
see  troops,  returning  exiles,  whose  hearts  beat  high  with  the 
gratification  of  long  deferred  hopes,  moved  in  advance.  At 
four  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  of  September,  they  reached 
Knoxville,  which  was  a  scene  of  the  wildest  joy.  Two  years 
a  national  flag  had  not  fluttered  on  any  housetop,  or  been 
carried  in  any  hand.  Two  years  the  name  of  the  President 
had  not  been  spoken  except  with  curses  or  in  whispers.  Now, 
as  the  standard  bearers  held  their  banners  aloft,  the  people, 
in  the  solemn,  pathetic  language  of  Scripture,  "lifted  up  their 
voices  and  wept."  They  mingled  praise  and  shout.  "  Glory ! " 
"  The  Lord  be  praised ! "  "  Hurra  for  Lincoln ! "  «  Huzza  for 
the  Union!"  In  honor  to  the  name  of  Lincoln,  Tennessee 
loyalty  contrasted  strongly  with  Kentucky  patriotism. 

All  night  the  mountains  blazed  with  signal  fires.  At 
dawn,  country  people  began  to  pour  in  from  homes,  where, 
by  concealing  their  sentiments,  they  had  been  able  to  live  in 
comparative  security,  and  from  hiding  places  among  rocks 


486  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  caves,  where,  during  two  long  years,  they  had  not  called 
their  lives  their  own.  Their  emotion  was  extreme  at  sight 
of  the  hundred  flags  which  had  been  brought  out  from  secret 
places,  and  now  flaunted  in  the  sun.  The  Knoxville  jail 
and  the  Knoxville  gallows,  instruments  both  of  many  a  sad 
and  cruel  wrong,  had  attained  a  wide  celebrity.  The  one 
the  soldiers  cut  down  and  burned  to  ashes,  unwilling  that  so 
infamous  a  thing  should  stand  an  hour  on  liberated  soil. 
The  other  they  opened,  releasing  from  its  filthy  walls  the  in 
mates  who  were  confined  for  patriotism.  But  the  retreating 
enemy  had  not  neglected  to  carry  away  a  prisoner  who  had 
been  there  many  months,  with  his  hands  chained  to  the  top 
of  his  cell  during  the  day,  and  pinioned  to  the  floor  during 
the  night. 

General  Burn  side,  on  reaching  Knoxville,  set  vigorously  to 
work  to  repossess  East  Tennessee,  sending  forces  north  to 
Cumberland  gap,  south-west  toward  Chattanooga,  and  east 
to  Smoky  mountains.  Each  expedition  achieved  its  desig 
nated  task.  The  Rebel  command  which  held  Cumberland 
gap  surrendered  on  the  ninth  of  September.  Connection 
with  General  Rosecrans  was  formed  by  means  of  out  posts, 
which  reached  below  Athens.  The  force  which  moved  to 
Smoky  mountains  captured  the  rolling  stock  of  the  railroad, 
and  cleared  the  enemy  from  the  region.  The  loyalty  of  the 
mountaineers  finds  fit  notice  in  the  following  letter,  written 
by  Colonel  Foster  to  his  wife : 

"  The  rejoicing  and  demonstrations  I  have  witnessed  will 
be,  probably,  the  brightest  of  my  reminiscences  of  the  war. 
I  never  before  saw  such  demonstrations  at  the  sight  of  the 
old  flag,  or  such  evidences  of  genuine  patriotism.  It  was 
the  happiest  epoch  of  my  life  to  first  carry  that  flag  into 
Knoxville,  and  to  bear  it  in  the  advance  along  up  this  valley 
for  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  and  receive  the  welcome  of  the 
loyal  people.  No  wonder  the  people  received  us  with  the  very 
ecstacy  of  enthusiasm.  No  wonder  they  weep  tears  of  joy 
at  sight  of  the  old  flag,  for  it  brings  them  freedom  from  op 
pression.  At  our  advance,  men  came  to  us  all  bleached  and 
weak  from  hiding  in  rocks  and  caves,  away  from  the  light  of 
day.  And  for  months  men  have  been  chased  through  the 


PERSECUTED  PATRIOTISM.  487 

mountains  by  Indians  (in  the  Rebel  service)  who  were  offered 
a  bounty  for  their  arrest  or  death.  Women  have  been  driven 
from  their  homes  while  their  all  was  burned  before  them,  be 
cause  their  husbands  were  in  the  Union  army.  Scaffolds  are 
to  be  seen  where  loyal  men,  on  suspicion  of  bridge  burning, 
were  hung  without  any  trial  whatever.  The  tales  of  cruelty 
and  wrong  which  I  have  heard  go  to  make  up  a  history  of 
tyranny  which  will  be  the  blackest  record  of  this  slavehold 
ers'  rebellion. 

"There  is  a  valley  over  the  line  in  North  Carolina,  about 
twenty-five  miles  from  this  place,  just  under  the  shadow  of 
the  Great  Smoky  range  of  mountains,  and  almost  shut  out 
from  the  world.  It  is  inhabited  by  wild,  simple-hearted  men, 
who,  partaking  of  the  true  spirit  of  the  mountains  were  unal 
terably  attached  to  the  Government,  No  bribes  nor  threats 
could  induce  them  to  go  into  the  Rebel  army.  When  the  con 
scripting  officers  came  to  take  them  by  force,  and  the  fora 
gers  to  carry  off'  their  horses  and  provisions,  they  met  them 
along  the  mountain  sides,  with  their  squirrel  rifles,  and  drove 
them  back.  It  was  almost  worth  a  Confederate  officer's  life 
to  venture  into  the  valley.  Finally,  a  large  force  of  cavalry 
and  Indians  drove  the  mountaineers  before  it.  The  men,  fit 
for  military  duty,  fled  to  their  hiding  places.  The  Rebel 
cavalry  gathered  up  the  horses  and  cattle,  and  burnt  up  the 
houses  in  the  valley,  driving  out  women,  old  men  and  child 
ren,  who,  as  safe  from  conscription,  had  not  sought  refuge  in 
concealment.  This  was  bad  enough,  but  worse  was  to 
come.  They  took  twenty  of  these  gray-haired  old  men,  and 
youths  of  twelve  and  fourteen,  out  by  the  roadside,  and, 
without  crime  or  trial,  shot  them  to  death.  And  this  was 
not  all.  The  women  and  children  were  driven  out  of  the 
valley,  over  the  mountains  and  down  to  Greenville.  Old 
and  prominent  citizens  of  this  place  tell  me  it  was  the  most 
pitiable  sight  they  ever  beheld.  A  stout-hearted  man,  in 
talking  to  me  about  it,  could  not  restrain  his  tears.  Some 
of  the  women  had  children  in  their  arms,  and  other  little 
ones,  barefoot  and  almost  naked,  clinging  to  their  dresses. 
Women  in  the  most  delicate  situation  were  made  to  walk 
with  the  rest.  And  all  were  driven  like  sheep  at  the  point 


488  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  the  bayonet.  They  were  brought  to  the  depot  and  kept 
over  night.  It  was  the  avowed  determination  of  Jackson, 
in  command  here,  to  send  them  over  the  Cumberland  Moun 
tains  to  Kentucky.  But  Governor  Vance,  of  North  Caro 
lina,  hearing  of  the  brutal  proceeding,  declared  that  women 
and  children  should  not  be  banished  from  his  State,  and  they 
were  returned.  Since  then,  these  men  of  Laurel  Valley  have 
been  the  wild  men  of  the  mountains,  with  their  homes  in  the 
caves  and  cliffs,  and  woe  be  to  the  Rebel  soldier  who  comes 
within  range  of  their  rifles.  The  most  vigorous  measures 
have  been  taken  to  ferret  them  out,  but  few  have  ever  been 
caught.  Their  hiding  places  and  their  daring  have  been  a 
good  protection.  A  company  of  them  twice  attempted  to 
break  through  and  cross  the  Cumberland  Mountains  into 
Kentucky,  but  were  driven  back  before  they  could  get  out 
of  East  Tennessee.  Day  before  yesterday,  over  fifty  of  these 
brave  men  came  over  the  mountains,  and  asked  me  for  help. 
An  old  man,  who  was  the  spokesman  and  the  wise  man  of 
the  valley,  said  they  were  a  poor,  ignorant  and  wild  set  of 
4 cusses,'  who  didn't  know  much  but  devotion  to  their  coun 
try  and  how  to  shoot.  He  asked  me  to  give  them  a  little 
good  advice  and  some  guns.  I  could  not  refuse  the  latter, 
at  least.  I  gave  them  the  arms  and  sent  them  home.  A 
merciful  God  will  have  to  protect  the  savages,  who  mur 
dered  their  fathers  and  sons,  plundered  their  homes,  burnt 
their  houses,  and  drove  out  their  wives  and  mothers;  for 
these  men,  with  their  muskets,  will  not  remember  mercy. 
This  is  no  fancy  sketch.  It  is  the  plain,  unvarnished  truth, 
vouched  for  by  hundreds  of  citizens  of  Greenville.  Would 
you  believe  that  such  savage  atrocities  could  be  committed 
in  the  land  of  Washington  ?  This  same  General  Jackson  is 
now  in  front  of  me,  and  I  have  asked  General  Burnside  for 
four  days  to  let  my  brigade  after  him,  but  he  withholds  for 
the  present.  It  will  not  be  many  days  before  I  will  try  to 
capture  him,  or  drive  him  out  of  East  Tennessee,  I  hope  for 
ever." 

General  Burnside's  unprecedented  success  was  due  in 
great  measure  to  the  timeliness  of  his  advance  (Bragg  at 
this  juncture  imperatively  requiring  the  assistance  of  Buck- 


BATTLE  OF  BLOUNTSVILLE.  489 

ner),  and  he  only  hastened  the  withdrawal  of  forces  which 
were  already  prepared  to  move.  A  sufficient  number,  how 
ever,  remained  to  necessitate  both  vigilance  and  activity. 
General  Jones,  with  a  force  of  ten  thousand,  watched  and 
waited  along  the  northeastern  border,  threatening  and  har 
assing  outposts  in  the  passes  of  the  North  Carolina  moun 
tains  and  on  the  Holston  river,  on  the  alert  to  retake  Knox- 
ville  and  Kingston,  with  the  whole  of  East  Tennessee,  should 
Burnside  be  compelled  to  hasten  to  Chickamauga.  In  the 
latter  part  of  September,  Burnside  received  orders  to  that 
effect.  He  promptly,  though  reluctantly  prepared  to  obey, 
hastening  in  person  up  the  valley  of  the  Holston  and  along 
the  railroad  to  recall  his  cavalry.  He  found  Foster's  brigade, 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Graham,  on  the  edge  of  Vir 
ginia,  alternately  pushing  the  enemy  and  falling  back  before 
him,  and  so  closely  engaged  that  it  could  not  suddenly  be 
withdrawn.  Accordingly  he  prepared  to  join  in  the  struggle, 
and,  September  21,  posted  himself  in  front  of  a  large  but 
straggling  body  of  the  enemy,  near  Carter's  Station,  on  the 
Holston  river.  Graham's  cavalry  was  on  the  rear  of  the 
same  force.  The  Fifth  Indiana  came  under  an  ambushed 
fire  early  on  the  twenty-second,  as  it  was  cautiously  scouring 
field  and  wood.  A  hot  encounter  followed,  mostly  in  wild, 
thick,  rocky  woods,  but  partly  in  the  open  fields  surrounding 
Blountsville.  Graham  led  up  the  remainder  of  his  brigade, 
which,  however,  was  unable  to  drive  the  Rebels,  until,  at 
dark,  the  Sixty-Fifth  Indiana  broke  their  line.  They  fled, 
leaving  the  little  town  in  flames,  and  women  and  children 
houseless,  in  the  night.  The  Union  loss  was  seventeen. 
The  Rebel  loss  was  eighty-six. 

General  Burnside  was  now  able  to  concentrate  near  and 
below  Knoxville,  preparatory  to  a  withdrawal  from  East 
Tennessee.  But  it  was  too  late.  The  battle  had  been  fought 
and  lost.  There  could  be  no  retrieval  of  the  great  defeat  on 
the  Chickamauga,  even  by  the  sacrifice  of  East  Tennessee. 
Accordingly  he  remained  and  returned  to  his  previous  style 
of  operation,  scattering  his  command,  in  divisions  and  brig 
ades,  over  the  territory  he  desired  to  hold. 


490  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  first  week  in  October  he  was  reinforced  by  the  Ninth 
corps,  with  a  new  division,  under  General  Wilcox.  Beside 
a  Michigan  and  an  Ohio  battery,  Wilcox's  division  consisted 
entirely  of  Indiana  troops, — the  six  months'  regiments  brig 
aded  together,  under  Colonel  Mahan,  the  Twenty-Third  bat 
tery,  the  Second  and  Third  battalions  of  the  Sixth  cavalry, 
and  Companies  L  and  M,  of  the  Third  cavalry,  sent,  for  the 
first  time,  into  the  field,  although  organized  in  Decem 
ber,  1862. 

Meantime  General  Jones  returned  to  the  valley,  from 
which,  by  the  battle  of  Blountsville,  he  had  been  expelled, 
and  established  himself  at  Blue  Springs,  near  Bull's  Gap. 
Here  he  was  soon  confronted  by  General  Burnside,  with  the 
newly  arrived  reinforcement,  and  a  large  cavalry  force;  but 
he  was  willing  to  fight,  and  held  his  ground.  Engaging  his 
attention  by  skirmishers,  Burnside  directed  Foster's  brigade 
to  move  by  way  of  Rogersville  to  Rheatown,  in  order  to  cut 
off  his  retreat,  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  sufficient  time,  made 
a  heavy  attack.  He  gained  a  decided  advantage,  but  the 
enemy  effected  a  retreat  during  the  following  night,  Foster 
withdrawing  his  small  and  fatigued  force  from  attack,  except 
the  Fifth  cavalry,  which,  having  been  thrown  forward,  came 
severely  in  contact  with  the  retreating  Rebels,  and  fought 
several  hours  with  great  bravery.  Colonel  Foster  followed 
the  enemy  beyond  Bristol,  in  Virginia,  skirmishing  with  his 
rear. 

The  Union  loss  at  Blue  Springs,  and  in  the  pursuit,  was 
about  one  hundred,  twenty-eight  of  whom  belonged  to  the 
Fifth  Indiana.  One  hundred  and  fifty  Rebels  were  cap 
tured. 

About  the  middle  of  October  Bragg  began  demonstrations 
south  of  Knoxville,  up  the  railroad  as  far  as  Sweetwater. 
On  the  twentieth  a  large  body  of  cavalry  and  infantry  pressed 
unexpectedly  and  heavily  upon  Colonel  Wolford,  who,  with 
a  force  of  two  thousand,  including  the  Fifteenth  and  Twen 
ty-Fourth  Indiana  batteries,  was  in  and  near  Philadelphia, 
not  far  from  Loudon.  Wolford  kept  his  ground  several  hours, 
hoping  the  sound  of  his  guns  would  bring  reinforcements,  but 
he  was  at  length  forced  to  retreat,  with  the  loss  of  many  men 


BURNSIDE  SPREADS  A  NET.  491 

by  capture,  beside  a  number  of  wagons,  and  three  guns. 
Near  the  same  time  a  body  of  Union  cavalry  was  routed  at 
Rogersville. 

General  Burnside's  isolated  and  inaccessible  position  be 
came,  with  each  day,  more  precarious.  President  Lincoln, 
General  Halleck  and  General  Grant  were  filled  with  the 
deepest  solicitude  in  regard  to  it,  especially  the  two  first. 
"  Hold  fast,  even  if  you  should  lose  half  your  cavalry,"  was 
the  sum  of  Grant's  orders,  and  he  seemed  to  have  every  con 
fidence  in  Burnside's  resolution.  The  President  and  Halleck, 
on  the  contrary,  could  not  rest,  and  constantly  expressed  their 
anxiety. 

Nothing  was  further  from  the  thoughts  of  the  deliverer  of 
East  Tennessee  than  retreat  or  surrender. 

Early  in  November  General  Longstreet,  with  Hood's  and 
Me  Laws'  divisions,  Wheeler's  cavalry  and  eighty  guns, 
reached  Sweetwater,  whence  he  approached  Loudon,  driving 
the  Union  outposts  from  the  hills  on  the  southern  side  of  the 
river. 

General  Grant,  well  pleased  by  the  decrease  of  the  force 
in  his  front,  directed  Burnside  to  hold  Longstreet  engaged, 
yet  well  aware  of  the  increased  danger  of  his  subordinate 
and  coadjutor,  he  repeatedly  and  emphatically  promised  re 
lief  within  a  week  from  the  fourteenth  of  the  month.  Ac 
cordingly  Burnside  prepared  to  allure  the  advancing  Rebel 
General  to  the  vicinity  of  Knoxville,  and  hold  him  there  un 
til  the  arrival  of  assistance.  He  said:  "If  we  concentrate 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Loudon,  the  enemy  will  have  the  ad 
vantage  of  being  able  to  reinforce  from  the  rear,  whereas,  if 
we  concentrate  near  Knoxville,  not  only  the  present  force  of 
the  enemy,  but  all  reinforcements  would  have  to  march  forty 
miles  (from  Loudon)  before  fighting.  Should  he  cross  either 
river,  and  move  to  attack  us  in  this  neighborhood,  he  will  be 
so  far  from  the  main  body  of  Bragg's  army  that  he  cannot  be 
recalled  in  time  to  assist  it  in  case  Thomas  finds  himself  in 
condition  to  make  an  attack  after  Sherman  comes  up." 

At  nine  at  night  of  November  13,  Captain  Sims,  of  the 
Twenty-Fourth  battery,  informed  General  White,  in  com 
mand  of  the  Second  di\ysion  of  the  Twenty-Third  corps,  on 


492  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  heights  opposite  London,  that  the  Rebels  on  the  south 
ern  hills  were  stirring  as  if  largely  reinforced,  and  on  the 
point  of  an  important  movement.  Before  midnight  it  was 
discovered  that  they  were  building  a  pontoon  bridge  a  few 
miles  below.  General  White  immediately  withdrew  six 
miles,  to  Lenoir's  Station.  He  had  not  halted  when  he  was 
ordered  to  face  about  by  General  Burnside,  who  also  marched 
southward  with  the  Ninth  corps  to  hold  the  enemy  in  check 
until  the  safety  of  the  trains  was  secured.  Rain  poured 
down  in  torrents,  but  over  rocky  hills  and  through  muddy 
gullies  artillery,  cavalry  and  infantry  toiled  fourteen  miles. 
They  met  skirmishers  at  four,  and  pressed  them  until  they 
reached  the  enemy's  position  at  dark,  when  they  formed  their 
line  and  stacked  their  arms.  The  night  was  so  unfavorable 
that  the  enemy  ventured  no  attack,  and  the  troops  slept  on 
the  soaking  ground  undisturbed,  except  now  and  then  by  the 
firing  of  a  single  gun.  At  daylight  of  the  fifteenth,  as  quietly 
as  possible,  they  set  to  work  at  the  tedious  and  hazardous  task 
of  drawing  the  enemy  on.  Early  in  the  afternoon,  at  Lenoir's, 
they  were  compelled  to  make  a  stand,  while  a  body  of 
mounted  infantry,  with  artillery,  hastened  toward  Knoxville 
to  seize  the  junction  of  the  road  from  Lenoir's  with  three  or 
four  other  roads  at  Campbell's  Station.  The  enemy,  anx 
ious  to  gain  the  same  point,  pressed  hard  on  the  line  during 
the  afternoon  and  evening,  endeavoring  especially  to  strike 
back  the  left  flank;  but  he  met  with  no  success.  In  the  long 
and  bitter  cold  night  which  followed,  utter  darkness  and  per 
fect  silence  were  maintained.  Not  a  fire  was  kindled,  not  a 
word  was  spoken  above  a  whisper.  To  guard  against  even 
the  possibility  of  a  sound  which  might  betray  the  position, 
the  canteens  and  tin-cups  of  the  soldiers  were  put  in  their 
haversacks.  At  daybreak  such  transportation,  ammunition 
and  private  property  as  had  not  been  moved  were  consumed, 
and  the  retreat  was  resumed.  On  reaching  Campbell's  Sta 
tion,  which  the  mounted  infantry,  by  hot  haste  and  with 
great  difficulty  had  gained  and  now  held,  line  of  battle  was 
formed  on  a  ridge,  Ferrero's  division  on  the  right,  White's  in 
the  centre,  and  Hartsuff's  on  the  left,  with  cavalry  on  both 


LONGSTREET  BELEAGUERS  KNOXVILLE.  493 

flanks,  light  batteries  between  infantry  and  cavalry,  and 
heavy  artillery  in  the  centre. 

The  Rebels,  in  greatly  superior  numbers,  pressed  hard  and 
close,  extremely  unwilling  to  lose  a  point  for  which  they  had 
reserved  their  strength.  They  made  repeated  charges,  turn 
ing  from  right  to  centre  and  from  centre  to  left,  but  not  hav 
ing  been  able  to  bring  up  their  artillery,  they  were  worsted 
by  artillery  at  each  onset.  Late  in  the  afternoon,  by  the 
arrival  of  their  batteries,  they  were  able  to  advance  in  tre 
mendous  force  toward  the  left.  Burn  side  baffled  them  by 
withdrawing  to  a  second  ridge.  Here  he  held  his  own  until 
night,  when  again  he  took  up  the  march.  Knoxville  was 
sixteen  miles  off,  the  road  was  muddy,  the  night  was  dark, 
and  both  men  and  horses  were  oppressed  with  sleep  and 
fatigue.  They  could  scarcely  lift  one  foot  after  the  other. 
Nevertheless  the  hard  march  was  made. 

At  four  in  the  morning,  the  advance  began  to  arrive,  the 
soldiers  falling  asleep  as  they  entered  the  streets.  But  it 
was  no  time  for  sleep,  and  they  were  pitilessly  aroused  to 
take  position  and  to  dig  intrenchments. 

The  Ninth  corps  was  posted  on  the  west;  the  Twenty- 
Third  corps  was  stationed  on  the  north  and  east,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  cavalry  south  of  the  town  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  river,  with  batteries  at  intervals.  Von  Sehlen's  battery- 
was  on  the  right  of  the  Ninth  corps,  supported  by  Hartranft's 
brigade.  Captain  Sims'  battery  and  one  section  of  Captain 
Thomas',  Wilder  battery,  were  on  the  north-east,  and  with 
two  other  batteries,  were  supported  by  White's  and  Hascall's 
divisions.  Two  sections  of  the  Wilder  battery,  with  other 
artillery,  were  posted  on  the  heights  south  of  the  river. 

The  enemy  appeared  at  noon  of  the  seventeenth,  but  was 
held  in  check  by  cavalry  until  the  next  day,  when  fortifica 
tions,  built  by  soldiers,  with  the  assistance  of  citizens  and 
negroes  pressed  into  the  service,  encircled  the  town.  As  the 
cavalry  fell  back  the  Rebels  established  their  lines  within 
rifle  range  of  the  defences.  During  several  following  days, 
with  the  exception  of  slight  skirmishing,  both  armies  occu 
pied  themselves  in  strengthening  their  position.  The  Reb 
els  converted  four  hundred  acres  of  timber  into  breastworks 


494  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  fortifications  for  rifle  pits,  making  about  two  and  a  half 
miles  of  permanent  works  to  command  the  north  and  west  of 
the  city.  They  built  log  huts  and  made  themselves  com 
fortable,  as  if  they  meant  to  stay  during  the  winter,  and  were 
entirely  oblivious  of  the  necessities  and  condition  of  the  great 
army  from  which  they  had  been  detached. 

Of  the  defenders  of  the  besieged  city  each  man  and  officer 
was  on  picket  duty  every  third  day,  twenty-four  uninterrupted 
hours,  being  detailed  the  morning  of  one  day  to  remain  on 
post  until  the  morning  of  the  next.  When  not  on  picket 
every  man  was  in  the  trenches,  where,  at  night,  one  in  four, 
sometimes  one  in  three,  was  kept  awake.  Biddle's  batallion, 
beside  making  reconnoisances  of  the  enemy's  lines  nearly 
every  day  as  cavalry,  performed  duty  as  infantry  on  the 
skirmish  line.  As  the  place  was  not  supplied  for  a  siege, 
coffee  and  sugar  soon  disappeared,  and  bread  made  of  mixed 
meal  and  flour  with  a  small  allowance  of  fresh  pork,  formed 
the  sole  articles  of  food.  On  these  short  rations  the  soldiers 
were  active  scouts,  vigilant  sentinels,  and  patient  laborers. 
Reminded  by  General  Burnside  of  the  trying  times  in  which 
the  forefathers  instituted  the  national  Thanksgiving,  they  ob 
served  the  appointed  day,  the  twenty-sixth  of  November,  eat 
ing  their  corn  bread  with  gratitude.  Citizens  were  not  behind 
in  loyalty.  An  elegant  mansion,  the  parlors  and  halls  of 
which  were  still  under  the  hands  of  fresco  painters,  was 
thrown  open  by  the  owner,  Mr.  Powell,  to  the  officers  and 
sick  of  a  regiment  on  duty  at  the  point.  But  this  was  not 
sufficient,  and  it  was  occupied  by  two  companies  while  its 
two  fronts  were  loop-holed.  "  Lay  it  level  with  the  ground, 
if  it  is  necessary,"  said  Powell. 

Burnside  confined  his  operations  mainly  to  defence,  but 
now  and  then  he  assumed  the  offensive.  The  Wilder  bat 
tery  rendered  good  service  by  moving  at  night  in  sections 
close  on  the  enemy's  lines,  and  keeping  up  an  incessant  fire. 

The  enemy  was  also  tireless,  especially  in  efforts  to  gain 
the  south  bank  of  the  Holston,  in  order  to  cut  off  foraging 
parties,  and  starve  the  town  into  surrender.  So  the  days 
wore  on.  When  thirteen  had  passed  Longstreet  brought 
affairs  to  a  crisis  by  an  assault  on  Fort  Sanders,  which,  on  a 


BURNSIDE  AND  HIS  STAFF.  495 

hill  in  the  north-west  of  the  town,  commanded  the  approaches 
in  that  direction,  and  which  was  the  most  formidable  point 
in  the  defences.  The  assault,  undertaken  with  reluctance, 
and  only  at  the  instigation  of  imperative  necessity,  was  an 
utter  failure.  It  cost  the  besiegers  nearly  a  thousand  men, 
while  not  a  hundred  of  the  defenders  fell.  Burnside  offered 
Longstreet  an  armistice  in  order  that  he  might  bury  the 
dead.  In  consequence  the  day  passed  without  further  fight 
ing.  The  next  day  brought  a  courier  with  tidings  of  the  vic 
tory  at  Chattanooga,  and  with  the  already  oft  repeated  prom 
ise  of  speedy  reinforcements. 

The  first  and  second  days  of  December  passed  with  no 
further  tidings.  The  sun  of  the  third  sank  in  gathering 
gloom;  but  that  night  a  body  of  forty  troopers,  almost  dead 
with  fatigue,  announced  the  approach  of  General  Sherman. 
Still  another  day  the  besiegers  held  their  line  of  investment 
intact;  but  before  the  sun  of  December  fifth  rose  they  ex 
changed  it  for  the  line  of  retreat.  General  Sherman  arrived 
on  the  following  day. 

Few  operations  during  the  war  were  so  creditable  to  offi 
cers  and  men  as  the  retreat  from  Loudon  and  the  defence  of 
Knoxville.  The  troops  admired  the  bearing  and  emulated 
the  spirit  of  "Old  Burnie."  "On  the  retreat,"  writes  Frank 
B.  Rose,  a  private  in  our  Fifteenth  battery,  "his  towering 
form  could  be  seen  at  all  times  where  the  fire  was  hottest. 
Only  for  his  good  example,  all  would  have  been  lost.  And 
his  staff  officers  did  not  exhibit  their  gallantry  in  the  rear, 
but  came  among  the  men  and  remained  with  them.  During 
the  worst  weather,  in  the  siege,  and  in  the  most  trying  en 
gagements,  the  General  was  always  on  the  ground,  cheering 
on  his  men  and  encouraging  them  by  his  noble  example.  It 
was  well  known  that  his  own  mess  never  had  any  better 
fare  than  that  of  the  private  soldier.  Where  is  there  an  In 
diana  soldier  who  would  not  face  certain  death  in  so  noble 
a  contest,  with  such  a  leader  as  General  Burnside?" 

Major  Burrage,  of  the  Thirty-Sixth  Massachusetts,  refers 
to  Burnside  with  exactly  the  same  feeling:  "The  noble 
bearing  of  Burnside  throughout  the  siege  won  the  admira 
tion  of  all."  In  a  speech  at  Cincinnati,  a  few  days  after  the 


496  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

siege  was  raised,  with  that  modesty  which  characterizes  the 
true  soldier,  he  said  that  the  honors  bestowed  on  him  be 
longed  to  his  under  officers  and  the  men  in  the  ranks.  These 
kindly  words  his  officers  and  men  will  ever  cherish,  and  in 
all  their  added  years  as  they  recall  the  widely-separated 
battle-fields,  made  forever  sacred  by  the  blood  of  their  fallen 
comrades,  and  forever  glorious  by  the  victories  there  won,  it 
will  be  their  pride  to  say,  "We  fought  with  Burnside  at 
Campbell  Station  and  in  the  trenches  at  Knoxville." 

General  Sherman  examined  Burnside's  fortifications  about 
Knoxville  with  curiosity,  and  declared  that  they  were  a 
"wonderful  production,  for  the  short  time  allowed  in  the  se 
lection  of  ground  and  the  construction  of  work." 

General  Burnside's  entire  loss  during  the  retreat  and  siege 
was  less  than  a  thousand,  while  Longstreet's  loss  was  more 
than  two  thousand,  perhaps  amounted  to  three  thousand. 

The  Indiana  troops  which  were  in  Knoxville  during  the 
siege  have  been  mentioned,  except  the  Eightieth  infantry. 

General  Burnside  had  ordered  General  Wilcox  to  with 
draw  the  troops  who  were  in  the  upper  part  of  the  valley  of 
East  Tennessee,  to  Cumberland  Gap,  in  the  event  of  Long- 
street's  advance.  Accordingly  Wilcox  withdrew  when  the 
Rebel  army  began  to  appear  above  the  Tennessee.  His  in 
fantry  force  consisted  mainly  of  the  Indiana  six  months  regi 
ments.  His  cavalry  constituted  two  brigades,  under  Colonel 
Garrard,  and  Colonel  Graham  of  the  Fifth  Indiana.  He  had 
four  batteries,  one  of  which  was  the  Twenty-Third  Indiana. 
On  the  approach  of  Sherman  toward  Knoxville,  he  left  the 
gap,  and  marched  down  to  annoy  General  Longstreei 
Colonel  Graham  had  advanced  ten  miles  beyond  Clinch 
river,  skirmishing,  when,  being  warned  of  a  large  force,  he 
fell  back  at  night,  almost  to  Walker's  ford.  The  next  morn 
ing  he  was  heavily  attacked.  After  several  hours  of  brisk 
fighting,  he  was  falling  back  for  want  of  ammunition,  when, 
about  eleven  o'clock,  the  brigade  of  infantry,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Jackson,  came  to  his  relief.  The 
One  Hundredth  and  Eighteenth,  under  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Elliott,  was  the  first  to  approach.  It  waded  across, 
formed  in  line  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and  advanced,  not- 


THR  CLINCH  MOUNTAIN  RANGERS.  497 

withstanding  that  the  enemy  pressed  on  both  its  flanks  and 
made  a  charge  on  its  right.  Near  noon  the  One  Hundred 
and  Sixteenth  waded  the  river  in  the  face  of  a  musketry  fire, 
and  held  the  enemy  in  check  while  the  troops  previously 
engaged  retired.  The  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  remained 
confronting  a  whole  brigade  till  nearly  dark.  It  then  re 
gained  the  northern  bank  of  the  Clinch,  under  the  protection 
of  the  Twenty-First  Ohio  battery.  In  the  engagement  at 
Walker's  Ford,  the  Fifth  was  under  the  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel  Butler,  and  the  Sixty-Fifth,  of  Captain 
Hodge.  Both  regiments  were  handled  skillfully  and  be 
haved  gallantly. 

The  cavalry  now  moved  along  Clinch  river  to  Bean's  Sta 
tion,  where,  on  the  fourteenth  of  December,  a  sharp  engage 
ment  took  place,  lasting  from  noon  till  three  the  next  morn 
ing.  At  Powder  Spring  gap  and  Skragg's  Mills,  the  affair 
was  repeated,  the  troops  acquitting  themselves  at  each  place 
gallantly,  and  bestowing  severe  rebuffs  on  the  enemy. 

Meantime  the  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth,  delayed  at 
a  ford  near  Tazewell  long  enough  to  build  a  foot  bridge,  the 
enemy  having  destroyed  all  ferry  boats,  was  pushed  across  to 
Clinch  mountain  gap  on  the  road  to  Bean's  station,  with  in 
structions  to  repair  the  road  that  trains  might  the  more  easily 
pass.  A  member  of  the  regiment  writes: 

"  Longstreet's  army  had  retreated  on  up  the  valley,  and 
our  troops,  under  command  of  Shackleford,  had  possession  of 
Bean  station,  and  beyond.  The  One  Hundred  and  Seven 
teenth  had  been  for  some  days  at  work  in  the  gap  in 
fancied  security,  and  under  instructions  paying  no  atten 
tion  to  the  movements  of  the  troops  on  either  side  of  us, 
when,  during  the  afternoon  of  December  14,  we  were  ap 
prised  of  the  fact  that  Shackleford  was  engaging  the  en 
emy,  not  by  him,  however,  but  by  our  own  eyes.  From  oui 
elevated  position,  from  which  we  could  survey  the  country 
for  miles,  we  could  see  down  in  the  valley  the  bursting  of 
shells,  but  could  hear  no  report.  Toward  evening  these 
gradually  neared  Bean's  station,  and  it  became  evident  that 
Shackleford  was  losing  ground.  Bearing  in  mind  our  in- 
32 


498  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

structions  to  pay  no  attention  to  the  movements  of  troops  on 
either  side  of  us,  we  continued  our  work  until  near  dark,  when 
information  was  brought  Colonel  Brady  that  the  train  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  toward  Tazevvell,  and  which  had  just 
gone  into  camp  there,  was  attacked  by  the  enemy.  Colonel 
Brady  immediately  sent  his  Adjutant  to  inform  General 
Shackleford  of  the  fact,  and  marched  down  with  four  com 
panies  to  the  relief  of  the  train  guard.  Before  he  was  half 
way  down  the  mountain,  the  train  was  captured,  and  a  body 
of  men  reported  marching  over  a  by-road  to  the  summit  of 
the  north  or  east  peak  of  the  mountains  which  formed  the 
gap.  Ordering  the  four  companies  to  return  to  the  gap, 
Brady  hurried  back  in  person  and  despatched  company  G, 
Captain  Woodmansee,  to  the  top  of  the  peak.  Happily  it 
reached  its  destination  just  in  time,  and  after  a  brisk  fight  in 
the  brush  for  a  few  minutes,  retained  possession  of  the  posi 
tion.  It  was  now  dark,  fortunately  for  the  One  Hundred 
and  Seventeenth.  The  Adjutant  had  returned  with  the  in 
formation  that  he  had  run  a  narrow  escape,  for  the  enemy 
was  in  possession  of  Bean's  station,  and  a  regiment  was  al 
ready  en  route  for  the  gap  from  that  direction.  This  was 
confirmed  by  some  men  of  Shackleford's  who  had  been  cut 
off  and  now  joined  us.  Here  was  a  quandary.  The  enemy 
in  our  front,  our  rear,  and  upon  one  flank  that  we  knew  of. 
Calling  the  commanders  of  companies  together,  Brady  gave 
it  as  his  opinion  that  there  were  but  two  things  to  choose  be 
tween — stay  where  they  were  and  be  captured  at  daylight, 
certain;  or  take  their  chances  for  an  escape  over  the  moun 
tains.  They  thought  anything  better  than  capture.  Accord 
ingly,  destroying  what  we  could  not  carry,  leading  all  the 
animals  present  in  camp,  at  about  nine  in  the  evening  of  the 
fourteenth  of  December,  the  regiment  clambered  to  the  sum 
mit  of  the  south  peak  of  the  gap  mountains,  and  took  up  its 
line  of  march  toward  Knoxville.  The  summit  was  very 
broken — now  a  fissure  in  the  rocks  that  had  to  be  leaped  by 
men,  horses  and  mules,  now  an  abrupt  rock,  jutting  up,  that 
had  to  be  flanked,  broken  trees  and  undergrowth  that  made 
the  route  almost  impassable.  It  was  not  long  before  the  ma 
jority  of  the  horses  were  left  behind,  some  tumbling  over  the 


SHERMAN'S  MARCH  FROM  THE  HIAWASSEE.  499 

mountain  side  down  into  the  darkness,  others  refusing  to 
make  the  leaps  necessary  to  get  along.  The  regiment  was 
compelled  to  march  the  greater  distance  in  what  is  called 
*  Indian  file,'  one  behind  the  other,  as  the  boys  said  '  holding 
on  to  one  another.*  Below  us  on  either  hand  the  valleys 
were  lit  up  by  countless  fires  and  formed  a  magnificent  sight. 
Under  ordinary  circumstances  one  might  have  gone  into  ec- 
stacies  over  it.  But  the  march  was  slow  and  painful,  while 
we  were  in  constant  danger  of  discovery.  We  continued 
thus  upon  the  mountain  tops  until  eight  or  nine  in  the  morn 
ing  the  next  day,  when,  upon  our  left,  we  discovered  what 
proved  to  be  General  HascalPs  division.  Reporting  to  him, 
the  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  was  immediately  as 
signed  to  a  position  in  the  line  of  battle.  We  were  received 
with  every  manifestation  of  delight,  for  Shackleford  had  re 
ported  that  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  escape,  and  word  had 
been  forwarded  to  General  Wilcox  by  General  Sturgis,  com 
manding  the  army  then  confronting  Longstreet,  'that  the 
One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  was  undoubtedly  captured.' 
We  were  looked  upon  as  the  dead  returned  to  life." 

The  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  was  now  assigned  to 
Gilbert's  brigade,  of  HascalPs  corps,  and  remained  with  it, 
taking  part  in  all  the  skirmishes  and  battles  that  ensued. 

Although  Burnside  was  reinforced  by  the  Fourth  corps, 
from  Sherman's  force,  he  was  too  poorly  provided  with  hor 
ses  to  follow  Longsf  reet  many  miles.  At  Blain's  Cross  Roads, 
and  at  Rutledge,  the  enemy's  rear  was  forced  to  fight. 

December  7,  President  Lincoln  officially  proclaimed  that 
the  enemy  had  retreated  from  Knoxville,  and  recommended 
that  all  loyal  people  "  do  assemble  at  their  places  of  worship 
and  render  special  homage  and  gratitude  to  Almighty  God 
for  this  great  advancement  of  the  national  cause." 

It  is  necessary  now  to  follow  the  march  of  General  Sher 
man.  The  Chattanooga  campaign,  closing  the  last  day  of 
November,  left  him  on  the  banks  of  the  Hiawassee,  ready  to 
precipitate  his  command  into  the  Knoxville  campaign,  for 
the  relief  of  his  twelve  thousand  beleagured  comrades. 
Bridges  were  laid  in  the  night  and  a  crossing  was  made  in 
the  morning.  "  March  "  was  the  uninterrupted  order  of  the  fol- 


500  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

lowing  days.  As  the  weather  was  inclement,  the  roads  were 
in  a  most  wretched  condition,  the  streams,  many  of  them 
deep  and  broad,  were  tmbridged,  clothing  was  exceedingly 
scanty,  and  the  delivery  of  rations  was  absolutely  at  an  end, 
the  order  was  not  easily  observed.  As  far  as  possible,  as 
sistance  was  rendered  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
Though  smarting  under  the  late  infliction  of  the  enemy's 
passage  though  their  farms  and  barns,  they  opened  hidden 
stores.  They  brought  out,  also,  long  concealed  flags  and 
added  every  word  and  act  of  encouragement  inventive  love 
could  suggest. 

Beside  the  troops  from  Chattanooga,  forces  which  had  been 
engaged  in  Middle  Tennessee,  marched  toward  Knoxvillc, 
joining  Sherman.  Among  these  was  the  Second  Indiana 
cavalry,  which  crossed  Caney  Fork  of  the  Cumberland  river  in 
two  small  flat  boats,  and  served  in  the  duty  of  ferrying  other 
regiments  over.  Unhappily  the  boat  upset  and  twelve  men 
belonging  to  the  Second  were  drowned. 

Two  days  from  the  Hiawassee  brought  Sherman  to  the  Lit 
tle  Tennessee,  where  he  was  delayed  by  the  necessity  of  con 
structing  a  bridge.  Never  for  a  moment  forgetting  the  peril 
of  Burnside,  he  despatched,  on  the  night  of  the  second,  a 
picked  body  of  cavalry  with  orders  to  push  into  Knoxville  at 
whatever  cost  of  life  and  horse-flesh.  The  distance  was 
forty  miles,  and  the  hills  over  which  the  wretched  road 
wound  were  long  and  stony,  but  the  troopers  scarcely  drew 
rein,  until,  having  run  through  the  enemy's  lines,  they  deliv 
ered  the  welcome  intelligence  of  the  approach  of  powerful 
assistance. 

Sherman  crossed  the  Little  Tennessee  the  night  of  the 
fourth,  and  the  next  day  reached  Marysville,  twelve  miles 
south  of  Knoxville.  Here  his  progress  was  arrested  by  the 
announcement  of  Longstreet's  departure.  He  visited  Knox 
ville,  and  on  his  return  sent  Wood's  and  Sheridan's  divisions 
to  reinforce  Burnside.  He  then  started  back  to  Chattanooga. 
Cold  rains,  which  were  falling  at  the  start,  gave  place  to  bit 
ter  winds  and  snows.  The  soldier's  haversack  contained 
only  corn-meal  and  coffee.  His  single  shirt  scarcely  held  to 
gether.  His  pantaloons  were  torn.  His  shoes  were  ragged 


WINTER  AMONG  THE  MOUNTAINS.  501 

or  gone,  and  his  feet  were  wrapped  in  sheepskin,  cowhide,  or 
remnants  of  old  clothing.  Too  often  they  stained  the  cruel 
ground  with  blood.  On  arriving  at  Chattanooga  the  divis 
ions  of  the  Fifteenth  corps  were  supplied  with  rations  and 
nothing  beside,  and  pushed  on  over  the  mountains,  through 
intense  cold,  to  Bridgeport.  Here  they  joined  the  First  and 
Third  divisions,  and  were  put  under  the  command  of  General 
Logan. 

Mr.  Gage,  the  Chaplain  of  the  Twelfth  Indiana,  sums  up 
the  labors  of  the  Fourth  division  of  the  Fifteenth  corps  in  the 
following  paragraph : 

"During  the  three  months  occupied  in  ceaseless  activity, 
the  entire  division  had  marched  from  Memphis  to  Marysville, 
East  Tennessee,  and  returned  to  this  point,  a  distance  of 
more  than  seven  hundred  miles,  being  the  only  division  of 
the  corps  that  had  performed  this  herculean  labor.  We  had 
crossed  the  Tennessee  seven  times,  scaled  mountains,  and 
swept  through  rich  valleys,  through  heat  and  cold,  sun  and 
storm,  stumbling  over  rocks,  or  plunging  in  the  deep  mud, 
with  all  the  unnumbered  incidents  of  a  march  then  unparal 
leled  in  the  history  of  the  war.  In  the  distance  traveled 
without  rest,  it  still  remains  unequaled.  No  other  army  ever 
moved  on  one  unbroken  march  of  seven  hundred  miles  in  the 
space  of  three  months,  aided  in  relieving  two  beleagured  gar 
risons  from  a  state  of  siege,  and  all  with  more  general  cheer 
fulness  than  the  Fifteenth  corps  evinced  during  October,  No 
vember  and  December,  1863.  In  all  these  the  regiment 
shared." 

After  retiring  from  the  precincts  of  Knoxville,  Longstreet 
lurked  in  Virginia  and  the  contiguous  corner  of  Tennessee, 
in  a  district  which,  having  been  hitherto  undisturbed,  fur 
nished  him  abundantly,  though  grudgingly,  with  supplies. 
He  was,  however,  very  like  an  angry  dog  which  watches  a 
chance  to  snatch  again  a  lost  bone.  East  Tennessee,  stripped 
as  it  had  been  by  two  hungry  armies,  was  not  unlike  a  bone 
which  lively  claimants  have  fought  over. 

It  is  hard  to  say  which  suffered  the  most  during  the  bitter 
winter  of  '63  and  '64,  the  Union  troops  or  the  citizens. 
Perhaps  the  last,  as  they  were  tied  to  one  spot,  and  were  as 


502  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

unable  to  resist  as  they  were  to  command  force.  But  if  so 
their  sufferings  were  sad  indeed.  Especially  was  the  fate 
hard  of  "lone  widows,"  or  soldiers'  wives,  with  their  crying 
brood,  in  solitary  cabins.  Adequate  provision  had  not  been 
made  to  supply  a  large  army  by  way  of  Cumberland  Gap. 
In  consequence  many  of  the  troops  were  destitute  of  tents, 
and  some  were  without  overcoats  throughout  the  winter. 
When  they  were  stationary  they  were  almost  entirely  occu 
pied  in  cutting  and  hauling  wood  and  heaping  up  fires;  they 
subsisted  on  half  and  quarter  rations,  were  frequently  without 
sugar  and  coffee,  and  received  even  salt  in  scanty  measure. 
When  they  were  "on  the  go"  they  failed  to  get  any  rations, 
and  subsisted  for  days  and  for  weeks  on  parched  corn.  They 
seldom  remained  more  than  a  week  in  one  spot.  They 
scoured  the  country,  and  fought  the  enemy  from  Cumberland 
Gap  to  Chilowee  mountain, — up  and  down  the  Holston  and 
the  Clinch,  on  the  French  Broad,  and  on  Mossy  Creek, 
through  Weir's  cove  and  Tuckaleechee  cove,  over  into  North 
Carolina,  down  into  Georgia,  and  up  into  Virginia  and  Ken 
tucky. 

"We  dodge  about  among  the  mountains,"  says  one,  "not 
knowing  half  the  time  where  we  are,  or  where  we  are  going. 
We  stop  for  the  night,  and  perhaps  march  in  an  hour,  per 
haps  remain  in  that  spot,  under  marching  orders,  for  a  week." 

With  all  this  the  veteran  troops  were  healthy  and  cheerful. 
"It  is  surprising,"  writes  an  officer  of  the  Eighty-Sixth,  "how 
cheerfully  the  men  face  hardship.  They  are  worthy  the  grat 
itude  of  all  mankind." 

"  I  hardly  ever  hear  complaints,"  writes  a  member  of  Lil 
ly's  battery,  "  all  seem  contented,  and  to  do  their  best." 

In  the  army,  without  doubt,  the  six  months  troops  were 
the  greatest  sufferers.  That  they  were  always  in  motion, 
never  had  enough  food  or  clothing,  and  were  much  of  the 
time  without  tents,  was  not  their  singular  fate;  but  that  they 
were  fresh  from  home,  and  had  had  no  previous  discipline  in 
the  school  of  experience,  made  all  these  things  doubly  severe. 
They  were,  however,  efficient  soldiers,  and  were  greatly  in 
strumental  in  the  rescue  and  preservation  of  East  Tennessee. 
Their  term  expired  in  the  dead  of  winter,  and  they  marched 


BATTLE  OF  MOSSY  CREEK.  503 

homeward,  many  of  them  shod  in  moccasins  made  of  green 
hides. 

In  the  middle  of  January  our  Fifth  cavalry  parted  with 
its  horses  to  save  them  from  starvation.  The  First  battalion 
of  the  Sixth  had  no  horses  after  the  siege  of  Knoxville. 

The  Indiana  troops  which  came  up  from  Chattanooga  with 
Sherman  and  remained,  were:  Lilly's  battery,  the  Fourth 
cavalry,  Klein's  battalion,  to  which  was  added  Companies 
L  and  M,  the  Sixth,  Fifteenth,  Twenty-Second,  Thirty-Sec 
ond,  Fortieth,  Fifty- Seventh,  Fifty-Eighth,  Sixty-Eighth, 
Seventy-Ninth  and  Eighty-Sixth  regiments. 

The  cold  weather  and  light  rations  of  East  Tennessee 
were  not  sufficient  to  chill  the  blood  of  the  troops.  Hostile 
forces  met  frequently  and  in  severe  encounter.  On  the  twen 
ty-third  of  December  Lilly's  battery  had  an  hour's  sharp  fight 
ing  at  Newmarket.  At  two  o'clock  Christmas  morning 
Campbell's  brigade,  with  four  of  Lilly's  guns,  marched  south 
east  to  prevent  a  reported  flank  movement.  It  drove  a  large 
force  of  the  enemy  from  Dandridge,  and  pursued  three  miles 
northward,  making  several  captures.  While  in  pursuit  its 
rear  was  unexpectedly  attacked,  and  two  of  the  guns  were 
captured.  They  were  retaken  with  the  loss  of  a  caisson,  but 
a  third  gun  was  abandoned  after  it  was  spiked.  Campbell, 
fighting  sharply,  hastened  toward  carnp,  which  he  reached 
late  at  night.  Nothing  was  seen  of  the  enemy  on  the  follow 
ing  day.  At  night  a  reconnoissance  was  made  to  Mossy 
creek.  On  the  twenty-seventh,  at  Talbott's  Station,  a  sharp 
fight  occurred,  in  which  the  Second  Indiana,  Klein's  battal 
ion,  Lilly's  battery,  and  other  troops  were  engaged.  On  the 
twenty-ninth  General  Sturgis,  at  Newmarket,  sent  a  force  of 
infantry  and  cavalry,  with  two  of  Lilly's  guns,  to  intercept  a 
body  of  the  enemy,  reported  to  be  moving  toward  his  right. 
The  hostile  bodies  came  together  at  Mossy  creek  suddenly, 
and  with  so  much  force  as  almost  to  prove  the  destruction 
of  the  smaller.  Nine  pieces  of  artillery  bore  upon  Lilly's  two 
guns,  while  in  infantry  and  cavalry,  also,  the  Rebels  largely 
outnumbered  our  troops.  The  unequal  combat  was  fast  ap 
proaching  an  unhappy  termination,  when  Sturgis'  reserve 
troops  came  to  the  rescue.  The  battle  lasted  five  hours,  and 


504  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

was  the  fiercest  and  most  furious  engagement  of  which  the 
combatants  ever  had  experience.  Lilly's  battery  could  not 
have  acquitted  itself  more  creditably.  It  lost  nine  men. 
Lieutenant  J.  A.  Scott  was  severely  wounded,  and  though 
he  afterwards,  on  the  promotion  of  Captain  Lilly  to  a  posi 
tion  in  the  cavalry  service,  was  made  commander  of  the  bat 
tery,  he  never  recovered  sufficiently  to  serve.  The  Fourth 
cavalry  also  acted  with  distinguished  gallantry  The  enemy 
was  pursued  hotly,  but  he  was  not  overtaken.  On  the 
first  of  January  the  pursuers  returned  to  Mossy  creek,  and 
encamped  in  line  of  battle.  The  Rebels  appeared  and  dis 
appeared  in  their  front  during  eighteen  following  days,  and 
skirmished  hotly  with  troops  thrown  out  to  meet  them,  or  to 
watch  their  movements. 

Meantime  the  Fourth  corps  built  a  railroad  bridge  over 
the  Holston  at  Strawberry  Plains,  and  moved  to  Dandridge, 
where,  on  the  seventeenth  of  January,  the  severity  of  the 
skirmishing  seemed  to  threaten  a  general  engagement.  Our 
Fifth  cavalry  was  engaged  from  ten  until  three,  when  Major 
Wooley,  at  the  head  of  his  command,  made  a  charge  on 
foot.  He  drove  the  enemy  before  him  and  reached  the  sum 
mit  of  a  hill,  whence  a  view  of  the  main  Rebel  line  induced 
him  to  change  his  course  in  haste. 

The  following  night,  a  general  retreat  from  Dandridge 
was  made,  and  on  the  night  of  the  nineteenth,  from  Mossy 
creek.  The  new  bridge  over  the  Holston,  and  the  property 
which  could  not  be  removed  from  Strawberry  Plains,  on  ac 
count  of  a  general  thaw,  which  now  made  the  roads  nearly 
impassable,  were  burned. 

The  retreat  continued  to  Knoxville.  However,  it  was 
quite  uncalled  for,  as  Longstreet  was  also  retreating  and  in 
equal  haste.  On  the  twenty-third  there  was  a  little  fight 
at  Muddy  creek,  in  which  Lilly's  battery  was  engaged.  On 
the  twenty-seventh,  a  more  important  affair  took  place  near 
Fair  Garden.  Captain  Rosencrantz,  with  the  Second  bat 
talion  of  the  Fourth  cavalry  and  with  the  Second  Indiana 
and  First  Wisconsin,  dismounted  as  skirmishers,  charged  on 
the  enemy's  skirmishers.  Three  times  the  Rebels  were 
driven  from  positions  which  they  strove  vehemently  to  hold. 


RECONNOISSANCE  TOWARD  DALTON.  505 

Finally  they  abandoned  everything  and  fled  before  an  im 
petuous  sabre  charge,  led  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Leslie,  of 
the  Fourth,  and  Second  Indiana,  and  First  Wisconsin,  sup 
ported  by  Lilly's  battery.  Such  was  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  onset  was  made,  that  General  M'Cook  and  his 
staff  caught  the  spirit  and  joined  in  the  rush.  The  charging 
party  cut  down  all  who  resisted,  took  a  battery  and  captured 
more  than  a  hundred  prisoners ;  but  it  lost  its  gallant  leader, 
Colonel  Leslie,  who  was  shot  dead,  the  ball  entering  his 
breast. 

While  the  troops  in  East  Tennessee  held  their  ground, 
and  hardly  held  it,  against  the  combined  assaults  of  winter, 
hunger  and  the  enemy,  the  army  in  the  region  of  Chatta 
nooga  found  comparative  rest  and  comfort  in  winter  quarters. 

But  one  important  demonstration  was  made  during  the 
season.  It  was  coincident  with  an  expedition  of  Sherman's 
to  Meridian,  Mississippi,  and  undertaken  partly  to  prevent 
reinforcements  at  that  point  from  the  army  of  Johnston,  who 
had  superseded  Bragg.  On  the  twenty-second  of  February, 
the  Fourteenth  corps,  under  General  Palmer,  set  out  toward 
the  south.  The  divisions  of  Davis,  Baird  and  Johnson, 
moved  on  the  direct  road  to  Dalton ;  while  Stanley's  division, 
which  had  been  encamped  at  Cleveland,  and  was  under  the 
command  of  General  Cruft,  moved  at  some  distance  on  the 
left.  Palmer's  advance,  passing  to  the  left  of  the  Chicka- 
mauga  battle  field,  and  over  Taylor's  ridge,  marched  twenty- 
three  miles  the  first  day,  and  occupied  Ringgold.  Starting 
at  dawn  the  next  day,  it  skirmished  through  the  forenoon 
with  cavalry. 

At  noon,  Cruft  came  up  with  his  division,  and  line  of  bat 
tle  was  formed  with  cavalry  in  advance  and  on  the  left  flank, 
before  the  corps  moved  forward.  Four  pieces  of  artillery, 
which,  under  Wheeler,  were  blazing  away  on  Tunnel  Hill, 
were  silenced  by  the  Second  Minnesota  and  the  Ninth  Indi 
ana  batteries,  and  the  ridge  was  occupied  about  four  in  the 
afternoon. 

The  cavalry  now  pressed  forward  in  pursuit  of  a  few  scat 
tered  Rebels,  but  at  Rocky-Face  ridge,  in  a  gorge  through 


506  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

which  the  railroad  and  turnpike  passes,  was  checked  by  a 
cross-fire  from  six  guns. 

The  enemy  held  the  place  during  the  night,  but,  after  con 
siderable  fighting,  the  next  morning  retreated,  with  the  loss 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  captured.  Palmer  pressed 
on  toward  Dalton,  descending  through  the  gaps  into  the 
Rocky-Face  Valley,  Cruft  on  the  left,  Johnson  on  the  right, 
Baird  on  the  left  centre,  Davis  on  the  right  centre.  Skirm 
ishing  was  lively,  the  enemy's  force  being  heavier  than  it 
had  yet  been.  Two  miles  from  Dalton,  it  was  evident  to 
Palmer  that  the  whole  of  Johnston's  army  was  prepared  to 
receive  him.  As  he  was  unable  to  cope  with  so  formidable 
a  force,  he  fell  back  toward  Tunnel  Hill;  and  after  a  few 
days,  to  Ringgold. 

His  loss  in  this  demonstration  was  about  three  hundred 
and  fifty  killed  and  wounded. 


EXPEDITION  TO  LITTLE  ROCK.  597 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

IN  ARKANSAS,  LOUISIANA  AND  TEXAS. 

'  Tis  midnight ;  through  my  troubled  dream 

Loud  wails  the  tempest's  cry ; 
Before  the  gale,  with  tattered  sail, 

A  ship  goes  plunging  by. 
What  name  ?     Where  bound  ? — The  rocks  around 

Repeat  the  loud  halloo. 
The  good  ship  Union,  Southward  bound ; 

God  help  her  and  her  crew  !  — O.  W.  Holmes. 

The  first  of  August,  General  Steele  organized  at  Helena 
an  expedition  for  the  capture  of  Little  Rock.  He  moved 
out  on  the  tenth  with  twelve  thousand  men  and  forty  guns, 
his  cavalry,  which  was  nearly  half  his  force,  and  was  under 
the  command  of  General  Davidson,  clearing  the  way.  After 
skirmishing  two  days,  Davidson  halted  before  intrenchments 
at  Bayou  Metea,  and  with  some  trouble  drove  the  enemy 
out  and  beyond  the  bayou.  Moving  to  the  left,  and  again 
sharply  skirmishing,  he  struck  the  Arkansas  near  Ashley's 
Mills.  During  the  night  of  September  9,  he  threw  pontoons 
over  the  river.  He  crossed  the  next  forenoon,  marched, 
fighting,  toward  the  north,  and  met  stubborn  resistance  on 
Bayou  Fourche.  Steele,  struggling  after  him  through  the 
swamps  of  the  Metea,  and  leaving  hundreds  of  sick  on  the 
road,  fought  his  way  from  Ashley's  Mills  on  a  parallel 
course,  up  the  Arkansas,  and  fired  from  the  north  bank  of 
the  river  on  the  enemy  opposing  Davidson. 

Unable  to  withstand  the  double  attack,  the  enemy  yielded 
ground,  and  after  hurriedly  applying  the  brand  to  six  steam 
boats,  three  pontoon  bridges,  two  locomotives,  and  several 
railroad  cars,  fled  through  Little  Rock  toward  Arkadelphia. 

During  the  march  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Arkansas, 
commencing  August  10,  and  terminating  September  10, 


508  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Steele  lost,  perhaps,  five  thousand  men  by  sickness,  and  one 
hundred  by  the  hand  of  the  enemy.  Not  all  the  swamps  of 
Arkansas,  unaided  by  the  neglect  or  mismanagement  of  re 
sponsible  officials,  could  occasion  or  can  explain  so  fearful 
an  amount  of  disease. 

Immediately  after  the  occupation  of  Little  Rock  by  the 
Federal  army  under  General  Steele,  a  Post  was  established 
at  Pine  Bluffs,  fifty  miles  below,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Clayton,  of  the  Fifth  Kansas  cavalry.  His  force 
consisted  of  his  own  regiment  and  the  First  Indiana  cavalry; 
both  small  regiments,  but  celebrated  for  their  fighting  quali 
ties.  Continually  menaced  by  superior  numbers  from  differ 
ent  points,  Clayton  was  compelled  to  keep  in  action  all  the 
energy  and  endurance  of  his  little  command. 

The  distance  from  Pine  Bluff*  to  Camden,  where  Price's 
army  lay,  is  eighty  miles.  Between  the  two  places  flows 
the  Saline  river,  the  nearest  point  of  which  to  Pine  Bluffs  is 
thirty  miles.  The  whole  country  south  of  the  Saline  was  in 
almost  undisturbed  possession  of  the  Rebels;  north  and  east 
was  debatable  ground,  overrun  by  the  scouts  of  both  parties. 
Forty-five  miles  southeast  of  Pine  Bluffs  and  twelve  miles 
east  of  the  Saline,  at  Monticello,  the  Rebels  usually  kept  a 
cavalry  force  of  from  one  to  two  thousand  men.  Stretching 
north-westward  from  Monticello,  they  had  a  line  of  outposts 
guarding  every  approach  to  Camden. 

In  October,  1863,  the  Rebels  concentrated  from  two  thou 
sand  to  four  thousand  men  under  General  Marmaduke,  and 
attacked  Pine  Bluffs.  Their  repulse  by  Colonel  Clayton 
with  his  little  command  numbering  scarcely  six  hundred 
men,  after  a  furious  contest  of  six  hours  duration,  is  one  of 
the  most  gallant  achievements  of  the  war. 

Shortly  afterward,  Clayton  was  reinforced  by  the  Twenty- 
Eighth  Wisconsin  infantry,  a  portion  of  the  Seventh  Mis 
souri  cavalry,  and  about  two  hundred  of  the  Eighteenth  Illi 
nois  infantry,  To  watch  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and 
to  prevent  guerilla  raids  on  our  pickets,  small  scouting 
parties  were  sent  out  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  on  the  differ 
ent  roads.  The  parties  usually  numbered  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  men,  and  were  commanded  by  young  officers  of 


ACTIVITY  OF  TITS  ENEMY  IN  LOUISIANA.  509 

known  bravery  and  vigilance.  Lieutenant  Frank  M.  Great- 
house,  of  company  H,  First  Indiana  cavalry,  was  dis 
tinguished  for  the  success  which  attended  his  expeditions. 
Being  out  near  the  Saline  one  evening,  with  fifteen  men,  he 
was  informed  that  an  officer  of  General  Kirby  Smith's  staff 
and  two  soldiers  were  at  a  house  three  miles  beyond  the 
river.  He  determined  to  capture  them;  and  as  soon  as  it 
was  dark,  crossed  the  river,  taking  four  men  with  him,  and 
travelled  on  foot  to  the  place  indicated.  The  proprietor, 
under  the  impression  that  Greathouse  and  his  men  were 
Rebels,  informed  them  that  the  Captain  and  party  were  at 
a  ball  about  four  miles  further  on.  Greathouse  kept  on,  and 
arriving,  reconnoitred  through  a  window.  He  discovered  at 
a  supper  table  seven  Southern  soldiers  and  about  the  same 
number  of  ladies.  He  noiselessly  placed  two  men  at  the 
back  door,  and  two  at  the  front,  then  walked  in  and  informed 
the  gentleman  they  were  his  prisoners,  that  resistance  on 
their  part  would  only  end  in  their  own  destruction,  as  he  had 
the  house  securely  guarded.  He  ordered  them  to  hand  over 
their  six-shooters,  and  allowed  them  to  finish  their  supper. 
Completely  deceived  and  cowed  by  his  confident  manner, 
they  surrendered  and  invited  him  to  the  table.  The  invita 
tion  was  accepted.  When  they  were  ordered  to  fall  in  line 
outside,  and  saw  the  small  number  of  their  captors,  their 
mortification  was  excessive,  and  was  only  equalled  by  their 
profanity.  The  Captain  and  his  men,  with  their  horses,  were 
brought  safely  into  Pine  Bluff. 

During  the  concentration  of  General  Banks'  forces  about 
Port  Hudson,  the  lately  driven  Rebels  were  rampant  in  the 
newly  conquered  portions  of  Louisiana.  They  reoccupied 
Alexandria  and  Opelousas;  fell  upon  a  camp  of  contrabands, 
killing  a  large  number;  swept  over  the  New  Orleans  railroad, 
capturing  the  guard  at  each  post,  except  at  LaFourche 
crossing,  where  a  little  force,  of  which  part  \vas  a  company 
of  the  Twenty-First  Indiana  with  a  light  battery,  after  a 
gallant  fight  secured  a  retreat;  they  attacked  Brash  ear,  where 
was  company  F  of  the  Twenty-First,  and  took  the  town, 
with  nearly  one  thousand  prisoners,  vast  quantities  of  am 
munition,  sutlers'  goods,  commissary  and  medical  stores,  and 


510  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

confiscated  cotton;  they  made  a  raid  on  Plaquemine,  and 
burnt  two  steamers  lying  there;  attacked  Donaldsonville, 
and  found  their  way  into  a  fort,  though  they  were  driven  out 
by  a  flanking  fire  from  gunboats  above  and  below;  they  es 
tablished  a  post  near  Morganza,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  there  narrow  and  crooked,  and  did  whatever  else 
celerity,  ingenuity,  boldness,  and  the  forces  at  their  disposal 
enabled  them  to  do. 

In  consequence  of  these  proceedings,  General  Banks,  al 
though  in  co-operation  with  General  Grant,  he  earnestly  de 
sired  to  besiege  Mobile,  was  forced  to  turn  to  the  task  of 
reconquering  Louisiana,  in  connection  with  which  General 
Halleck  imposed  the  obligation  of  restoring  Texas.  After 
withdrawing  to  New  Orleans,  dismissing  his  nine  months 
men,  and  receiving  the  Thirteenth  corps  from  Vicksburg,  he 
began  his  double  task.  He  strengthened  his  cavalry  by  sev 
eral  infantry  regiments,  among  them  the  Sixteenth  Indiana, 
and  kept  it  actively  engaged  protecting  transportation  along 
the  Mississippi,  and  dispersing  bands  of  partisan  rangers. 
Early  in  September  he  sent  Herron's  division,  which  had  ac 
companied  the  Thirteenth  corps,  to  Morganzia;  the  Thir 
teenth  corps  to  Brashear;  and  the  Nineteenth  corps  toSabine 
Pass,  the  two  latter  to  co-operate  in  a  movement  on  Hous 
ton,  the  first  to  drive  the  bushwhacking  forces  from  the  river. 

Herron  landed  without  opposition,  the  Rebels  under  Gen 
eral  Greene  having  retreated  beyond  the  Atchafalya.  He 
established  a  detachment,  consisting  of  the  Twenty-Sixth 
Indiana,  Nineteenth  Iowa,  one  hundred  and  fifty  Missouri 
cavalry,  and  twenty-two  guns,  six  miles  inland.  Scouting 
parties  from  this  outpost  daily  came  in  contact  with  the 
enemy,  and  reported  his  proximity,  nevertheless,  it  was  sur 
prised  at  midnight  of  September  28,  and,  although  sharply 
defended,  was  captured,  the  cavalry  and  half  the  infantry 
effecting  a  rapid  retreat  to  the  river,  and  about  four  hundred 
of  the  infantry  surrendering.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Leake,  in 
command  of  the  camp,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Rose,  in 
command  of  the  Twenty-Sixth,  were  among  the  prisoners, 
with  several  other  officers  and  two  hundred  and  eighty  men 
of  the  Twenty-Sixth. 


SABINE  PASS  EXPEDITION.  511 

An  Indiana  private,  Adam  Kirkwood,  with  a  black  man, 
hid  three  days  in  an  old  well,  and  thus  escaped  the  weary 
march  and  the  nine  months  imprisonment  in  Texas  to  which 
his  comrades  were  subjected. 

The  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  fifty -four,  eighteen  of 
whom  were  Indianians.  Satisfied  with  the  parting  blow,  the 
Rebels  retreated  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  Sabine  Pass  expedition  was  a  very  pretentious  affair, 
and  proved  a  signal  failure.  It  consisted  of  four  gunboats  and 
a  land  force  of  four  thousand  from  the  Nineteenth  corps,  includ 
ing  three  companies  of  the  Twenty-First  Indiana,  and  was  un 
der  the  command  of  General  Franklin.  The  voyage  was  favor 
able,  and  the  approach  to  the  earthworks  on  Sabine  river  was 
unexpected,  but  Franklin  hovered  in  sight  twenty-four  hours, 
attempting  no  reconnoissance,  and  detained  his  land  force 
on  the  vessels  during  the  attack.  In  short  he  left  nothing  un- 

CD  o 

done  to  secure  a  failure.  He  lost  two  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
two  boats  and  fifteen  heavy  rifled  guns,  although  the  force 
behind  the  works  was  but  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

In  consequence  of  Franklin's  early  defeat  arid  his  immedi 
ate  return  to  New  Orleans,  the  Thirteenth  corps,  which  had 
reached  Brashear  without  opposition,  made  no  effort  to  pro 
ceed  beyond  that  point. 

The  unfortunate  conclusion  of  the  first  attempt  on  Texas 
did  not  deter  Banks  from  immediate  preparation  for  a  second 
expedition.  He  determined  to  direct  his  attention  to  the 
south-western  coast,  and  make,  at  the  same  time,  a  formida 
ble  demonstration  in  the  western  part  of  Louisiana  for  the 
purpose  of  engrossing,  or  at  least  dividing  the  enemy's  atten 
tion.  The  demonstration  was  to  be  conducted  under  the 
leadership  of  Franklin,  and  through  the  Teche  country,  where 
was  pleasant  marching  and  plenty  of  food.  In  the  first  days 
of  October  the  Nineteenth  corps  joined  the  Thirteenth,  which 
was  established  on  the  banks  of  the  lower  Atchafalya,  and 
was  luxuriating  in  cool  huts  with  palm  leaf  roofs,  or  in  breezy 
tents.  The  patient  soldiers  took  up  the  line  of  march  on  a 
road  which  followed  the  windings  of  the  dark,  smooth  Teche. 
It  was  a  holiday  march,  however. 


512  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  country  of  the  Teche  is  a  garden  region,  and  as  such 
appeared  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  notwithstanding  the  sweep 
of  two  armies  in  the  previous  May.  Ever-green  oaks  and 
cactuses,  magnolias  and  figs,  rose  trees  and  hedges  of  roses, 
orange  groves  and  hedges  of  orange  trees,  whose  golden  fruit 
the  wayfarer  plucked  as  he  passed;  princely  estates  and  hand 
some  mansions;  negro  cabins  and  sugar  houses;  humming 
birds  in  the  gardens,  and  mocking  birds  in  the  woods,  and 
throngs  of  negroes  formed  the  main  points  of  the  landscape 
which  unrolled  day  by  day.  The  most  hostile  residents  had 
abandoned  their  plantations,  and  the  people  who  remained 
were  generally  French  or  of  French  extraction,  and  seemed 
to  take  little  interest  in  the  contest  except  so  far  as  it  imme 
diately  effected  their  property  or  personal  comfort.  Many  of 
their  houses  displayed  the  French  tricolor,  and  some  the  yel 
low  ensign  of  Spain.  The  poorer  classes  were  destitute  of 
all  imported  luxuries,  yet  stood  in  very  little  need  of  them,  aa 
they  used  a  delicious  beverage  made  of  burnt  sugar  boiled  in 
milk  for  coffee,  and  had  an  abundance  of  the  finest  sweet 
potatoes,  plenty  of  oranges,  and  no  lack  of  animal  food. 
The  army  moved  slowly,  indulging  in  long  halts,  and  sleep 
ing  at  night  on  beds  made  of  the  soft  Spanish  moss.  A 
private  of  the  Sixty- Ninth,  speaking  of  starting  out  on  the 
twenty-third  of  October,  which  happened  to  be  a  rainy  day, 
after  a  long  rest  in  a  beautiful  camp  on  Vermilliori  Bayou, 
says,  "  We  were  torn  from  the  warm  nest  of  moss  which  we 
had  made."  Few  of  the  troops  ever  again  experienced  so 
agreeable  an  episode  in  their  military  life  as  their  march 
along  the  Teche.  There  are  dark  spots,  however,  here  and 
there  in  the  garden  region  of  Louisiana,  swamps  full  of 
slimy,  crawling  life. 

"Some  flowers  of  Eden  this  earth  inherits, 
But  the  trail  of  the  serpent  is  on  them  all." 

Turning  from  the  river  the  route  led  to  Opelousas,  through 
a  prairie-like  district,  where  herds  of  cattle  were  feeding  and 
the  habitations  of  men  were  poor,  few  and  far  between.  A 
portion  of  the  army  encamped  near  Opelousas,  while  a  por 
tion  went  eight  miles  further  to  Barr's  Landing,  on  the  Cor- 
tableau. 


TECHE  RIVER  CAMPAIGN.  513 

The  Indiana  troops  in  the  Teche  campaign  were  all  in 
the  Thirteenth  corps.  General  M'Ginnis  was  in  command 
of  Hovey's  division.  General  Cameron,  promoted  in  August, 
had  charge  of  M'Ginnis'  old  brigade.  Colonel  Slack  still 
was  in  command  of  a  brigade,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel 
McLaughlin  had  charge  of  the  Forty-Seventh  regiment. 
The  Eleventh  was  under  Colonel  Macauley.  The  Twenty- 
Third  was  under  Colonel  Spicely.  Colonel  Jones  had  com 
mand  of  the  Thirty-Fourth.  Colonel  Bringhurst  had  charge 
of  the  Forty-Sixth.  Colonel  Owen,  of  the  Sixtieth,  was  Act 
ing  Brigadier,  the  command  of  the  division  having  devolved 
upon  General  Burbridge.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Templeton 
having  been  honorably  discharged  on  account  of  disability, 
and  Major  Nash  having  resigned,  Captain  Goelzer  had  com 
mand  of  the  Sixtieth.  The  Sixty-Seventh  was  under  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Buehler,  Colonel  Emerson  not  having  recovered 
from  his  wound.  The  Forty-Ninth  and  Sixty-Ninth  were 
formed  in  batallion  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Perry  of  the  Sixty- Ninth,  Colonel  Bennett  being  in  command 
of  the  brigade.  Colonel  Lucas,  during  the  advance,  was  as 
signed  to  the  post  of  Vermillionsville,  and  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Kedfield  assumed  command  of  the  Sixteenth.  On  the 
return,  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  Colonel  Lucas'  brig 
ade  of  cavalry.  The  Fifty-Fourth  was  under  Colonel  Mans 
field. 

Throughout  the  march  a  Rebel  force,  under  Taylor  and 
Green,  was  never  far  off,  but  it  made  no  serious  opposition. 
October  17,  Major  Conover,  with  two  hundred  men  of  the 
Sixteenth  Indiana,  captured  from  the  enemy  three  thousand 
head  of  cattle  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  A  month  had  now 
been  consumed,  and  the  army  turned  to  retrace  its  steps. 
November  3,  the  advance,  the  Nineteenth  corps,  was  at  Ver- 
million  Bayou,  and  the  rear,  McGinnis'  division,  was  at  Car 
rion-Crow  Bayou,  and,  McGinnis  being  very  ill,  was  undei 
the  command  of  General  Cameron.  General  Washburn, 
temporarily  in  command  of  the  Thirteenth  corps,  accompa 
nied  the  rear.  The  position  of  Colonel  Owen's  brigade,  three 
miles  to  the  right  and  front,  tempted  the  cautious  though 
33 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

eager  enemy  to  break  his  reserve.  He  fell  upon  Owen  unex 
pectedly,  and  in  the  surprise  captured  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  Sixty-Seventh.  A  few  men,  under  Major  Sears,  cut  their 
way  out. 

The  Sixtieth,  in  turn,  under  command  of  Captain  Goelzer 
and  of  Lieutenant  Richardson,  a  gallant  officer  on  Owen's 
staff,  with  the  other  troops  of  the  brigade,  fought  well,  and 
though  forced  to  fall  back,  occupied  sufficient  time  in  the 
movement  to  enable  the  train,  and  also  several  paymasters, 
who  had  just  arrived,  to  get  a  fair  start  toward  safety. 

General  Cameron  and  Colonel  Slack  hastened  to  Owen's 
support.  The  enemy  was  checked,  pushed  back  to  the  cover 
of  a  wood,  through  which  Owen  had  retreated,  and  was 
eventually  driven  into  the  prairie  from  which  he  had  emerged. 
Cavalry  continued  in  pursuit  three  miles,  the  enemy  not  at 
tempting  to  turn. 

General  Washburn  reckons  the  Federal  loss  at  seven  hun 
dred  and  sixteen,  and  the  Rebel  loss  at  four  hundred  and 
twenty-five.  Forty-seven  of  our  wounded  were  humanely 
returned  by  the  enemy,  because  he  had  not  the  means  to  take 
care  of  them.  The  Sixtieth  lost  five  killed,  twenty-seven 
wounded,  of  whom  several  died  within  a  few  days,  and 
ninety-three  captured. 

During  the  fight,  and  after  the  advance  of  McGinnis'  di 
vision,  a  Rebel  cavalry  force  swept  round  the  left,  and  ap 
peared  before  the  camp,  but  was  held  off  by  the  troops  in 
charge,  the  Eleventh  Indiana,  Twenty-Ninth  Wisconsin,  and 
Twenty-Fourth  Iowa. 

Horace  Greeley  asserts  in  his  "  History  of  the  American 
Conflict"  that  the  "  Sixty-Seventh  Indiana  ingloriously  sur 
rendered  without  having  lost  a  man."  General  Burbridge, 
who  reached  the  field  with  General  Cameron,  wrote  to  Gov 
ernor  Morton,  December  3, 1863 :  "  Their  conduct  (he  is  speak 
ing  of  the  Sixtieth  and  Sixty-Seventh)  in  the  late  affair  at 
Grand  Coteau  was  what  was  to  have  been  expected  from 
their  noble  record  upon  many  hotly  contested  fields,  and  I 
desire  to  join  my  pride  and  gratification,  at  having  such  men 
in  my  command,  to  the  just  pride  of  the  State  at  having  sent 
them  to  fight  in  behalf  of  our  beloved  Union." 


THIRTEENTH  CORPS  MOVES  TO  TEXAS. 

Again  he  speaks  of  his  "hearty  approval  of  the  general 
conduct  and  discipline,  the  gallantry  on  the  field,  and  the 
soldierly  bearing  in  camp  of  the  two  regiments." 

Captain  Hendricks,  of  the  Sixty-Seventh,  was  mortally 
wounded ;  eight  others  were  wounded,  and  two  hundred  and 
six  surrendered. 

Colonel  Bringhurst  was  complimented  by  Generals  Wash- 
burn,  Cameron  and  Burbridge  for  the  promptness  with  which 
he  brought  the  Forty- Sixth  to  the  field. 

During  the  return  of  the  expedition  no  other  affair  of  im 
portance  occurred.  Cavalry  troops  frequently  came  in  con 
tact  with  small  bodies  of  the  enemy,  and  several  times  at 
tacked  Rebel  camps.  On  the  eighth,  in  a  skirmish,  the  Six 
teenth  lost  Captain  McFeely  and  several  men.  On  the 
twentieth,  with  its  brigade,  it  made  an  attack  on  an  outlying 
camp,  and  captured  one  hundred  men,  with  twelve  officers 
and  a  stand  of  colors.  On  the  twenty-third  a  portion  of  the 
Sixteenth  captured  forty  Rebels.  Two  days  afterward,  with 
the  Sixth  Missouri,  the  Sixteenth  captured  seventy  Rebels, 
and  drove  a  large  force  across  Vermillion  Bayou.  Again  it 
captured  twenty-three.  Once  it  captured  a  black  bear,  which 
had  possession  of  a  deserted  Rebel  camp. 

The  Forty-Seventh,  during  the  return  march,  suffered  the 
loss  of  ten  men  and  two  teams,  which  were  surprised  and 
captured  by  Texas  cavalry.  A  few  days  afterward  the  For 
ty-Seventh  surprised  the  Texas  camp,  and  captured  a  whole 
regiment. 

Colonel  Owen,  of  the  Sixtieth,  resigned  at  the  close  of  the 
Teche  campaign.  Captain  Goelzer  was  commissioned  Lieu 
tenant  Colonel,  and  in  the  spring  received  the  commission  of 
Colonel.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Barter  also  resigned,  being 
unable,  on  account  of  the  wound  received  in  the  battle  of 
Champion  Hills,  to  continue  longer  in  the  army.  His  place 
was  filled  by  Major  Grill. 

The  army  had  not  all  reached  Brashear  when  the  Thir 
teenth  corps  began  to  move  off  in  regiments  and  brigades, 
first  from  Berwick  Bay,  later  from  New  Orleans  to  the  coast 
of  Texas. 

During  the  Teche  diversion  Banks,  with  upward  of  twenty 


510  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

vessels,  and  Herron's  division  of  six  thousand  men,  now  un 
der  Dana,  sailed  over  a  smooth  sea,  and  with  favorable  winds, 
excepting  one  blast  of  a  "  Norther,"  to  the  western  edge  of 
Texas.  He  effected  a  landing  at  Brazos  Santiago  the  first 
of  November,  and  driving  before  him  a  small  body  of  the 
enemy,  proceeded  thirty  miles  up  the  Rio  Grande  to  Browns 
ville.  Here  he  left  Dana  with  part  of  the  force,  and  return 
ing  to  Brazos  Santiago,  met  there,  on  the  fifteenth  of  Novem 
ber,  the  first  installment  of  the  Thirteenth  corps.  With  this 
reinforcement,  which  included  the  Eighth  and  Eighteenth 
Indiana,  he  sailed  up  the  coast  toward  Corpus  Christi  Pass. 

Captain  Black  recounts  the  story  of  the  Eighteenth  dur 
ing  its  sojourn  on  the  Texan  coast:  "On  the  night  of  No 
vember  16,  the  Eighteenth  landed,  in  small  boats,  on  the  foot 
of  Mustang  Island,  where  the  troops  from  the  other  vessels 
had  already  landed  before  dark.  Gathering  together  around 
their  drift-wood  fires,  they  partially  dried  their  clothing, 
drenched  with  the  surf  through  which  they  had  waded  from 
the  boats,  and  there  lay  down  in  the  sand  to  sleep,  or  to  listen 
to  the  wailing  of  the  breakers.  At  daylight,  leaving  Captain 
Black  with  his  company  and  an  additional  detail  to  guard 
the  commissary  stores  and  ammunition  landed  on  the  beach, 
the  Eighteenth  followed  the  force  which  had  marched  up  the 
island.  At  the  head  of  the  island,  which  is  twenty  miles 
long,  the  Rebels  had  a  hundred  men,  with  a  battery  of  two 
large  old  United  States  guns,  and  an  old  iron  howitzer,  bear 
ing  an  inscription  commemorating  its  presentation  to  the 
Republic  of  Texas.  These  commanded  Aransas  Pass  for 
the  protection  of  blockade  runners.  On  the  morning  of  the 
nineteenth,  without  firing  a  shot,  the  little  garrison  surren 
dered  themselves  and  their  rusty  artillery  to  the  Yankee  ad 
vance  guard." 

The  following  night  a  Norther  came  up  and  caused  great 
suffering  to  the  Eighth,  the  most  of  the  men  being  without 
blankets,  and  the  camp  equipage  being  yet  on  board  the 
steamer.  For  three  days  the  regiment  was  without  any  shel 
ter,  and  even  without  sufficient  wood  to  make  a  comfortable 
fire. 

"Here  the  Eighth  and  Eighteenth  were  joined  by  the  re- 


FORT  ESPF/RANZA  CAPTURED.  517 

mainder  of  their  brigade.  On  the  twenty-second  the  troops 
crossed  Aransas  Pass  to  St.  Joseph's  Island,  np  the  beach  of 
which  they  marched  the  next  day  to  Cedar  Bayou,  which 
was  crossed  on  the  night  of  the  twenty-fifth  in  small  boats. 
Two  days  marching  up  the  beach  of  Matagorda  brought 
them  to  Fort  Esperanza,  a  very  formidable  Rebel  work  at 
the  head  of  the  island  where  the  town  of  Saluria  formerly 
stood,  commanding  the  entrance  to  Matagorda  Bay.  A 
severe  i  Norther,'  blowing  so  cold  that  the  men  could  not,  for 
a  moment,  dispense  with  their  blankets,  impeded  operations 
considerably,  but  on  the  twenty-ninth  the  outer  works  were 
occupied  by  Colonel  Washburn's  brigade,  the  men  running 
a  mile  along  the  beach  in  single  file,  under  the  fire  of  a  one 
hundred  and  sixty  pound  Columbiad.  Preparations  were 
made  for  storming  the  fort  in  the  morning,  but  during  the 
night  the  garrison  blew  up  the  magazines,  and  retreated  to 
the  main  land,  and  the  same  night  Colonel  Washburn's 
brigade  occupied  the  head  of  the  island.  The  army  remained 
here  till  the  twenty-third  of  December,  when  the  First  brig 
ade,  to  which  the  Eighth  and  Eighteenth  were  attached,  un 
der  command  of  General  Warren,  sailed  up  to  Indianola. 
The  remainder  of  the  white  forces  crossed  to  Matagorda 
Peninsula,  where  a  large  body  of  troops  were  collected,  pre 
paratory  to  the  invasion  of  Texas,  which,  however,  never 
took  place,  one  or  two  expeditions,  by  the  First  brigade,  six 
teen  miles  north-west,  to  Port  Lavacca,  being  the  only  ad 
vances  ever  made  from  the  coast.  Quartered  in  deserted 
houses,  the  troops  at  Indianola  passed  the  winter  with  its 
frequent 'Northers' quite  pleasantly.  Good  shelter,  oysters 
and  sea  breezes  secured  universal  health ;  and  the  kindly  dis 
posed  citizens,  most  of  whom  were  women,  enlivened,  by 
their  presence,  almost  nightly  gatherings  to  trip  the  light  fan 
tastic  toe." 

In  December,  the  Thirty-Fourth,  Forty-Ninth,  Sixty- 
Ninth,  Sixtieth  and  Sixty-Seventh  Indiana,  with  four  com 
panies  of  the  Forty-Sixth,  and  other  portions  of  the  Thir 
teenth  corps,  landed  on  Matagorda  peninsula  or  island. 

General  Dana,  after  scouring  the  country  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  finding  that  the  enemy  still  fell  back  before 


518  THFj  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

him,  left  at  Brownsville  a  garrison,  part  of  which  was  the 
little  remnant  of  the  Twenty-Sixth,  and  with  his  main  force 
he  also  sailed  for  Matagorda. 

However,  when  all  the  troops  were  collected  on  the  shores 
of  Matagorda  bay,  nothing  more  important  was  attempted 
than  the  building  of  a  line  of  strong  forts  across  the  island. 
In  March,  1864,  they  began  to  be  withdrawn.  A  most  un 
fortunate  occurrence  marked  the  opening  of  the  withdrawal. 
„  The  Sixty-Ninth  started  at  daybreak  on  the  morning  of 
the  thirteenth,  and  arrived  at  Saluria  Bayou,  near  the  Espe- 
ranza,  about  two  in  the  afternoon.  The  bayou,  more  than  a 
hundred  yards  wide,  was  very  rough  under  the  influence  of 
the  rising  tide  and  a  strong  wind.  Seven  companies  had 
crossed  safely  on  a  flat,  or  floating  bridge,  made  by  fasten 
ing  planks  on  three  pontoon  boats,  and  drawn  from  one 
shore  to  the  other  by  means  of  ropes,  and  K,  G  and  B,  with 
a  few  members  of  other  companies,  were  in  the  middle  of 
the  stream  when  the  water  began  to  run  over  the  boat.  The 
men  were  in  heavy  marching  order  with  knapsacks,  haver 
sacks,  canteens,  and  forty  rounds  of  cartridge,  but  they  were 
not  alarmed,  as  they  supposed  the  water  was  but  four  or  five 
feet  deep. 

A  further  description  rnay  be  given  in  the  words  of  Lieu 
tenant  Smith: 

"  I  staid  on  the  bridge  until  the  water  was  up  to  my  neck, 
and  then  a  surge  of  the  crowd  threw  me  overboard.  When 
I  rose,  I  was  caught  and  pulled  under  again.  I  was 
dragged  down  repeatedly.  I  had  on  my  overcoat,  sabre, 
heavy  boots  and  very  thick  clothes,  as  the  day  was  very  cold. 
Finally,  I  freed  myself  from  the  drowning  men,  and  caught 
hold  of  a  floating  knapsack.  I  could  nOw  look  about  me  a 
little.  It  was  a  terrible  sight.  The  water  was  covered  with 
knapsacks,  canteens,  haversacks  and  caps.  Men  were 
screaming  and  crying  for  help. 

"  Several  boats  were  set  afloat,  and  planks  were  thrown  in, 
but  they  were  carried  above  us  by  the  tide.  One  man  came 
out  in  a  boat  and  picked  up  a  number  of  the  drowning  men. 
I  drifted  some  four  hundred  yards  from  where  the  accident 
took  place.  My  knapsack  was  saturated  with  water,  and 


CROSSING  SALURTA  BAYOU.  5|g 

sinking;  I  could  barely  touch  it  with  the  tips  of  my  fingers, 
and  keep  my  head  above  water.  I  was  getting  faint.  All 
the  blood  in  my  body  seemed  rushing  to  my  head.  I  was 
growing  blind  and  sick;  but  I  struggled  to  retain  my  con 
sciousness,  for  I  heard  them  calling  to  me  from  the  shore  to 
keep  up  a  little  longer.  Captain  Collins  started  toward  me 
on  a  flatboat,  but  the  tide  carried  him  above  me.  He  threw 
me  a  piece  of  board.  I  caught  it  and  clung  to  it  until  a 
boat  reached  me.  I  fainted  as  soon  as  I  was  taken  in,  and 
do  not  remember  anything  more  until  I  was  on  shore  and 
some  man  was  rubbiyg  me.  I  was  put  into  an  ambulance 
with  Major  Bonebrake  and  Captain  Linville,  and  taken  to  a 
hospital." 

Twenty-two  brave  men,  who  had  safely  encountered  the 
dangers  of  many  a  battle,  found  a  melancholy  death  in  Sa- 
luria  Bayou. 

Assistant  Surgeon  Witt  and  Lieutenant  Tremor  were 
among  the  drowned.  Beside  the  Indianians,  negroes,  who 
had  the  treacherous  vessel  in  charge,  were  lost  in  the  water. 

The  last  of  the  Thirteenth  corps  left  the  coast  of  Texas  in 
April.  Nearly  all  the  citizens  of  Indianola  had  been  supplied 
from  the  commissary  department  since  the  first  occupation 
of  the  town,  and  now  found  it  necessary  to  emigrate  to  New 
Orleans. 

General  Banks  had  a  good  hold  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  and 
was  at  New  Orleans  making  arrangements  for  reinforcements 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  penetrate  inland,  when  he  received 
peremptory  suggestions  from  Halleck  again  to  try  a  Lou 
isiana  route.  The  Commander-in-Chief  was  induced  to 
change  the  direction  of  the  movement,  or  rather  to  return  to 
the  original  plan  by  the  hope  of  making  the  march  itself  of 
account,  clearing  out  Kirby  Smith  and  his  forces,  now  oper 
ating  from  Shreveport,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Red, 
and  opening  that  region  of  vast  cotton  fields  to  trade,  while 
moving  undeviatingly  toward  the  recovery  of  Texas.  Ac 
cordingly,  early  in  March,  Emory's  division  of  the  Nineteenth 
corps,  McGinnis'  division,  temporarily  under  Cameron,  and 
Ransom's,  of  the  Thirteenth  corps,  the  last  two  very  small, 
with  Lee's  division  of  cavalry,  were  concentrated  at  Brashear, 


520  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

under  the  supervision  of  General  Franklin,  preparatory  to  a 
march  through  the  now  familiar  Teche  country  to  Alexan 
dria.  At  the  same  time  four  divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  and 
Seventeenth  corps,  under  General  A.  J.  Smith,  with  twenty 
powerful  armed  steamers  of  all  classes,  in  the  command  of 
Admiral  Porter,  were  moved  from  Vicksburg  to  Simmesport, 
preparatory,  also,  to  an  advance  on  Alexandria.  From  Alex 
andria,  the  point  of  junction,  the  united  forces  were  to  pro 
ceed,  by  land  and  water,  up  the  Red  to  Shreveport,  which, 
General  Steele,  with  sixteen  thousand  men  from  Little  Rock, 
was  to  reach  at  the  same  time. 

Important  circumstances  and  conditions  of  the  expedition 
were  unpropitious.  Indeed  few  undertakings  of  the  war 
gave,  at  the  outset,  as  plain  indications  of  failure.  Banks 
was  ostensibly  the  leader,  but  he  was  endowed  with  only  a 
sort  of  advisory  leadership,  and  was  subject  to  the  depriva 
tion,  at  any  time,  of  A.  J.  Smith's  force,  which,  as  a  loan, 
might  be  likened  to  a  note  payable  on  demand.  Steele,  hav 
ing  to  move  in  a  distant  region,  entirely  beyond  the  possibil 
ity  of  communication,  was  quite  independent,  even  of  an 
advisory  authority.  The  large  gunboats  could  be  serviceable 
only  in  March  and  April. 

Celerity  of  movement  was  not  only  desirable,  but  essen 
tial,  yet  Franklin  did  not  leave  Brashear  until  ten  days  after 
the  date  prescribed.  Banks  left  New  Orleans,  and  joined  his 
army  as  soon  as  it  was  on  the  march,  but  having  to  move 
slowly  on  account  of  skirmishing  between  the  cavalry  divis 
ion,  in  advance,  and  hostile  troops  which  contested  the  way, 
he  did  not  reach  Alexandria  until  a  week  after  the  arrival  of 
the  co-operating  forces,  his  rear  entering  on  the  twenty-sixth 
of  March. 

Smith  and  Porter,  the  former  especially,  had  also  been 
forced  to  fight  their  way.  Immediately  after  the  arrival  of 
gunboats  and  transports  at  Simmesport,  a  reconnoitring  party 
went  out  several  miles  to  Yellow  Bayou,  and  discovering 
two  large  but  incomplete  earth-works,  evidently  but  lately 
deserted,  followed  the  trail  of  the  enemy,  and  captured  five 
wagons  loaded  with  tents,  for  which  it  substituted  sugar  and 
molasses.  On  the  night  of  March  13,  Smith,  with  his  troops 


FORT  DE  nUSSEY  CAPTURED.  521 

in  light  marching  order,  set  out  for  Fort  De  Russey,  thirty- 
five  miles  distant,  where,  according  to  report,  the  enemy  was 
prepared  to  dispute  if  not  to  arrest  progress.  The  march  was 
annoyed  by  skirmishers,  and  obstructed  by  the  burning  of  a 
bridge,  nevertheless  it  was  accomplished  before  four  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  following  day. 

De  Russey  was  by  no  means  an  insignificant  fort.  It  con 
sisted  of  two  distinct  and  formidable  earth-works,  which  were 
connected  by  a  covered  way,  was  armed  with  eight  siege  and 
two  field  guns,  and  was  manned  by  a  garrison  numbering 
two  hundred  and  eighty-three. 

Under  the  open  mouths  of  the  artillery,  to  which,  as  the 
movement  progressed,  musketry  was  added,  General  Smith 
drew  his  lines  through  heavy  woods  into  an  open  space 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  His  batteries,  the  Third 
Indiana  being  the  first  to  begin,  opened  and  kept  up  a  brisk 
cannonade.  At  the  close  of  two  hours'  firing,  he  threw  for 
ward  the  first  brigade  of  the  Sixteenth  corps  to  storm  the 
west  wall.  The  Fifty-Eighth  Illinois  on  the  right,  Eighty- 
Ninth  Indiana  in  the  centre,  and  One  Hundred  and  Nine 
teenth  Illinois  on  the  left,  rushed  up  with  a  cheer,  had  reached 
the  ditch  and  were  plunging  down,  when  a  white  flag  brought 
them  to  a  stand.  The  loss  in  the  assault  was  small.  That 
of  the  Eighty-Ninth  was  ten — one  killed. 

The  troops  destroyed  the  works,  and  with  the  boats,  which, 
after  removing  obstructions  of  piles  and  chains  in  the  river, 
arrived  just  as  the  fort  surrendered,  went  on  to  Alexandria, 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  Fort  De  Russey.  The 
enemy  retired,  burning  cotton  as  he  moved,  and  the  town 
surrendered  without  resistance. 

While  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  Banks'  main  army,  Gen 
eral  Mower,  with  Lucas'  brigade  of  cavalry,  Brown's  Indiana 
battery,  and  two  or  three  thousand  infantry,  including  our 
Eighty-Ninth,  made  a  rapid  march  twenty  miles  west  to 
Henderson's  Hill,  where  he  surprised  and  captured  a  Rebel 
camp,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  four  guns  and  two 
hundred  horses.  The  part  performed  by  the  Sixteenth  Indi 
ana  is  narrated  by  Captain  Cox: 

"About  nine  o'clock  Lieutenant  Colonel  Redfield  arrived 


522  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  took  command  of  the  three  companies  of  the  Sixteenth 
Indiana,  F,  G  and  B.  Being  informed  by  a  man  who  offered 
to  act  as  guide  that  a  party  of  Rebels  was  eating  supper  at 
a  house  within  their  lines,  we  started  to  capture  them.  Ar 
riving  at  the  place  as  silently  as  possible,  we  passed  in  single 
file  around  the  field  until  we  reached  their  rear;  then,  dis 
mounting,  went  to  the  front  and  rear  of  the  house.  Colonel 
Redfield  knocked  at  the  cabin  door,  and  inquired  if  any  Con 
federate  officers  or  soldiers  were  there.  A  Rebel  Sergeant 
leveled  a  pistol  at  him,  but  one  of  our  boys  fortunately  sent 
a  bullet  through  the  Sergeant's  arm.  The  Rebels  broke  out 
of  both  doors,  but  being  driven  back,  threw  up  their  arms 
and  surrendered.  We  found  it  was  a  party  of  fifteen,  who 
had  just  returned  from  a  scout,  under  the  command  of  the 
famous  Ned  Smith.  We  afterwards  ascertained  that  a  com 
pany  was  on  picket  a  half  mile  down  the  road,  but  when 
we  got  in  their  rear  they  skedaddled.  After  wandering  some 
time  through  the  woods  the  Colonel,  being  unable  to  find  the 
way  to  the  bayou,  concluded  to  go  into  camp  and  await  day 
light.  The  wounded  scout  said  although  his  wound  pained 
him,  he  would  lose  his  arm  before  he  would  show  us  the  way 
out  of  the  woods.  Pickets  were  posted  and  large  fires  were 
built,  around  which  our  little  tired  band  tried  to  dry  their 
drenched  clothes. 

"A  courier  was  captured  from  Taylor's  army,  and  soon  af 
terward  Captain  D'Elgi,  of  Taylor's  staff,  who  had  been 
sent  to  communicate  with  Colonel  Vincent,  was  brought  in. 
He  said  he  would  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  us  all  under 
guard  before  daylight.  Our  prisoners  kept  increasing  until 
they  numbered  thirty-nine  enlisted  men,  one  Surgeon,  one 
Captain  and  one  Lieutenant.  At  last,  long  wished  for  day 
broke,  and  Colonel  Redfield  moved  us  back  to  the  infantry 
whose  position  he  had  discovered.  Captain  D'Elgi  told  me 
in  the  morning  that  the  advance  of  General  Dick  Taylor's 
army  was  only  a  half  mile  in  our  rear.  We  now  learned  the 
whereabouts  of  the  remainder  of  our  forces.  General  Mower, 
with  seven  companies  of  the  Sixteenth,  under  Captain  Doxey, 
and  the  Thirty-Fifth  Iowa,  had  captured  two  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  prisoners,  including  nineteen  officers  and  four  pieces 


HENDERSON'S  HILL  TAKEN.  533 

of  artillery;  they  had  marched  to  the  rear  of  the  hill  upon 
which  was  situated  the  Rebel  camp.  Companies  A  and  I 
deployed,  met  a  detail  of  twenty-five  men  and  three  offi 
cers,  and  captured  them  without  noise.  The  column  again 
moved  forward,  capturing  picket  post  after  picket  post,  until 
at  last  the  inner  guards,  depending  upon  the  out  posts  for 
security,  merely  asked  the  boys  where  they  were  from,  as 
they  passed.  The  head  of  the  column  would  answer,  '  Shrevo 
port,'  and  pass  on.  The  Rebs.  would  say,  '  Hurrah  for 
Shreveport!'  and  only  awaked  to  their  condition  when  taken 
up  by  the  rear  guard.  So  four  abreast  the  Sixteenth  Indiana 
rode  into  the  midst  of  the  Rebel  camp  on  Henderson  Hill. 
The  only  shots  fired  were  as  they  attempted  to  take  a  few 
officers  at  a  large  white  house.  The  Thirty-Fifth  Iowa  cap 
tured  two  pieces. of  artillery,  and  Captain  Doxey  and  Ser 
geant  Obert,  of  the  Sixteenth,  ran  to  the  other  section,  around 
which  the  cannoniers  were  clustering,  getting  their  pieces 
ready  for  action,  and  with  their  revolvers  drove  the  Rebels 
away  until  they  were  joined  by  more  men.  Thus  quietly 
was  Henderson  Hill  surrounded  and  captured.  It  was  a 
strong  natural  fortification." 

The  number  of  Indiana  troops  in  the  Red  river  expedition 
was  small.  The  Sixteenth,  refitted  and  remounted  since  the 
Teche  campaign,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Redfield;  the  Forty-Sixth, in  Cameron's  division;  the  Sixtieth 
and  Sixty-Seventh,  the  latter  numbering  not  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  in  Ransom's  division,  with  Emerson  tem 
porarily  in  command  of  the  brigade,  and  Klauss'  battery,  all 
in  the  Thirteenth  corps;  Companies  G  and  H,  of  the  Twen 
ty-First,  in  the  Nineteenth  corps;  the  Eighty-Ninth,  Colonel 
Murray,  the  Ninth  battery,  Captain  Brown,  and  the  Third 
battery,  Captain  Cockefair,  were  in  the  Sixteenth  corps, 
Mower's  division.  The  Eighty-Ninth  included  for  the  time 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  men  of  the  Fifty-Second. 
Company  C,  of  the  Fourth  cavalry,  was  General  Smith's 
escort.  General  McMillan  was  in  command  of  his  brigade, 
in  Emory's  division.  Golonel  Lucas  was  acting  Brigadier 
in  Lee's  cavalry  division. 


524  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

March  26,  the  united  forces  moved  out  from  Alexandria. 
April  4,  they  arrived  at  Nachitoches  and  at  Grand  Ecore, 
the  former  an  old  French  and  Indian  settlement  on  the  de- 
deserted  channel  of  Red  river,  the  latter  a  dingy  little  town, 
on  the  main  current.  Several  thousand  troops  had  been  or 
dered  back  to  Vicksburg,  and  several  thousand  had  been  left 
at  posts  along  the  Red  to  guard  communications,  as  it  was 
impossible  to  obtain  subsistence  in  the  poor  pine  region 
through  which  the  march  was  now  directed;  in  consequence, 
the  number  in  the  advancing  column  amounted  to  little,  if 
any  more  than  twenty  thousand  men.  After  a  halt  of  two 
days,  Lee,  with  his  cavalry,  moved  on,  pushing  the  Rebels 
slowly,  and  worsting  them  in  a  serious  encounter,  though 
with  a  loss  to  himself  of  sixty-two  men.  He  moved  more 
and  more  slowly.  His  men  at  length  dismounted  and  crept 
from  tree  to  tree.  Behind  the  cavalry  plodded  Colonel  Em 
erson's  brigade.  Back  of  Emerson,  a  train  of  wagons  with 
difficulty  was  dragged  along.  The  other  troops  and  trains 
of  the  Thirteenth'  corps  followed,  and  at  the  distance  of  sev 
eral  miles,  the  Nineteenth  corps,  with  its  wagons.  A.  J. 
Smith's,  was  nearly  twenty  miles  in  the  rear.  There  was 
but  one  road,  and  that  so  narrow,  crooked  and  obstructed, 
that  often  it  was  necessary  to  halt  while  stumps  \vere  rooted 
up,  logs  were  rolled  out,  and  mud  was  bridged  over.  Shortly 
after  noon  of  the  eighth,  Lee,  from  a  clearing  in  the  vicinity 
of  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  and  not  far  from  Mansfield,  obscurely 
perceived  the  enemy  in  a  dense  undergrowth  of  pine,  formed 
in  strong  line  of  battle.  He  halted  and  anxiously  endeavored 
to  wait  for  reinforcements.  Banks,  who  soon  reached  the 
front,  sent  an  order  to  Cameron  to  hasten  forward,  and  dis 
patched  message  after  message  to  Franklin,  to  increase  the 
speed  of  Emory's  division.  Meantime  Lee  was  at  the 
mercy  of  the  enemy.  Skirmishing  grew  hot  and  hotter. 
By  four  o'clock,  it  culminated  in  an  exceedingly  fierce  battle. 
The  cavalry  scattered  in  confusion.  The  foremost  infantry 
and  artillery  recoiled  in  disorder.  General  Ransom  was  dis 
abled.  Colonel  Emerson  was  severely  wounded.  Many 
were  killed.  Many  were  captured.  Eighteen  guns,  two  of 
them  from  Klauss'  battery,  were  lost. 


ROUT  AT  SABINE  CROSS  ROADS.  525 

The  jubilant  enemy,  pressing  on,  struck  against  Cameron's 
division,  which,  though  just  up  and  barely  formed  in  battle 
line,  showed  a  bold  and  resolute  front.  A  desperate  and 
prolonged  effort  at  resistance  ended  in  a  sudden  and  fearful 
rout.  The  inextricable  disorder  and  confusion  of  masses  of 
wagons,  riderless  horses,  frightened  negroes,  hundreds  of 
whom  were  in  the  army  as  servants,  put  a  decent  retreat 
beyond  the  bounds  of  possibility.  Three  miles  of  terror- 
stricken  flight  brought  the  fugitives  up  a  sloping  field  to  a 
wood  in  the  edge  of  which  stood  Emory's  division, — Mc 
Millan,  D wight  and  Benedict,  right,  centre  and  left, — braced 
to  withstand  the  contagion  of  panic  and  the  impetus  of  pur 
suit.  The  wall  opened  before  the  flying  troops  and  closed 
behind  them,  in  the  face  of  the  headlong  pursuers,  who  hast 
ily  drew  up  and  made  ready  once  more  for  the  tug  of  battle. 
They  were  still  three  or  four  to  one,  and  their  line,  as  it  as 
sumed  order,  far  overlapped  the  new  opposing  force,  but 
they  were  flushed  with  their  victory,  and  taking  as  a  favora 
ble  omen  the  silence  with  which  their  approach  was  received, 
they  pressed  so  close  that  they  wTent  down  like  grass  before 
the  mower's  scythe,  at  the  first  volley.  Again  they  flung 
themselves  up  toward  the  living  rampart;  and  again  that 
rampart  swerved  not  a  line.  Repeatedly  the  charge  was  re 
newed,  and  long  the  struggle  continued,  but  night  put  an 
end  to  it,  and  under  the  cover  of  darkness  the  Rebels  with 
drew.  Banks  marched  all  night  long,  and  with  such  silence 
and  expedition  that  the  enemy  did  not  discover  his  retire 
ment  from  the  field  until  daylight,  when  his  rear,  Emory's 
division,  after  burying  the  dead  and  caring  for  the  wounded, 
was  well  on  its  way;  and  his  advance  had  accomplished  fif 
teen  miles,  and  united  with  A.  J.  Smith  at  Pleasant  Hill. 

At  eight  in  the  morning,  Banks  formed  double  line  of  bat 
tle  with  fifteen  thousand  men,  Emory  thrown  forward,  Smith 
forming  the  main  line. 

The  Rebels,  twenty-two  thousand  strong,  and  more  cau 
tious  than  on  the  preceding  evening,  came  up  slowly,  so 
slowly  that  it  seemed  doubtful  whether  they  would  make  an 
attack,  and  Banks  sent  the  most  of  his  cavalry,  a  black  brig 
ade  and  the  fragments  of  Ransom's  division  toward  Grand 


526  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Ecorc,  with  his  wagons  and  heavy  artillery.  A  single  cav 
alry  brigade  which  he  retained,  he  sent  out  to  reconnoitre. 
It  returned  in  haste  and  so  hardly  pressed  as  to  show  that 
the  enemy  intended  battle.  Emory's  batteries  opened.  Un 
der  their  fire  his  brigades  advanced;  but  they  receded  slowly 
and  stubbornly  before  the  heavy  fire  and  march  of  the  enemy. 
Smith's  line  stood  unflinching,  until  the  fire  was  close,  when 
Mower  moved  out  in  counter  charge,  and  Emory,  rapidly  re 
forming,  advanced  to  the  right.  The  Rebel  column  hesi 
tated,  halted,  broke  and  fled. 

The  following  report  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Craven,  some 
what  curtailed,  narrates  the  part  taken  by  the  Eighty-Ninth: 

"April  9,  was  fought  the  important  and  well-contested  bat 
tle  of  Pleasant  Hill. 

"The  command  of  General  A.  J.  Smith  had  marched  on 
the  eighth  from  Double  Bridges,  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles, 
and  owing  to  a  late  start,  arrived  at  camp,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pleasant  Hill,  after  night.  At  two  o'clock  the  next  morning, 
the  troops  were  called  up.  Scarcely  had  the  camp  become 
cheerful  with  lights  from  the  burning  of  dry  pine  and  cypress 
lumber  when  an  order  was  received  to  put  out  the  lights. 
When  all  was  enveloped  in  darkness,  it  was  whispered 
among  groups  of  officers  that  the  advance  of  our  army  under 
General  Banks,  had  been  defeated,  repulsed  and  driven  in 
confusion  from  the  field  at  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  near  Mans 
field,  in  an  engagement  the  evening  previous.  Officers  were 
charged  to  keep  it  from  the  men,  lest  a  panic  might  seize  the 
command.  But  secresy  was  impossible;  the  straggling  and 
broken  ranks  of  the  advance  were  in  a  confused  retreat,  pass 
ing  through  our  camp,  and  giving  to  every  one  who  would 
lend  a  listening  ear,  the  sad  intelligence  of  defeat.  Too  fre 
quently  the  troops  thus  straggling  were  without  arms,  knap 
sacks,  haversacks,  or  anything  of  the  kind,  seeming  desirous 
only  of  making  good  their  retreat.  They  vied  with  each 
other  in  their  efforts  to  describe  the  terrible  carnage  and 
slaughter  of  the  action.  It  is  but  justice  to  say  that  the 
news  was  brought  by  stragglers  who  were  probably  the  first 
to  break  the  ranks  during  the  fight,  and  hence,  in  the  fruitful- 
ness  of  their  imaginations,  no  doubt  had  much  exaggerated 


THE  EIGHTY-NINTH.  537 

the  character  of  the  defeat.  They  were  lost  from  their  offi 
cers  and  their  commands,  and  in  that  manner  they  continued 
to  come  through  the  camps  till  long  after  daylight,  each  leav 
ing  the  impression  that  the  disaster  had  been  terrible,  and 
too  frequently  admonishing  the  men  in  General  Smith's  com 
mand  that  they  had  better  get  out  of  the  way;  that  it  was 
useless  to  think  of  standing. 

"About  seven  in  the  morning,  Smith's  command  moved  up 
to  Pleasant  Hill.  About  ten,  it  was  put  into  position  to  re 
ceive  the  enemy.  The  Eighty-Ninth  was  posted  in  the  front 
line,  with  instructions  not  to  move  nor  to  fire  a  gun  without 
order.  With  the  First  Vermont  battery  on  our  left,  and  the 
Third  Indiana  battery  on  our  right,  and  supported  by  two 
lines  of  battle  in  our  rear,  for  long  hours  we  rested,  waiting 
the  approach  of  the  enemy. 

"  The  day  was  clear  and  rather  cool.  Quiet,  with  some 
anxiety  of  feeling,  was  the  order  of  things.  But  for  the 
sound  of  arms  in  the  distance,  as  the  enemy  pressed  the 
rear  of  the  retreating  columns,  the  day  would  have  been  ex 
ceedingly  monotonous.  The  Nineteenth  corps  was  gradu 
ally  falling  back,  disputing  the  ground  with  the  Rebel  ad 
vance. 

"At  three  in  the  afternoon,  the  troops  might  have  been 
heard  asking,  'Have  the  Rebs  fallen  back?'  'Think  they're 
going  to  make  an  attack  to-day?'  But  about  five  the  skirm 
ishing  revived  and  gradually  increased;  the  sound  of  artil 
lery  began  to  greet  the  ear;  but  so  gradual  was  the  Rebel 
advance  that  still  the  troops  lay  in  line  of  battle,  gazing 
quietly  upon  the  explosion  of  Rebel  shells  between  our  lines 
and  the  setting  sun.  The  beauty  of  the  scene  was  of  short 
duration,  for  soon  again  the  woods  in  our  front  rang  with 
volleys  of  musketry  and  a  well-directed  artillery  fire  threat 
ened  our  ranks. 

"  Private  James  Rader,  of  company  D,  was  wounded  at 
the  time,  while  in  line  of  battle,  and  an  ambulance  sent  for, 
and  he  was  taken  to  the  rear.  The  First  Vermont  battery 
opened  a  brisk  fire  on  a  Rebel  battery;  still  we  waited  in 
suspense,  the  Minie  balls  and  the  grape  and  canister  passing 
frequently  over  the  regiment  as  it  lay  in  line  of  battle,  when 


528  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

suddenly  General  Mower,  on  horseback,  came  dashing  along 
in  front  of  the  left  wing  of  the  regiment.  Some  officers 
commanded  Forward,  some  Halt.  Confusion  seemed  for  a 
moment  to  be  inevitable;  I  was  occupying  a  position  on  the 
right  centre  and  to  the  rear  of  the  right  wing  of  the  regi 
ment.  I  inquired  of  the  General,  if  he  wanted  us  to  go 
forward;  in  the  din  of  the  battle,  I  could  not  hear  his  an 
swer,  but  from  the  motion  of  his  head  and  sword,  he  was  no 
longer  to  be  misunderstood.  Forward  was  the  order.  The 
right  moved  in  good  order.  A  part  of  the  left  having  pre 
viously  started,  the  line  was  irregular.  To  our  front,  at  a 
distance  of  some  four  or  five  hundred  yards,  could  be  seen  a 
confused  line  of  troops  rapidly  falling  back — it  was  the  rear 
of  the  Nineteenth  corps — followed  by  a  strong  Rebel  force 
pouring  in  a  terrible  musketry  fire,  accompanied  with  whoops 
and  yells  of  triumph.  A  portion  of  our  regiment  opened 
fire,  but  seeing  that  our  troops  had  not  yet  cleared  our  front, 
I  ordered  the  firing  to  cease,  halted  the  regiment,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  the  line  was  dressed  in  fine  order,  discharged 
pieces  were  reloaded,  and  when  our  front  was  cleared  of 
Union  troops  who  bore  out  to  our  right,  at  the  command 
fire,  the  regiment  poured  forth  a  splendid  volley,  with  telling 
effect  upon  the  Rebels  then  advancing  rapidly  and  in  good 
order,  at  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  yards.  The  first 
volley  checked  their  advance,  a  second  one  staggered  them, 
when  the  regiment  moved  forward,  keeping  up  a  splendid 
fire.  As  we  advanced,  the  enemy  commenced  falling  back, 
and  we  rapidly  charged  him  till  near  a  ravine  in  the  open 
field,  some  five  or  six  hundred  yards  or  more,  in  front  of  our 
first  line  of  battle.  The  ravine  was  lined  with  bushes  and 
briars,  forming  a  dense  under-growth,  behind  which,  in 
many  places,  a  man  could  not  be  seen.  I  heard  in  a  loud 
voice,  'halt!'  I  thought  it  was  the  voice  of  Colonel  Murray, 
and  repeated  the  command.  The  regiment  halted,  and  was 
ordered  to  lie  down.  Colonel  Murray  was  not  mounted, 
and  I  did  not  see  him.  I  had  not  previously  heard  a  com 
mand  from  him,  though  he  might  have  given  many  without 
my  hearing  them,  for  the  din  of  battle  was  great, 

"  Immediately  a  terrible  fire  from  the  ravine,  which  formed 


BATTLE  OF  PLEASANT  HILL.  529 

a  complete  breastwork  for  the  Rebels — being  four  or  five  feet 
deep — began  to  be  poured  into  our  ranks.  I  cast  my  eye 
down  the  line.  I  did  not  see  Colonel  Murray  nor  any 
other  officer  that  outranked  me.  It  was  no  time  for  hesi 
tancy.  I  rode  to  the  centre  of  the  regiment  and  inquired, 
'Why  are  we  lying  here  in  the  open  field,  while  the  Rebels 
are  in  ambush  in  that  ravine?'  Receiving  no  answer,  I  rode 
through  the  line,  and  commanded,  Fomvard.  The  men 
sprang  instantly  to  their  feet,  and  with  a  yell  rushed  into  the 
ravine,  killing  and  capturing  the  enemy.  We  gathered  up 
and  sent  to  the  rear  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners. 

"I  again  ordered  the  regiment  into  line  of  battle,  and 
marched  out  with  it  across  the  open  ground,  between  the 
ravine  in  the  field  and  the  woods  on  the  west  side  of  the 
field,  entered  the  woods  and  marched  to  the  crest  of  the  hill. 
a  distance  through  the  woods  of  about  seventy-five  or  a 
hundred  yards,  there  halted,  and  finding  no  enemy  in  front, 
and  not  knowing  that  any  of  our  troops  were  advancing  on 
either  flank  of  our  regiment,  I  rode  back  to  the  field.  I 
there  found  Colonel  Murray,  who  advised  me  to  bring  the 
regiment  back  to  the  open  field.  I  rode  out  again,  about- 
faced  the  regiment,  and  marched  it  back. 

"  Then  Brigadier  General  Stone,  Chief  on  General  Banks' 
staff,  paid  the  command  a  high  compliment,  and  said  that  we 
had  driven  the  enemy  entirely  from  our  front;  'but,'  said  he, 
'we  must  make  good  the  advantages  we  have  gained;  the 
Rebels  are  massing  on  our  right,  and  I  want  you  to  move 
the  regiment  round  to  the  right,  and  take  a  position  there 
where  you  can  support  them  if  they  need  it.'  I  moved  the 
regiment  in  obedience  to  his  instructions.  The  men  were 
there  ordered  to  lie  down.  It  was  now  sundown,  and  they 
remained  in  that  position,  with  Minie  balls  constantly  pass 
ing  over  them,  but  without  injury  to  any  one,  till  night  spread 
her  curtain  of  darkness  over  the  belligerents,  and  put  a  stop 
to  the  contest.  The  enemy  retired,  leaving  our  army  mas 
ter  of  the  entire  field. 

"  Shortly  after  dark,  our  regiment,  along  with  other  troops 
of  the  First  brigade,  was  marched  down  the  road  to  the 
34 


530  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

south-west,  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  from  the  closing  scene 
of  the  battle.  We  rested  on  our  arms.  The  men  suffered 
much  from  the  coldness  of  the  night,  being  wet  with  sweat 
from  the  labors  of  the  battle.  The  night  was  rendered  more 
hideous  by  the  groans  of  wounded  and  dying  men,  still  lying 
upon  the  battle  field  unprovided  for. 

"At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  were  ordered  up,  and 
commenced  marching  in  retreat,  leaving  our  seriously 
wounded  in  hospital  in  charge  of  surgeons,  and  our  dead 
upon  the  field.  Captain  Gifford,  with  his  company,  had 
been  sent  out  on  picket,  and  by  some  bad  management  had 
not  been  relieved,  and  hence  remained  at  his  post  till  he 
learned  the  next  morning  that  the  command  was  falling  back, 
when  he  followed,  joining  us  about  three  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon.  Officers  and  enlisted  men  generally  behaved  them 
selves  well  during  the  engagement.  Captain  Farlow  S. 
Zeek  fell,  seriously  wounded  in  both  feet,  while  in  command 
of  his  company  at  the  ravine." 

The  Third  Indiana  battery  was  on  the  right  of  the  Eighty- 
Ninth  regiment.  The  Ninth  battery  was  on  the  right  of  the 
Third.  "The  Ninth  Indiana  battery,"  says  Colonel  Lynch, 
in  his  report,  "at  the  beginning  of  the  engagement,  although 
in  the  finest  position  on  the  field,  was  completely  masked  by 
Battery  L,  First  United  States  artillery,  consequently  could 
not  be  used  until  late  in  the  engagement,  at  which  time  it 
made  some  very  fine  shots,  dismounting  one  of  the  enemy's 
guns,  and  totally  silencing  the  remaining  guns  of  the  battery. 
Captain  George  R.  Brown  proved  himself  a  capable,  cool 
and  gallant  officer." 

During  the  battle  private  Hubbard,  of  the  Sixteenth,  killed 
two  color  guards,  and  captured  the  colors  and  color  bearer 
of  a  Texas  regiment. 

The  dead  and  wounded  were  abandoned  on  the  field,  the 
cruel  necessity  being  excused  if  not  enforced  by  a  scarcity  of 
water,  and  the  distance  to  which  the  provision  trains  had 
moved.  The  retreat  continued  through  the  night.  Several 
days  were  spent  at  Grand  Ecore,  waiting  for  the  fleet,  which 
was  sixty  or  seventy  miles  further  up  the  river,  and  in  start 
ing  it  down  the  now  shallow  and  snaggy  stream. 


DELAY  AT  ALEXANDRIA.  531 

A  strong  Rebel  force  took  advantage  of  the  delay  by  post 
ing  itself  across  Banks'  route  at  Cane  river,  forty  miles  dis 
tant,  while  another  prepared  to  co-operate  by  an  attack  on 
his  rear,  simultaneously  with  the  attack  of  the  first  on  his 
front.  The  scheme  was  rendered  abortive  by  the  sudden 
and  swift  march  of  Banks.  He  started  at  two  in  the  morn 
ing  of  April  22,  and  with  Emory  in  front  and  Smith  in  the 
rear,  marched  thirty  miles.  Early  the  next  morning  Emory 
struck  the  Rebel  force  at  the  crossing  of  Cane  river  unex 
pectedly  on  front  and  flank,  and  drove  it  in  disorder  from 
the  position.  At  a  later  hour  Smith  repulsed  a  charge  on 
the  rear.  Marching  hard,  fighting  the  enemy  in  front  and 
fighting  him  in  rear,  the  army  reached  Alexandria  on  the 
twenty-seventh  of  April.  Reinforcements  at  the  same  time 
made  their  appearance,  the  First  division  of  the  Thirteenth 
corps,  under  Me  demand,  from  the  Texan  coast,  and  veteran 
regiments  from  the  north.  With  the  first  were  our  Forty- 
Ninth  and  Sixty-Ninth;  among  the  last  was  our  Forty-Sev 
enth. 

The  army  remained  nearly  three  weeks  at  Alexandria,  dur 
ing  which  the  enemy  was  active  and  vindictive,  and  required 
the  constant  attention  of  scouting  and  skirmishing  parties. 
On  one  occasion  the  Thirteenth  corps  marched  eight  miles 
west,  pushing  back  Rebel  sharpshooters  and  batteries,  and 
as  the  force  of  the  enemy  became  more  solid,  charging  on 
him.  One  charge  was  made  across  an  open  field,  and 
through  thick  hedges.  Chaplain  Sawyer  speaks  with  pride 
of  the  Forty-Seventh  in  this  affair:  "Whether  in  the  skir 
mish  line,  in  making  a  charge,  or  under  fire  of  musketry  or 
cannon,  the  men  conducted  themselves  most  gallantly.  As 
I  was  dismounted,  after  attending  to  the  wounded,  I  took 
the  gun  and  accoutrements  of  one  of  their  number,  marched 
with  the  column,  and  occasionally  with  the  skirmishers,  where 
I  had  a  full  view  of  the  enemy.  The  first  day  we  were  or 
dered  to  drive  the  Rebels,  the  skirmishers  were  pushed  ahead 
to  charge  through  the  woods.  The  Twenty-Eighth  held 
back,  but  the  Forty-Seventh  boys  raised  a  shout,  and  dashed 
into  the  woods,  while  the  Rebels  ran  helter-skelter  for  dear 
life.  As  the  main  column  followed,  a  shell,  in  direct  range 


532  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  us,  struck  the  side  of  a  tree,  glanced  up,  and  burst  above 
us,  scattering  splinters  and  fragments  all  round  us.  Not  a 
man  was  hurt,  and  the  regiment,  inspired  by  the  coolness  of 
Colonel  McLaughlin,  in  front  of  whom  the  shell  burst, 
stepped  briskly  on.  The  Rebel  cannon  was  soon  in  full  re 
treat.  Colonel  Slack  handled  his  brigade  splendidly.  His 
clear,  commanding  voice  rang  over  the  field." 

May  7,  General  Mower  led  a  part  of  his  division,  with 
Lucas'  cavalry,  toward  Bayou  La  Moore,  and  engaged  a 
threatening  force,  the  Eighty-Ninth  Indiana,  under  Colonel 
Craven,  charging  and  repulsing  it  with  a  loss  of  fifteen. 

The  delay  at  Alexandria  was  caused  by  the  difficulty  of 
getting  the  fleet  over  the  falls  of  the  Red.  Under  the  direc 
tion  of  Colonel  Bailey,  engineer  of  the  Nineteenth  corps,  the 
troops  constructed  a  series  of  dams.  The  labor,  together 
with  scouting  and  reconnoitring,  employed  them  night  and 
day.  They  were  gratified  by  complete  success.  The  last 
boat  rode  triumphantly  over  the  falls  the  twelfth  of  May. 
The  next  day  Lucas'  brigade,  which  had  hitherto  been  in 
the  rear,  took  the  advance,  and  the  army  marched  out  of 
Alexandria,  leaving  it  in  flames,  though  by  whom  the  incen 
diary  fires  were  kindled  was  unknown. 

Near  Marks ville  a  Rebel  cavalry  force  appeared  in  front 
of  the  column.  It  fell  back,  fighting,  across  a  prairie,  and 
made  a  stubborn  stand  in  a  wood.  After  three  hours  skir 
mishing  and  artillery  fighting  it  was  flanked  on  the  right  by 
Emory,  and  on  the  left  by  Smith,  and  driven  and  scattered. 
At  Fort  De  Russey  Banks  found  a  reinforcement  from  Baton 
Rouge. 

May  19.  the  van  crossed  the  Atchafalaya  on  a  bridge  of 
boats,  while  the  rear  sharply  engaged  a  Rebel  force,  under 
General  Polignac.  Lynch's  brigade  crossed  Yellow  Bayou 
before  noon,  and  after  moving  a  mile  on  the  double-quick, 
formed  in  line  of  battle  under  the  enemy's  guns,  the  Eighty- 
Ninth  in  the  centre,  supporting  Brown's  battery,  except  Kill's 
company,  which,  in  the  skirmish  line,  held  the  enemy  in 
check.  The  battery  was  a  mark  for  the  enemy's  guns.  They 
plowed  up  the  ground  about  it,  and  cut  off  the  limbs  of  the 
oak  above  it,  until  Mower's  two  brigades,  at  full  speed,  and 


FIGHT  ON  YELLOW  BAYOU.  533 

with  fixed  bayonets,  forced  them  to  withdraw.  As  Mower 
fell  back,  Company  I,  of  the  Eighty-Ninth,  covered  the  rear, 
and  protected  the  soldiers  who  gathered  up  the  dead  and 
the  wounded.  One  of  the  dead  was  Captain  Gifford,  who 
was  an  honest,  modest  and  brave  gentleman.  He  had  been 
instantly  killed  by  a  ball  through  the  heart.  Colonel  Lynch 
was  wounded  and  carried  off  the  field.  Colonel  Kinney,  the 
next  in  rank,  was  also  wounded.  The  command  of  the 
brigade  devolved,  in  consequence,  upon  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Craven,  and  the  care  of  the  regiment  upon  Major  Henry. 
The  line  was  reformed  behind  thick  underbrush,  where  the 
troops  rested  before  renewing  the  struggle.  The  day  was 
excessively  hot,  and  many  had  fallen  from  the  heat.  When 
they  again  advanced  it  was  with  a  sudden  rush.  The  enemy 
withstood  them  stubbornly.  The  two  lines  frequently  inter 
mixed.  The  fight  was  often  hand  to  hand.  Henry  Myers, 
the  gallant  color-bearer  of  the  Eighty- Ninth,  with  pistol  in 
hand,  fell  wounded,  and  Lieutenant  Wright  siezed  the  staff. 
Fifty-three  of  the  Eighty-Ninth  fell.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
of  the  brigade  were  killed  and  wounded.  In  the  end  the 
Rebels  fled. 

The  rear  then  crossed  the  Atchafalaya,  and  without  further 
opposition,  followed  the  advance  to  the  Mississippi. 

General  Banks  gained  for  himself  nothing  but  reproach 
and  mortification  in  the  Red  river  expedition,  and  his  return 
to  the  Mississippi  was  the  signal  for  his  removal  from  com 
mand.  His  subordinates  were  more  happy. 

General  Emory,  addressing  Colonel  Lucas,  says:  "In 
many  of  the  battles  your  conduct  has  come  under  my  per 
sonal  observation,  and  in  all  you  have  exhibited  the  sound 
est  judgment  and  the  most  conspicuous  gallantry.  As  an 
old  cavalry  officer,  I  can  say  with  sincerity,  I  have  never  seen 
cavalry  better  handled." 

All  the  Indianians  conducted  themselves  creditably.  About 
five  thousand  men,  eighteen  guns,  and  perhaps  two  hun 
dred  wagons  were  lost  during  the  campaign.  At  Sabine 
Cross  Roads,  Klauss*  battery  lost  five;  the  Sixteenth  regi 
ment  lost  sixty;  Lieutenant  Jones  was  killed  in  a  skirm 
ish  preceding  the  battle,  and  Captain  Moore  was  severely 


534  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

wounded;  the  Forty-Sixth  lost  one  hundred,  among  the  cap 
tured  Lieutenant  Colonel  Flory  and  Chaplain  Robb;  the 
Sixtieth  and  Sixty-Seventh  also  lost  heavily. 

At  Pleasant  Hill  several  of  the  Sixteenth  were  among  the 
killed  and  wounded.  Captain  Doxey,  who,  on  account  of 
the  illness  of  Colonel  Redfield,  had  command,  was  danger 
ously  wounded. 

Other  regiments  have  published  no  report. 

The  total  Union  loss  in  the  skirmishes  and  battles  from 
the  seventh  to  the  ninth  of  April,  was  three  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  eighty  men,  chiefly  in  prisoners. 

The  Rebel  loss  was  also  large. 

Porter's  fleet  resumed  its  station  on  the  Mississippi.  The 
Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  corps  went  back  to  Vicksburg. 
The  Nineteenth  and  a  portion  of  the  Thirteenth,  returned  to 
New  Orleans,  dropping  a  few  regiments  along  the  way, — the 
Forty-Seventh  at  Morganzia,  the  Sixty-Seventh  and  several 
others  at  Baton  Rouge,  to  which  a  recent  event  attracted  at 
tention.  A  portion  of  the  troops  from  Texas  was  stationed 
at  Baton  Rouge  the  last  of  April  to  fill  the  place  of  the  gar 
rison  when  it  was  forwarded  to  Red  river.  The  Eighteenth 
Indiana  remained  encamped  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  more 
than  a  month,  part  of  the  time  on  post  duty.  The  enemy 
taking  advantage  of  the  state  of  affairs  produced  by  the  de 
feat  of  the  army  on  Red  river,  organized  an  expedition  for 
the  capture  of  Baton  Rouge.  He  was  anticipated  by  the 
commander  of  the  post,  who,  with  his  available  forces,  met 
the  Rebels  at  Olive  Branch,  near  Comite  river,  and  in  a  hot 
engagement  of  five  hours  duration,  defeated  them  and  drove 
them  back  into  the  interior  of  the  State.  The  Eighteenth 
was  actively  engaged,  and  behaved  with  such  coolness  and 
bravery  as  to  call  for  honorable  mention. 

General  Steele's  hapless  march  winds  up  the  story  of  the 
Red  river  expedition.  It  began  March  22,  23  and  24,  the 
main  force,  seven  thousand  strong,  moving  out  from  Little 
Rock,  co-operating  bodies  from  Fort  Smith  on  the  right,  and 
Pine  Bluffs  on  the  left,  and  was  directed  to  Arkadelphia,  as 
a  place  of  rendezvous. 


STEELE'S  ADVANCE.  535 

Southwestern  Arkansas  is  a  wooded  country,  with  few 
roads  and  many  streams,  which  might  be  described  as  pecu 
liarly  susceptible  to  rains,  were  it  not  that  in  nearly  every 
expedition,  bottomless  mud  and  swollen  rivers  form  a  large 
account.  Numerous  and  well  conditioned  Rebel  troops,  in 
command  of  General  Price,  were  on  the  alert  to  "welcome 
invaders  with  bloody  hands  to  hospitable  graves." 

Steele  crossed  the  Saline,  and  skirmishing  not  more  than 
enough  to  make  the  march  lively,  reached  Arkadelphia. 
Here  he  waited  nearly  two  days  for  Thayer  with  a  force  of 
nearly  five  thousand.  Thayer  arrived  after  his  departure, 
and  followed  him. 

Skirmishing  became  heavy  and  small  encounters  fre 
quently  occurred.  Hostile  bodies  of  considerable  size  were 
several  times  flanked,  and  progress  was  not  seriously  im 
peded  until  at  Prairie  d'Anne  a  Rebel  force  of  artillery  and 
infantry  seemed  bent  on  compelling  Steele  to  stand  up  to  a 
regular  fight.  The  challenge  was  reluctantly  accepted,  nev 
ertheless  the  ensuing  battle,  chiefly  of  artillery,  resulted  in 
the  discomfiture  and  retreat  of  the  Rebels. 

In  this  affair  Rabb's  battery,  now  under  Captain  Espy,  did 
good  service. 

The  Indiana  troops  in  Stecle's  ranks,  were  the  Second  bat 
tery  and  the  two  thin  regiments,  the  Forty-Third,  about  four 
hundred  strong,  and  the  Fiftieth,  which  had  accompanied 
him  to  Little  Rock  the  previous  fall. 

Colonel  Clayton  moved  out  from  Pine  Bluff  with  about 
a  thousand  men.  At  Mount  Elba  on  the  Saline,  he  was  at 
tacked  by  General  Dockery  with  sixteen  hundred  men.  The 
attack  was  expected,  and  was  repulsed  with  severe  Rebel 
loss.  Ascertaining  that  a  Rebel  train  with  a  small  escort 
was  crossing  the  Saline  at  Longview,  forty  miles  below 
Mount  Elba,  Clayton  directed  Captain  Greathouse,  with 
fifty  Kansas  and  fifty  Indiana  cavalry,  to  effect  its  destruction. 
Starting  at  eight  in  the  morning,  Greathouse  reached  Long- 
view  at  dusk.  He  followed  the  train  across  the  river,  and 
finding  the  escort  divided  into  three  parties  and  just  going 
into  camp,  he  entrapped  each  party  separately,  by  issuing 
orders  with  the  assured  manner  of  a  Rebel  officer,  and  cap- 


536  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tured  two  hundred  and  ninety  men,  and  sixty  wagons,  loaded 
chiefly  with  Quartermasters'  stores. 

As  far  as  Prairie  d'Anne,  the  national  forces  had  the  best 
in  each  collision.  Steele  could  not  but  see,  however,  that  the 
Rebels  gathered  strength  with  every  step  backward,  and  he 
could  not  but  forbode  that  if  faint  rumors  which  reached  his 
ears  of  the  destruction  of  Banks'  army  were  true,  he  would 
find  himself  in  a  lion's  den  in  Shreveport,  after  even  a  suc 
cessful  march.  Looking  askance  at  Camden  during  several 
slow  and  toiling  days,  he  calculated  that  he  could  there  de 
fend  himself  while  he  considered  the  possibility  of  advance 
and  the  advisability  of  retreat.  Suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
he  turned  to  the  left. 

The  Rebels,  at  first  bewildered,  soon  understood  the  dodge, 
and  hastening  after  him,  worried  his  flank  and  rear,  and  at 
the  same  time  endeavored  to  gain  his  front. 

Receiving  undoubted  assurance  of  the  retreat  of  Banks, 
and  credible  reports  that  a  force  of  twenty-five  thousand 
might  any  day  be  concentrated  in  his  front,  Steele  determ 
ined  to  leave  Camden  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  feed  his 
troops,  and  to  return  forthwith  to  Little  Rock. 

At  this  point  his  troubles  might  be  said  to  begin.  The 
Rebels  beset  him  on  every  side.  Thirty  miles  east,  they 
crossed  the  Washita  on  a  pontoon,  and  obstructed  the  water 
by  felling  trees  into  the  stream.  Twelve  miles  west,  in 
strong  force,  they  fell  upon  a  foraging  party  of  nearly  a 
thousand  men,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  wagons,  and  after 
a  long  and  severe  struggle,  inflicted  a  loss  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  with  four  guns,  two  of  them  Espy's,  and  the 
entire  train.  Twelve  miles  north  they  attacked  a  train  of 
six  ambulances  and  two  hundred  and  forty  wagons,  return 
ing  to  Pine  Bluffs,  after  having  taken  supplies  to  the  army, 
escorted  by  a  brigade  of  infantry,  four  guns  and  two  hundred 
cavalry.  They  were  repulsed  in  their  first  attack,  and  baf 
fled  in  pursuit  on  the  following  day,  but  on  the  third  day, 
April  25,  they  succeeded  in  almost  demolishing  the  train. 

The  van  of  the  escort,  the  Forty-Third  Indiana  and  the 
Forty-Sixth  Iowa,  was  just  extricated  from  a  swamp  four 
miles  long,  when  the  Rebels,  six  thousand  in  number,  ap- 


STEELE;S  RETREAT.  537 

pearecl.  The  two  regiments  fought  heroically,  desperately, 
and  they  were  ably  seconded  by  the  rear,  but  they  were  over 
powered.  All  the  wagons  and  guns  were  taken,  and  full 
half  of  the  men  composing  the  escort  were  killed,  wounded, 
or  captured. 

As  was  afterward  ascertained,  the  prisoners  were  marched 
off  the  same  night,  and  were  kept  on  the  march  twenty-four 
hours  without  food  or  rest,  until  fifty -two  miles  were  ac 
complished.  They  were  taken  to  Tyler,  Texas,  which  they 
reached  the  fourteenth  of  May. 

The  moment  Steele  heard  of  the  affair  at  Mark's  Mills, 
he  bestirred  himself  to  put  the  Washita  between  him  and 
the  main  force  of  the  enemy.  Dawn  of  the  twenty-seventh 
saw  him  pushing  up  stoutly  toward  the  North.  Perhaps 
General  Steele  never  loved  the  North  as  well.  Pressed 
harder  and  harder,  through  every  hour  of  the  twenty-ninth, 
he  reached  the  Saline  river  at  Jenkins  Ferry  just  as  night 
fell,  and  bent  all  his  energies  toward  effecting  an  immediate 
crossing.  He  was  held  inextricably  by  rain,  mud  and  dark 
ness,  and  in  a  miry  and  thickly  wooded  river-bottom,  where 
it  was  not  possible  to  manoeuvre,  or  even  to  make  use  of  ar 
tillery,  he  was  compelled  to  wait  and  receive  the  importunate 
enemy. 

Fighting  was  entirely  between  infantry.  It  was  desper 
ate,  as  the  desperate  circumstances  required.  At  the  first 
onset  the  Rebels  drove  in  the  Thirty-Third  Iowa  and  the 
Fiftieth  Indiana,  which  covered  the  rear.  But  in  three  suc 
cessive  assaults,  they  suffered  repulse,  and  at  noon,  after 
seven  hours  fighting,  they  were  driven  back  from  the  river, 
and  out  of  sight  in  the  tangled  wilderness.  It  was  a  com 
plete  and  brilliant  victory. 

The  Union  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  seven  hundred. 
The  Rebel  loss  was  more  than  two  thousand. 

A  single  pontoon  bridge,  which  had  been  laid  in  the  night, 
and  on  which  the  trains  had  already  crossed,  now  afforded  a 
passage  to  the  army.  With  but  one  wagon  to  a  brigade, 
having  burned  the  others,  with  little  or  nothing  to  eat,  and 
bridging  swamps  as  well  as  streams,  it  anxiously  avoided  a 
renewed  encounter  with  the  reinforced  and  rapidly  returning 


538  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

enemy.  On  the  first  day  of  May,  the  fainting  troops  met  a 
provision  train  and  eagerly  snatched  from  the  mud  the 
crackers  which  were  thrown  to  them.  On  the  second  the 
advance  entered  Little  Rock.  On  the  fifth,  the  rear  closed 
the  retreat. 

The  Fiftieth  Indiana,  in  this  expedition,  suffered  the  loss 
of  one  hundred  and  nineteen.  Major  Atkisson  was  among 
the  missing.  The  Forty-Third  lost  two  hundred  or  more. 

The  Rebels  made  no  attack  on  Little  Rock;  but  neither 
did  they  return  to  their  south-western  wilderness.  They  held 
themselves  in  readiness  for  opportunities,  and  during  many 
following  months  neglected  none  that  offered. 

In  July  they  were  repulsed  from  Fort  Smith,  after  a  three 
days'  struggle,  in  which  the  Second  Indiana  battery  per 
formed  an  active  part.  But  they  were  not  deterred  by  one 
repulse  from  continuing  their  general  line  of  operations. 
They  roamed  and  ravaged  almost  at  will,  constantly  inter 
rupting  communication  and  lurking  even  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Little  Rock. 


FIRST  NIGHT  OF  IMPRISONMENT.  539 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

PRISON  LIFE  IN  TEXAS. 

Condensed  from  a  narrative  written  by  Colonel  Bringhurgt  and  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Flory,  of  the  Forty-Sixth  Indiana. 

After  their  capture  in  the  battle  of  Sabine  Cross  Roads, 
the  prisoners  were  rapidly  pushed  to  the  rear.  The  road 
from  the  battle  field  to  Mansfield,  four  miles,  was  strewn  with 
dead  Rebels  and  the  debris  of  battle,  and  the  country  was 
covered  with  temporary  hospitals,  to  which  the  Rebels  were 
carrying  their  crowds  of  wounded. 

At  Mansfield  about  two  hundred  of  our  prisoners  were 
crowded  into  the  Court  House,  and  for  the  night  were  con 
fined  in  a  room  scarcely  large  enough  for  half  that  number. 
This  room  had  been  used  by  Rebel  troops  for  quarters,  and 
was  filled  with  filth.  The  other  prisoners  were  corraled 
on  a  freshly  plowed  field,  near  the  town,  and  compelled  to 
get  what  rest  they  might  after  twenty  miles'  march,  and  two 
hours'  hard  fighting,  on  the  ground,  saturated,  as  it  was,  with 
recent  rains.  Nothing  of  any  consequence  had  been  eaten 
since  five  o'clock  that  morning.  Most  of  the  men  had  lost 
their  knapsacks  in  the  fight,  and  with  nothing  but  their  cloth 
ing,  hungry  and  tired,  they  began  a  long  and  torturing  im- 
'prisonment.  The  cold  north  wind  chilled  their  blood,  and 
benumbed  their  bodies,  and  they  esteemed  their  sufferings 
great,  but  the  time  was  to  come  when  they  could  look  back 
on  this  night  as  pleasant,  compared  with  many  of  their  ex 
perience. 

On  the  morning  of  the  ninth,  the  day  after  the  battle,  no 
rations  whatever  were  issued.  Chilled,  hungry  and  weary, 
the  prisoners,  numbering  fifty  commissioned  officers  and 
twelve  hundred  men,  were  goaded  forward  between  two  lines 
of  brutal  Rebel  cavalry,  flushed  with  a  blundering  success. 


540  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  most  insulting  epithets  were  heaped  upon  them,  and 
those  who,  from  sickness  and  exhaustion,  reeled  in  the  ranks, 
were  treated  as  a  slave-driving  chivalry  alone  can  treat  de 
fenceless  humanity. 

At  six  o'clock  at  night,  after  a  march  of  twenty-four  miles, 
the  staggering  column  was  turned  into  an  open  field,  having 
had  an  unbroken  fast  of  two  days.  About  ten  o'clock  a 
small  allowance  of  wood  was  given  the  prisoners,  and  a  pint 
of  musty,  unsifted  corn  meal,  with  a  small  allowance  of  salt 
beef,  no  salt,  and  one  baking  pan  to  each  hundred  men. 
There  was  no  water  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Eight  or 
ten  men  were  taken  out  at  a  time  to  fill  canteens,  of  which 
a  very  small  number  had  escaped  the  notice  of  the  rapacious 
captors  on  the  battle  field.  The  entire  night  was  spent  in 
preparing  food  from  the  scanty  materials  at  hand. 

At  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  tenth  the  haggard  pro 
cession  was  again  put  in  motion.  During  this  day's  march 
of  twenty-five  miles  many  men  were  forced,  along  by  the 
bayonet,  and  by  threats  of  shooting. 

About  the  same  rations  were  issued  as  the  evening  before, 
with  the  addition  of  an  abundant  supply  of  water  from  a 
creek.  The  guards  encamped  above  the  prisoners,  and 
washed  their  horses  and  their  own  persons  in  the  stream,  and 
in  other  wavs  rendered  the  water  filthy. 

After  marching  and  halting  in  this  manner  for  sixteen 
days,  the  point  of  destination  was  reached.  The  women 
and  children  from  the  country,  on  either  side  of  the  road  for 
miles,  congregated  in  motley  groups  to  witness  the  imposing 
spectacle.  In  passing  any  considerable  group,  or  a  town,  our 
undaunted  heroes  in  blue  sang  patriotic  national  songs.' 
The  "Rally  round  the  flag,  boys,"  seemed  to  have  a  new  sig 
nificance,  and  swelling  out  from  a  thousand  brave  souls, 
drowned  the  Rebel  huzzas. 

Reverend  Hamilton  Robb,  Chaplain  of  the  Forty-Sixth,  a 
man  near  seventy  years  of  age,  made  this  march  a  prisoner. 
He  was  released,  by  order  of  Kirby  Smith,  at  Camp  Ford, 
late  in  June.  This  officer  had  also  been  captured  at  Cham 
pion  Hill,  on  the  Vicksburg  march,  in  1863. 

Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  prisoners  captured  from  Gen- 


OCCUPANTS  OF  CAMP  FORD. 

eral  Banks,  Camp  Ford  was  occupied  by  about  eight  hun 
dred  men  and  officers,  including  one  hundred  and  fifty  offi 
cers  and  sailors,  captured  at  various  points  on  the  coast  of 
Texas. 

The  army  was  represented  by  Colonel  Burrell  and  eight 
officers  of  the  Forty-Second  Massachusetts,  who  were  cap 
tured  at  Galveston  about  the  twelfth  of  January,  1863;  the 
officers  who  were  captured  at  Brashear  City,  Louisiana,  in 
June,  1863;  the  Nineteenth  Iowa  infantry,  Lieutenant  Colo 
nel  Leake;  the  Twenty-Sixth  Indiana,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Rose,  captured  at  Morganza,  in  September,  1863,  with  other 
and  smaller  bodies  of  troops  of  General  Herron's  command. 

In  April,  1864,  these  men  were  almost  destitute  of  clothing, 
many  of  them,  at  capture,  having  been  robbed  of  ail  articles 
not  absolutely  necessary  to  cover  their  nakedness.  They  had 
passed  one  of  the  coldest  winters  known  in  the  country  for 
years  in  this  destitute  condition.  More  than  three-fourths 
of  them  had  no  shoes  to  their  feet  for  months.  In  December 
they  had  been  marched  to  Shreveport,  a  distance  of  one  hun 
dred  and  forty  miles,  and  back  again  in  January,  through 
rain,  snow  and  sleet,  and  over  icy  roads,  with  no  shelter  at 
night,  on  rations  of  coarse  meal  and  starved  beef.  Again,  in 
March,  they  were  inarched  over  the  same  road,  and  again 
back  to  Camp  Ford,  their  condition  not  in  the  least  improved 
by  the  lapse  of  time. 

These  movements,  it  is  said,  were  made  for  the  purpose 
of  exchange,  but  they  were  not  finally  released  until  July, 
when  they  left  prison,  many  of  them  in  about  the  condition 
of  Adam  and  Eve. 

On  the  twentieth  of  April  the  prisoners  captured  at  Pleas 
ant  Hill  arrived  at  Camp  Ford — about  eight  hundred. 

Early  in  May  some  fifteen  hundred  men  and  officers,  cap 
tured  from  General  Steele's  army  at  Mark's  Mills,  Arkansas, 
were  added  to  the  already  overcrowded  prison  pen,  and  at 
various  times  the  captures  from  transports  and  gunboats,  un 
til  the  number  reached  forty-eight  hundred. 

Steele's  men  had  been  most  barbarously  treated.  As  soon 
as  they  had  been  marched  to  the  rear,  they  were  stripped  of 
everything,  and  left  to  go  naked,  or  put  on  the  filthy  rags 


542  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

thrown  away  by  the  scoundrels  who  had  robbed  them.  Even 
the  treasured  miniatures  of  their  wives  and  mothers  were 
taken,  and  made  the  subjects  of  vulgar  ribaldry,  then  thrown 
into  heaps,  when  the  chivalry  rode  over  them  with  their  horses. 
At  Shreveport  they  were  again  subjected  to  inspection,  and 
made  to  pass  in  single  file  before  a  guard,  so  that  any  arti 
cles  that  had,  by  any  strategem,  been  concealed,  might  be 
discovered. 

Camp  Ford  is  four  miles  from  Tyler,  Smith  county,  Texas. 
It  covers  an  area  of  about  six  acres,  enclosed  by  a  stockade. 
A  trench  or  ditch  was  first  dug  around  the  ground  selected; 
in  it  were  placed,  on  end,  oak  or  pine  timbers,  fitted  close  to 
gether,  and  forming  a  wall  about  eight  feet  high.  On  the 
outside  the  earth  was  banked  up  so  that  the  guards,  whilst 
on  their  beats,  could  see  over  the  whole  camp.  The  location 
was  on  an  abrupt  hill-side — a  kind  of  pine  and  oak  barren. 
Every  shrub  and  tree  was  carefully  cut  down,  leaving  noth 
ing  to  protect  the  prisoners  from  the  drenching  rains,  the 
chilly  dews  of  night,  or  the  scorching  rays  of  the  semi-tropi 
cal  sun.  Within  this  pen  the  prisoners  were  turned,  and 
mockingly  told  to  "make  yourselves  comfortable." 

The  officers  had  the  privilege  of  going  to  the  woods  under 
guard,  to  cut  logs  and  board  timber,  which  they  carried  on 
their  backs,  and  with  which  they  constructed  huts  for  shelter. 
Parties  of  five  and  ten  in  due  time  built  up  cabins,  a  labor 
not  light,  when  it  is  considered  that  to  near  forty-eight  hun 
dred  men,  that  but  twenty  axes  and  four  or  five  shovels  were 
allowed.  An  auger  and  an  old  saw  made  up  the  comple 
ment  of  available  tools,  although,  in  the  camp  of  the  guards, 
there  seemed  to  be  abundance. 

The  private  soldiers,  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  by  an  arm 
ful  of  brush,  brought  in  one  day,  some  twigs  the  next,  sought 
to  erect  shelter  to  protect  them  from  the  sun.  Parties  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  were  successively  passed  out  under  guard 
with  one  or  two  old  axes,  and  a  short  time  allowed  them  to 
procure  this  class  of  material,  but  so  great  was  the  clamor 
and  so  eager  the  rush  for  the  prison  gate,  that,  in  their  ill- 
humor,  the  officers  in  charge,  for  days,  would  allow  none 
to  go  out.  Hundreds  of  the  men  dug  holes  in  the  hill-side, 


LIFE  IN  CAMP  FORD.  543 

and  from  two  to  four  lived  in  each  like  wild  animals,  and 
made  no  efforts  to  construct  any  kind  of  shelter.  A  very 
large  proportion,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  tools  and  the  many 
impediments  thrown  in  their  way,  were  unable  to  get  any 
thing  until  late  in  the  summer.  The  inmates  of  the  caves 

O 

soon  became  sick,  and  death  was  a  frequent  guest  in  these 
unnatural  abodes. 

The  only  reply  to  complaints  was:  "You  might  have 
staid  at  home!"  "  You  had  no  business  to  come  down  here 
and  interfere  with  us."  "We  didn't  want  to  fight  you  'uns." 
"If  you  'uns  had  staid  at  home,  we  'uns  wouldn't  have  inter 
rupted  you!"  or,  "Good  enough  for  you." 

This  was  one  of  the  wettest  seasons  Texas  had  known  for 
twenty  years.  During  May  and  June  and  far  into  July,  rain 
fell  in  torrents, — floods  overhead  and  cataracts  under  foot. 
With  blankets  only  in  the  proportion  of  one  to  twenty  men, 
robbed  of  clothing  in  many  cases,  the  ragged,  haggard,  care 
worn  men,  huddled  together  in  groups  like  sheep,  as  if  to 
kindle  warmth  by  contact,  and  move  the  blood  that  seemed 
ceasing  to  flow.  What  though  rain  should  cease,  night 
would  spread  its  impenetrable  veil  over  the  camp,  and  exag 
gerate,  if  possible,  the  misery.  So  night  after  night  passed 
with  no  hope  of  comfort  in  the  coming  morn  but  the  warm 
ing  influence  of  day. 

Many  of  the  prisoners  were  recruits  on  their  first  campaign, 
and  unaccustomed  to  the  exposure  of  even  ordinary  camp 
life.  Upon  these  the  trial  soon  began  to  tell,  and  each  night 
witnessed  some  unfortunate  breathing  out  his  life  in  dark 
ness,  lying  in  the  mud  with  the  rain  falling  on  him,  insensi 
ble  to  the  thunder  and  lightning;  no  mother  near  to  gently 
smooth  the  aching  brow;  no  sister  to  minister  to  his  wants; 
no  wife  with  her  deep  love  watching  the  spirit's  last  struggle. 

Hurried  to  the  near  grave,  scarcely  deep  enough  to  hide  the 
body  from  the  prowling  wolf,  it  is  soon  forever  disposed  of. 

The  commanding  officer  of  Camp  Ford,  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Borders,  was  an  Englishman,  a  resident  of  the  South 
about  nine  years.  From  association  with  the  most  reckless 
and  dissipated  of  this  semi-barbarous  society,  he  was  thor 
oughly  imbued  with  the  worst  qualities  of  it.  A  monarchist, 


344  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

hating  everything  Republican,  and  with  unbounded  malice 
toward  the  Union  soldiery,  he  was  a  fit  instrument  to  carry 
out  the  system  provided  by  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  of 
the  treatment  of  prisoners.  His  adjutant,  Lieutenant  M'Cann, 
possessed  no  principle  of  action  but  the  slavish  one  of  wish 
ing  to  please  his  superiors.  When  some  of  the  prisoners 
were  coming  home  through  New  Orleans,  in  March  last,  this 
M'Cann  was  just  being  brought  in  a  prisoner.  General 
Canby  was  informed  of  the  brutality  practiced  by  him,  by 
Major  Norris,  of  the  Forty-Third,  when  the  gentleman  was 
put  in  irons,  and  a  ration  of  a  pint  of  meal  and  a  half  pound 
of  bacon  was  ordered  for  him. 

If  men  approached  too  near  the  stockade,  the  limit  being 
ten  feet,  they  were  either  shot  down  or  made  to  mark  time 
at  a  vigorous  "double  quick."  As  many  of  the  sentinels 
were  boys  not  over  fifteen  years  old,  it  was  gratifying  to 
them  to  have  the  Yankee  dance  at  their  bidding.  The  in 
ducement,  a  cocked  musket  held  at  the  breast  of  the  pris 
oner,  and  handled  in  a  most  reckless  manner,  was  generally 
sufficient  to  get  out  of  a  man  all  the  dance  there  was  in 
him.  As  many  as  thirty  at  a  time  have  been  subjected  to 
this  treatment  for  two  hours,  or  until  they  became  exhausted 
and  fell.  Confederate  officers  often  stood  by  enjoying  the 
scene,  and  sometimes  ordering  a  bayonet  to  compel  men  to 
use  their  feet. 

Men  who  were  overtaken  in  trying  to  escape,  and  returned 
to  prison,  were  made  to  stand  on  blocks  of  wood,  or  stumps, 
bareheaded  in  the  sun  for  "four  hours."  This  would  be 
continued  for  a  week.  Sometimes  they  were  made  to  stand 
half  their  time  on  one  foot,  whilst  a  soldier  sat  by  with  his 
musket,  in  a  shady  place,  to  enforce  obedience.  Ladies  oc 
casionally  passed  around  the  camp  to  see  the '  animals/  as 
they  termed  the  prisoners;  taunting  them  in  the  most  insult 
ing  manner. 

Groups  of  prisoners  were  often  tied  up  by  the  thumbs  for 
some  trifling  offence,  and  suspended  so  that  their  toes  barely 
touched  the  ground,  and  for  days  were  brought  out  and  sub 
jected  to  this  torture,  two  hours  at  a  time.  Strong  men, 
subjected  to  this  punishment  in  a  July  sun,  would  faint  and 


HOSPITAL  ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  CAMP  FORD.  545 

fall  as  far  as  the  ligatures  on  their  thumbs  would  permit,  and 
would  be  cut  down  only  when  a  lazy,  vicious  Rebel  found 
it  convenient  to  go  to  their  assistance. 

The  regular  ration  consisted  of  a  pint  of  cornmeal  in  the 
bran,  and  about  a  pound  of  beef  with  a  little  salt,  to  the 
man,  but  scarcely  any  day  brought  anything  near  the  allow 
ance.  The  meat  often  was  not  fit  for  use.  The  supply  of 
cooking  utensils  was  not  sufficient  for  a  battalion  of  men. 
So  meagre  was  the  supply  of  wood  that  a  portion  of  the 
camp  could  have  none.  These,  having  no  way  to  cook  their 
beef,  lost  it.  Provisions  could  be  bought  of  outsiders,  but  at 
prices  beyond  the  reach  of  most  of  the  prisoners.  The  offi 
cers  of  the  camp  permitted  every  advantage  to  be  taken  of 
starving  inmates,  and  appeared  to  cooperate  in  creating  a 
demand  for  what  there  was  to  sell. 

The  Hospital  arrangements  consisted  of  a  new  wooden 
building  erected  in  the  woods  near  by,  about  large  enough 
to  accommodate  thirty  patients,  which  was  about  a  third  of 
the  average  sick,  needing  the  most  judicious  treatment  and 
close  attention.  Sick  men  were  usually  carried  out  to  the 
hospital  only  when  it  became  apparent  that  death  would 
ensue.  No  blankets  or  comforts  of  any  kind  were  furnished. 
The  only  advantage  in  the  hospital  over  the  camp,  was,  that 
the  men  were  raised  off  the  ground, — a  gain  of  dryness  at 
the  sacrifice  of  some  comfort.  The  majority  lay  naked  on 
rough  boards.  The  medical  department  was  in  keeping 
with  everything  else.  A  surgeon  was  detailed,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  visit  the  sick.  He  usually  visited  the  .camp  about 
once  a  week,  and  pretended  to  have  an  inspection,  but  usu 
ally  he  came  at  such  times  as  but  few  knew  of  his  presence. 
When  he  was  seen,  he  issued  curses  liberally,  and  the  com 
monest  drugs  parsimoniously.  The  monthly  allowance  of 
medicine  to  the  prisoners  was  not  sufficient  for  one  day\ 
treatment  of  the  more  simple  cases,  and  was  of  very  inferioi 
quality.  In  short,  the  whole  thing  was  a  farce. 

On  the  twelfth  of  August,  five  hundred  and  six  of  the 
prisoners  were  moved  south  to  Camp  Groce,  a  distance  of 
two  hundred  miles.     They  were  made  up  of  the  unruly 
35 


546  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

members  of  the  prison  community,  officers  and  men  who 
had  made  themselves  obnoxious  to  the  officials  by  resisting 
or  protesting  against  their  infamous  treatment. 

Not  over  ten  minutes  notice  was  given  of  the  proposed 
march.  The  rations  of  the  day  had  not  been  issued.  The 
line  was  soon  formed  outside,  but  the  march  was  delayed 
many  hours,  in  the  burning  sun,  without  water. 

The  road  for  the  entire  distance,  ran  through  a  pine  and 
oak  barren — extremely  broken — and  interspersed  with  nar 
row  strips  of  timber,  with  an  occasional  stretch  of  from  five 
to  six  miles  without  a  shrub,  or  scarcely  a  blade  of  grass. 
The  sand  was  scorching  hot,  and  ankle  deep.  For  fifteen 
miles  frequently,  no  water  could  be  obtained  for  the  guards 
and  their  horses,  which  were  always  first  considered.  There 
were  not  over  fifty  canteens  among  all  the  prisoners,  and 
there  was  no  way  of  carrying  water.  The  daily  march  was 
about  twenty  miles — arranged  with  a  view  to  the  water- 
places. 

In  justice  to  the  guards  on  this  duty,  it  must  be  said  that 
they  were  the  best  class  yet  met.  They  belonged  to  the 
Twenty- First  Texas,  and  numbered  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  intense  heat,  without  water,  caused  many  of  the  pris 
oners  to  drop  exhausted  by  the  wayside,  where  they  were 
guarded  till  night  came  on,  and  then  forced  to  overtake  the 
column.  Six  or  eight  wagons  were  assigned  for  the  sick 
and  exhausted,  but  they  did  not  accommodate  a  fourth  of  the 
number.  Many  men  were  without  shirts — their  naked  backs 
exposed  to  the  sun.  A  large  proportion  were  without  shoes — 
their  feet  blistering  in  the  hot  sand.  Many  were  without 
hats — their  uncovered  heads  exposed  to  the  almost  perpen 
dicular  rays  of  the  sun. 

It  would  be  fruitless  to  attempt  to  portray  the  sufferings 
of  that  eleven  days'  march,  the  remembrance  of  which  is 
enough  to  make  the  heart  sick.  Teams  which  followed  the 
column,  gathering  rations,  often  did  not  get  into  camp  till 
near  midnight.  There  was  then  doled  out  a  small  cup  of 
flour  or  cornmeal,  and  a  third  of  a  pound  of  bacon  to  a  man. 
Camp  Groce  was  at  last  made,  when  the  saddest  days  in 
the  prisoner's  experience  commenced.  There  were  confined 


LIFE  AND  DEATH  AT  CAMP  GROCE.  547 

in  this  camp  about  fifty  soldiers,  and  the  officers  and  crews 
of  two  gunboats  captured  at  Calcasieu  Pass,  on  the  sixth 
of  May,  1864,  in  ail  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men. 
They  were  all  sick  with  fever  and  ague.  Eighty  died  before 
the  following  November.  This  prison  is  about  sixty  miles 
north-west  of  Houston,  near  Hempstead,  on  the  Houston 
and  Texas  Central  Railroad.  It  is  situated  in  a  sharp  bend 
of  a  branch,  and  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Brazos  river.  It 
is  almost  entirely  surrounded  by  a  low  strip  of  marshy 
ground.  About  one  and  a  half  acres  of  ground  are  enclosed 
with  a  close  stockade  about  twelve  feet  high.  Two  wells, 
which  were  found  filled  with  rubbish,  with  great  labor  were 
fitted  for  use,  and  made  to  furnish  a  supply  of  slimy,  un 
healthy  water.  There  were  board  barracks  sufficient  to  ac 
commodate  six  hundred  and  fifty  men,  but  in  a  most  dilap 
idated  condition. 

The  rations  of  this  camp,  when  the  new  delegation  ar 
rived,  were  better  than  in  the  one  just  left,  but  they  soon 
grew  small. 

The  commander  of  the  camp  was  an  Irish  Captain,  who 
had  been  a  corporal  in  the  regular  United  States  Army,  and 
was  in  Texas  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  when  the 
infamous  General  Twiggs  delivered  up  his  command  of 
trained  and  disciplined  soldiers  to  a  cowardly  mob,  which  a 
volley  would  have  put  to  flight. 

Of  the  companies  of  the  prison  guards,  one  was  Irish, 
one  German,  and  two  were  Texans.  The  two  first  were, 
almost  to  a  man,  as  loyal  as  the  prisoners  whom  they 
guarded.  Numerous  instances  occurred  in  which  these 
guards,  after  dark,  passed  out  prisoners,  and  even  by  means 
of  ropes  let  them  down  on  the  outside  of  the  stockade,  and 
furnished  them  provisions  for  their  journey.  As  many  as 
thirty  in  rapid  succession  have  gone  over  the  stockade  on  a 
moonlight  night,  by  the  help  of  the  guard. 

The  men  from  Camp  Ford  had  not  been  long  here  before 
they  began  to  be  taken  down  with  camp  fever  and  diarrhoea, 
and  by  the  middle  of  September,  there  were  not  a  hundred 
well  men  in  the  prison.  Night  and  day  the  cries  of  the  sick 


548  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  dying  filled  the  air.  Men  woke  in  the  morning  to  find 
their  bunk  mates  dead  by  their  side. 

No  medicine  was  to  be  had  until  disease  had  become  gen 
eral  in  the  camp,  and  many  were  beyond  the  reach  of  rem 
edy.  The  surgeon,  whose  duty  it  was  to  visit  the  sick,  sel 
dom  came,  and  when  he  did,  was  drunk,  and  administered 
curses  instead  of  medicine.  This  hideous  drama  was  most 
appropriately  closed  by  the  death  of  the  fiendish  surgeon  by 
delirium  tremens. 

After  this,  those  who  were  thought  to  be  too  sick  to  be 
treated  in  camp,  were  carried  to  the  hospital  at  Hempstead, 
about  two  miles  distant.  From  ten  to  fifteen  sick  men 
would  be  jammed  into  a  wagon  and  carried  to  the  hospital? 
over  rough  roads  and  through  the  scorching  sun.  Four  or 
five  men  died  during  these  murderous  transits,  and  their  al 
most  unconscious  comrades  lay  upon  them  for  want  of  room. 

The  hospital  at  Hempstead  was  the  low  garret  of  a 
church.  There  were  no  side  windows,  no  place  for  ventila 
tion  but  through  the  small  gable  windows,  and  only  enough 
light  to  make  the  room  visible.  The  noisome  effluvia  that 
pervaded  the  place  drove  away  all  who  were  not  forced  to 
remain.  The  fresh  air,  so  greatly  needed  by  fevered  suffer 
ers,  seemed  to  turn  in  disgust  from  the  threshold. 

The  sick  were  crowded  together  as  thick  as  was  possible — 
one  tier  over  another,  on  rough  board  bunks,  and  generally 
with  no  straw  or  mattrass.  If  a  man  did  not  have  a 
blanket,  which  was  generally  the  case,  he  lay  in  his  rags 
upon  the  hard  boards.  There  were  a  few  mattrasses  belong 
ing  to  the  hospital,  but  these,  from  long  use,  had  become  so 
foul  that  they  were  refused  by  all.  If  the  men  were  able  to 
crawl  down  a  flight  of  stairs,  the  inexorable  laws  of  nature 
were  complied  with — otherwise  comfort  and  cleanliness  gave 
way  to  necessity. 

Helpless,  and  suffering  with  fever  and  chronic  diarrhoea, 
men  died  without  thought  or  care.  Their  remains  were 
hauled  out  in  a  cart  and  dumped  into  a  hole  without  a  coffin. 

In  September  the  yellow  fever  broke  out  in  Galveston,  and 
soon  reached  Houston  and  other  places  above.  The  Confed 
erate  guard  at  the  prison,  fearing  the  disease  might  reach 


"A  LOWER  DEEP."  549 

that  point,  openly  threatened  to  leave,  and  let  the  prisoners 
take  care  of  themselves.  On  this  the  authorities  moved  the 
camp  west  of  Brazos  river,  twenty-five  miles  from  the  rail 
road,  to  a  low,  wet,  marshy  creek  bottom. 

There  were  now  five  hundred  of  the  six  hundred  and  fifty 
left.  Of  these  not  more  than  seventy-five  were  well.  On 
the  journey  the  sick  who  were  unable  to  walk  were  crowded 
together  in  rough  wagons,  fifteen  or  sixteen  to  a  wagon. 
Those  whom  the  bayonet  could  persuade  were  obliged  to  go 
on  foot.  Many  dragging  themselves  along  until  they  could 
do  so  no  longer,  fell  exhausted,  and  were  left  to  follow  or  die, 
or  to  be  picked  up  when  it  suited  the  convenience  of  the 
guard  to  go  back  for  them. 

On  this  move  six  men  died  in  the  wagons,  and  were  hast 
ily  tumbled  into  holes  by  the  wayside.  Sick  and  well  alike, 
at  this  carnp,  had  no  beds  but  the  damp  ground,  and  no 
shelter  but  such  as  they  might  construct  with  brush.  They 
were  closely  packed  together  on  less  than  a  half  acre  of 
ground,  where  the  cooking  and  camp  duties  were  performed. 
Sinks,  dug  inside  the  lines,  made  the  atmosphere  almost  un 
endurable.  Water  was  obtained  from  pools  along  the  bed 
of  the  creek — green,  filthy  and  rank  with  disease  and  death. 
As  usual,  above,  the  camp,  the  horses  of  the  Rebels,  number 
ing  five  hundred,  were  kept,  watered  and  cleaned.  The  dirt 
of  a  filthy  Rebel  camp  was  intentionally  thrown  into  the 
water.  On  the  banks  of  the  stream  were  the  sinks  of  the 
Rebel  camp.  Each  rain  brought  down  this  disgusting  ma 
terial.  There  were  no  medicines,  nor  was  there  any  medical 
attendance.  Each  morning  at  roll  call,  men  were  found  pres 
ent  in  body,  but  absent  in  spirit.  Death  had  released  them. 
The  dead  would  be  found  lying  upon  the  ground  in  the  mud, 
having  been  denied  the  satisfaction  of  a  bed,  and  with  no 
covering  but  the  scanty  rags  that  composed  their  clothing. 
Around  this  few  was  a  heavy  chain  of  sentinels,  standing 
guard,  as  it  were,  over  a  graveyard,  to  keep  ghosts  in  sub 
jection. 

On  the  third  of  October,  owing  to  heavy  rains  and  cold 
winds,  the  camp  was  moved  near  to  the  town  of  Chappel 
HilL 


550  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

As  before,  several  died  in  the  wagons,  or  by  the  road  side. 
Above  the  new  camp  was  a  spongy  ridge,  which  kept  a  por 
tion  of  it  constantly  wet.  As  before,  no  shelter  was  had  for 
the  prisoners,  and  they  had  the  ground  only  for  their  beds. 
The  cold  October  rains  had  now  set  in,  and  night  after  night, 
moans,  ravings  and  coughs  sounded  through  and  above  the 
howling  winds,  while  ghost-like  forms  crowded  around  cheer 
less  fires.  About  the  fifteenth  of  October,  for  the  first  time, 
the  prison  was  furnished  with  medicines  of  something  like 
an  approach  to  decency,  but  still  far  from  sufficient.  A  sur 
geon,  comparatively  a  humane  man,  was  allotted  to  us. 
Health  began  to  improve,  though  deaths  continued  at  the 
rate  of  four  or  five  a  day. 

About  the  last  of  October,  the  yellow  fever  having  sub 
sided,  the  prisoners  were  again  moved  back  to  camp  Groce. 
On  this  journey,  after  having  marched  over  four  hundred 
miles  from  the  place  of  capture,  the  first  railroad  transporta 
tion  of  the  campaign  was  furnished,  a  ride  of  fifteen  miles 
being  granted  the  prisoners. 

There  were  now  four  hundred  and  forty  of  the  original 
number.  With  the  exception  of  six  or  seven  successful 
escapes,  all  the  rest  had  fallen  victims  to  infamous  treatment. 
Not  one  in  ten  prisoners  had  a  hat,  about  one  in  twenty  had 
a  blanket;  a  few  had  shirts,  very  few  had  shoes,  and  the 
majority  were  clothed  in  collections  of  rags  that  defy  de 
scription. 

"Northers"  now  occurred  frequently.  Often  with  the  ther 
mometer  at  seventy  degrees,  dark  clouds  would  startup  from 
the  northwest,  and  in  two  hours  the  thermometer  would  fall 
to  thirty-five  degrees. 

The  general  misery  of  the  prisoner's  situation  was  greatly 
augmented  by  his  inability  to  hear  from  home,  or  obtain  in 
formation  in  relation  to  the  progress  of  the  war. 

Nothing  was  heard  of  the  regiment  but  what  was  con 
tained  in  a  short  letter  written  June  14,  by  Colonel  Bring- 
hurst,  on  the  Mississippi,  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Flory,  as  the 
regiment  was  going  home  on  veteran  furlough. 

The  Houston  Telegraph  was  the  vehicle  of  the  news  re 
ceived  by  the  neighborhood  around  Camp  Groce.  In  it  were 


ELECTION  AT  CAMP  GROCE.  55^ 

published  the  most  startling  accounts  of  Union  defeats  and 
Rebel  victories.  Every  action  was  a  Federal  disaster,  and 
ruin  seemed  constantly  impending  over  the  National  Gov 
ernment 

With  all  this  there  ran  through  the  Rebel  soldiery,  an 
anticipation  of  final  defeat,  which  belied  all  their  boasts  and 
predictions. 

On  the  eighth  of  November,  the  prisoners  at  Camp  Ford 
held  an  election  for  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
matter  was  suggested  by  Colonel  Brown,  then  commanding 
the  camp.  He  said  the  votes  of  men  coming  from  so  many 
states  would  indicate  the  result  in  the  actual  vote.  The 
idea  was  readily  adopted  by  the  prisoners,  the  camp  was 
divided  into  wards,  and  slips  of  paper  were  distributed.  At 
roll  call  on  the  morning  of  the  eighth,  the  tickets  were  drop 
ped  into  hats,  brought  together  and  counted.  The  proceed 
ing  was  altogether  fair.  There  were  two  thousand  three  hun 
dred  and  seventy  votes  cast,  of  which  six  hundred  and  fifteen 
were  for  M'Clellan,  and  sixteen  hundred  and  sixty-five  for 
Mr.  Lincoln.  Colonel  Brown  was  astonished  at  the  result. 
He  predicted  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  declared 
that  the  chances  for  the  success  of  the  Confederacy  were 
very  small.  He  bought  three  gallons  of  whiskey,  and  he 
and  his  officers  got  gloriously  drunk  over  the  "  Indication." 

On  the  fifth  of  December  three  hundred  and  forty-two 
men  and  officers,  including  all  the  Forty-Sixth  present,  were 
notified  that  they  were  to  be  paroled,  and  to  proceed  to  New 
Orleans  by  way  of  Galveston  and  Houston.  It  did  not  take 
long  to  prepare  for  that  move. 

The  paroled  prisoners  were  conveyed  to  Galveston  by  rail 
road,  where  they  were  detained  but  a  few  hours,  as  a  steamer 
was  awaiting  them.  With  some  of  the  Rebel  guards,  who 
were  as  glad  to  get  away,  they  were  soon  happy  and  safe 
under  the  stars  and  stripes.  In  thirty-six  hours  the  party 
was  landed  on  the  levee  at  New  Orleans. 

Information  was  brought  from  Camp  Ford  by  Jasper  N. 
Mullins,  who  left  there  early  in  March.  There  were  then 
fifteen  hundred  Federal  prisoners  there,  among  them  only 
one  representative  of  the  Forty- Sixth. 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

At  Shreveport  were  three  of  the  Forty-Sixth. 

Though  Camp  Ford  was  heavily  guarded,  attempts  at  es 
cape  were  of  nightly  occurrence.  During  the  month  of  March 
a  party  projected  and  completed  a  tunnel.  It  commenced 
inside  one  of  the  cabins,  and  extended  out  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  beyond  the  stockade;  but  just  as  all  was  ready 
for  a  general  stampede,  the  stockade  was  extended  for  the 
accommodation  of  more  prisoners,  and  the  plan  frustrated. 
This  tunnel  afterward  served  for  prisoners  to  hide  in  when 
contemplating  an  escape.  They  would  enter  it  and  remain 
until  the  pursuit  of  them  outside  was  given  up,  when  they 
would  go  in  earnest.  Several  tunnels  were  constructed,  but 
none  were  ever  made  available  for  their  original  purpose. 
One  large  one  was  within  fifteen  feet  of  completion  in  March, 
1864,  when  the  last  but  one  of  the  prisoners  of  the  Forty- 
Sixth  came  out.  It  may  have  been  successful.  It  was  the 
result  of  an  amount  of  labor  and  ingenuity  that  deserved 
success.  A  shaft,  six  feet  deep,  was  sunk  in  a  cabin.  The 
tunnel  was  then  started  toward  a  bank  outside,  near  a  hun 
dred  and  seventy  feet  distant.  The  chamber  was  two  feet 
wide  by  three  feet  high.  Air  holes  were  opened  above,  un 
der  a  bunk  or  a  bed,  through  which  the  miners  got  breath. 
The  tools  used  were  caseknives,  a  sled,  upon  which  was 
drawn  out  the  earth  in  buckets,  and  rope  made  from  cows' 
tails.  A  station  would  be  established  midway,  to  which  the 
sled  would  be  hauled  by  a  stationary  Yankee  engine.  The 
bucket  would  then  be  put  on  another  sled,  and  hauled  to  the 
shaft.  The  first  sled  would,  at  the  same  time,  return  to  the 
work,  bearing  another  bucket.  The  earth  was  spread  under 
bunks,  or  in  holes  about  the  camp,  and  covered  with  litter 
before  daylight. 

Nearly  every  movement  in  the  camp  was  known  to  the 
Rebel  guard,  and  great  caution  was  observed.  None  but  a 
select  few  knew  about  it.  Rebel  officers  would  come  in  and 
make  a  general  and  thorough  inspection,  looking  especially 
for  tunnels,  and  forcing  ramrods  and  swords  down  into  the 
earth,  but  no  discoveries  were  made.  The  "  Grand  Trunk" 
lay  too  deep. 


DEVICES  TO  EFFECT  ESCAPE.  553 

The  digging  of  the  large  tunnel  cost  an  immense  amount 
of  labor  and  risk.  On  one  part  of  the  line  the  excavation 
had  to  be  made  fifty  feet  without  ventilation. 

A  trained  pack  of  hounds  was  constantly  kept  for  the  pur 
pose  of  tracking  and  hunting  down  fugitives  from  the  pen, 
and  these  were  under  the  charge  of  a  professional  negro 
hunter.  When  a  prisoner  was  found  to  have  escaped,  the 
dogs  were  made  to  take  the  circuit  of  the  camp  till  the  track 
was  discovered,  then  they  would  follow  it  through  the 
swamps  and  woods,  and  almost  invariably  accomplish  their 
mission. 

Music  was  frequently  resorted  to  as  a  blind  to  cover  the 
designs  of  a  party  meditating  escape — drawing  their  atten 
tion  by  a  good  song,  whilst  a  log  was  dug  up  out  of  the  stock 
ade,  and  a  party,  prepared  for  the  venture,  were  making  their 
escape,  often  within  a  few  feet  of  the  guards.  Others,  more 
adventurous  or  desperate,  would  draw  themselves  to  the*top 
whilst  a  sentinel's  back  was  turned,  and  quietly  let  themselves 
down  upon  the  outside. 

Hundreds  who  had  money  bribed  the  guards.  The  market 
price  for  such  favors  was  live  dollars  in  greenbacks.  These 
contracts  were  made  with  men  who  professed  Union  senti 
ments,  and  would,  for  money,  do  the  prisoners  any  favor  in 
their  power,  when  their  officers  were  not  about. 

It  was  seldom  the  authorities  discovered  the  absence  of  a 
man  until  his  friends  made  it  known,  or  he  was  recaptured. 
Keeping  his  escape  a  secret  gave  him  a  start  of  the  hounds 
and  cavalry,  and,  equal  to  that  in  general  interest,  it  gave  the 
camp  an  extra  ration. 

It  frequently  occurred  that  when  a  soldier  died  a  sailor 
would  change  clothes  with  the  deceased,  and  remove  the 
body  to  his  quarters.  The  sailor  would  assume  his  name, 
get  his  ration,  and  a  chance  for  parole  or  exchange,  that 
was  never  extended  to  the  sailors. 

One  of  the  most  novel  and  original  inventions  for  escape 
was  here  practiced,  and  with  great  success,  for  over  a  month. 

A  prisoner,  under  parole  not  to  escape,  drove  a  cart  through 
the  camp  for  the  purpose  of  hauling  the  accumulating  dirt 
to  a  ravine  outside.  This  suggested  to  an  Irishman  the  idea 


554  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  a  cartel  perfectly  feasible,  and  beyond  the  danger  of  inter 
ference  from  the  regular  Commissioners  of  Exchange.  Two 
men  would  get  into  the  empty  cart,  and  over  them  would  be 
thrown  a  blanket,  or  some  light  brush,  with  the  ordinary 
load  of  dirt  on  top.  Dirt,  rubbish  and  Yankees  would  then 
be  driven  to  the  ravine,  and  tumbled  down  a  declivity  of 
some  fifteen  feet,  into  the  brush,  when  the  contraband  part 
of  the  load  would  shake  themselves,  and  hide  away  until 
darkness  enabled  them  to  leave.  The  driver  of  the  cart 
would  dance  upon  his  load  as  he  drove  past  the  guards,  as  he 
said,  to  prevent  suspicion ;  but  he  was  suspected  of  doing  it 
for  his  own  fun  as  much  as  anything  else.  Under  this  cartel 
over  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  liberated  before  it  was 
discovered  by  the  Rebels  and  repudiated. 

The  nearest  point  in  the  Union  lines  was  at  Vicksburg,  a 
distance  of  three  hundred  miles.  There  was  not  a  county  in 
the  states  west  of  the  Mississippi,  within  the  Confederate 
lines,  that  did  not  have  a  party  of  mounted  soldiers,  with  a 
leash  of  trained  blood-hounds,  hunting  deserters  and  con 
scripts.  At  least  one-half  of  the  population  was  heartily  dis 
loyal,  and  bearing  intense  hatred  to  Federal  soldiers.  An 
escape  might  well  be  considered  a  miracle.  Of  the  numbers 
constantly  getting  out,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  not  over  one  in 
fifty  overcame  all  dangers  from  dogs,  Rebels,  deep,  swift  riv 
ers,  swamps,  hunger  and  the  many  other  difficulties  which 
beset  the  way. 

The  most  started  with  little  or  no  preparation,  ignorant  of 
the  geography  of  the  country,  and  without  maps  or  charts. 
Many  knew  nothing  about  traveling  at  night,  and  were  un 
accustomed  to  traveling  in  forests.  Their  appearance  would 
betray  them  to  the  first  man  they  met.  After  a  few  days  of 
bewildered  wandering,  exhausted  by  hunger  and  fatigue,  they 
were  obliged  to  barter  their  freedom  for  corn  bread,  or  more 
probably,  were  overtaken  by  men  and  hounds.  Frequently 
men  would  travel  hard  all  night,  and  by  the  first  dawn  see 
the  prison  from  which  they  had  escaped  six  or  eight  hours 
before.  Many  cases  occurred  where  men  had  reached  the 
Mississippi  river,  and  were  recaptured  whilst  hailing  a  gun 
boat  or  transport  Others,  within  sight  of  the  Federal  pick- 


ESCAPE  OF  COLONEL  FLORY.  555 

ets,  would  be  taken  by  some  straggling  Rebel  band,  and  de 
livered  to  a  post  for  re-con veyance  to  prison. 

Much  ingenuity  was  required  to  conceal  the  escape  of  a 
prisoner.  Each  morning  there  was  a  general  roll-call.  The 
camp  was  divided  into  sections  of  from  one  to  two  hundred 
men.  A  Rebel  sergeant  had  a  roll  of  these,  and  it  was  his 
duty  to  call  the  list,  and  ascertain  the  presence  or  absence  of 
each  man.  The  prisoners  were  formed  in  two  ranks,  and 
two  sentinels,  with  muskets  and  bayonets,  passed  along  the 
front  and  rear  of  the  line  "as  the  roll  was  called.  With  all 
this  precaution  the  absent  ones  were  duly  answered  for 
without  discovery.  Frequently  the  sergeant,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  call  the  roll,  was  not  able  to  read  the  names  without 
considerable  spelling,  when  some  considerate  Yankee  would 
volunteer  to  assist  him,  and  would  inadvertantly  miss  the 
name  of  an  absconding  party.  By  universal  consent  the 
party  successfully  covering  up  the  absence  of  a  friend  was 
entitled  to  a  surplus  ration.  With  the  officers  it  was  more 
difficult  than  with  the  men.  They  were  carried  on  a  sepa 
rate  roll,  but  they  were  so  successful  that  the  name  of  an  ab 
sent  one  was  often  carried  a  month  without  discovery — long 
enough  to  insure  his  safety. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  November  Lieutenant  Colonel  A.  M. 
Flory,  of  the  Forty-Sixth,  and  Captain  W.  B.  Loring,  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  made  preparations,  and  left  the  prison 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  the  custom  of  the 
prison  commandant  to  give  passes  each  day  to  Federal  offi 
cers  to  go  out  on  parole,  not  to  escape.  Upon  this  occasion 
a  pass  was  written  by  one  of  these  officers,  who  put  the  com 
mandant's  name  to  it.  With  their  blankets  under  their  arms, 
ostensibly  to  collect  brush,  they  presented  themselves  at  the 
gate,  showed  the  passes  and  went  out.  They  had  previously 
sent  to  a  designated  point  some  Confederate  clothing  and 
provisions.  They  now  went  to  a  thicket  and  waited  until 
dark,  in  the  meantime  putting  on  Confederate  uniforms. 
They  traveled  as  rapidly  and  steadily  as  possible  all  night. 
It  is  estimated  they  made  between  thirty  and  thirty-five 
miles,  which  is  all  that  saved  them.  The  escape  was  dis 
covered  next  morning,  and  cavalry  sent  in  the  direction  they 


556  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

had  taken,  but  the  cavalry  did  not  make  that  day  the  distance 
the  officers  made  the  night  before,  and  gave  up  the  chase. 
The  fugitives  did  not  stop  long  the  morning  after  the  escape. 
After  a  half  hour's  rest  and  a  cup  of  coffee,  they  again  pushed 
on,  and  in  twenty-four  hours  after  leaving  prison,  they  were 
fifty-five  miles  away,  with  twenty  miles  of  swamp  between 
them  and  their  pursuers.  They  were  on  the  head  waters  of 
the  San  Jacinto,  and  in  a  perfect  wilderness. 

This  description  of  country  extends  one  hundred  miles 
without  the  sign  of  a  habitation.  The  region  is  traversed  by 
the  San  Jacinto,  Trinity  and  Neches  rivers,  with  their  numer 
ous  tributaries,  and  is  covered  with  heavy  timber  and  dense 
canebrakes,  matted  with  brambles  and  every  kind  of  tangled 
growth  common  to  the  alluvial  soil  of  the  South.  Heavy 
pine  forests  lay  across  the  track,  hundreds  of  acres  of  which 
had  fallen  from  the  effect  of  fire,  and  were  overgrown  by 
blackberry  bushes,  often  ten  or  twelve  feet  high.  The  fugi 
tives  were  obliged  for  many  rods  to  cut  their  way  with  a 
knife,  and  then  pass  into  a  canebrake  of  enormous  growth 
equally  laborious  and  discouraging.  Passing  these  there 
would  be  a  stream  to  cross.  Thus  they  traveled  day  by  day. 
They  had  started  with  twelve  pounds  of  flour  bread,  two 
pounds  of  bacon,  a  little  coffee  and  sugar. 

On  the  twentieth  they  crossed  the  Neches  river.  Heavy 
rains  having  prevailed  for  two  days,  the  entire  country  was 
in  a  manner  flooded, — the  streams  full  and  the  bottoms  over 
flowed.  Owing  to  the  cloudy  weather  they  were  unable  to 
travel  for  two  days,  as  having  no  compass,  it  was  impossible 
to  keep  the  direction  in  a  wilderness  without  sun  or  stars. 

Again,  occasionally  getting  a  glimpse  of  the  sun,  and  by 
the  aid  of  the  clouds  the  fugitives  pressed  on.  At  last,  food 
all  gone,  hungry,  drenched  with  ram,  they  reached  a  corn 
field,  the  limit  of  civilization.  They  at  once  filled  their  haver 
sacks  with  corn,  built  a  fire  in  the  woods,  and  on  a  tin  plate 
cooked  their  grated  corn-meal. 

Having  reached  a  part  of  the  country  where  discovery 
was  possible,  they  prepared  for  night  marching.  At  dark 
they  started,  guided  by  the  moon,  and  made  the  greatest  dis 
tance  possible.  They  had  water  to  wade,  bayous  to  swim, 


WANDERING  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  557 

and  tangled  canebrakes  to  penetrate.  About  the  twenty -fifth 
a  cold  "  Norther"  sprung  up,  and  ice  was  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
thick. 

As  the  travelers  approached  the  eastern  line  of  Texas, 
which  is  the  Sabine  river,  they  became  entangled  in  bayous. 
Scarcely  had  they  crossed  one  before  another  presented  itself. 
For  two  nights  they  marched  hard  without  making  any  ma 
terial  advance.  Coming  at  length  to  a  saw-mill,  they  dis 
covered  a  negro  in  a  boat.  They  secreted  themselves  in  the 
brush  till  dark,  when,  stealing  cautiously  up,  they  captured 
the  boat,  and  quietly  drifted  out  into  the  bayou.  When  out 
of  hearing  they  rowed  down  the  stream.  Down  this  bayou 
they  moved  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when,  coming 
to  a  larger  one  running  south,  they  imagined  themselves  in 
the  Sabine  river.  Crossing  this  they  landed,  set  the  boat 
adrift,  and  took  an  eastern  course  through  a  dense  cypress 
forest.  The  sky  being  overcast  with  clouds,  they  had  no 
guide.  After  three  hours'  march  in  daylight,  through  briars 
and  swamps,  they  were  astonished  to  find  fresh  tracks,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  followed,  but  on  ex 
amination  the  tracks  proved  to  be  their  own,  and  they  dis 
covered  they  were  not  two  hundred  yards  from  where  they 
landed.  Three  times  they  were  compelled  to  build  rafts,  un 
dress  and  swim  streams,  two  of  which  were  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  wide,  swift  and  very  cold.  Three  times  during 
that  day  they  crossed  their  own  path,  it  being  almost  impos 
sible  to  keep  direction, — getting  only  an  occasional  glimpse 
of  the  sun  during  intervals  of  rain. 

Night  found  them  on  a  plain  traveled  road,  which,  after  a 
good  rest,  they  followed,  wading  mud  and  water,  and  swim 
ming  a  cold  stream.  At  daylight  they  entered  a  dense 
woods,  built  a  fire,  and  parched  and  ate  their  last  grain  of 
corn. 

They  took  the  road  again  near  night,  and  coming  to  a 
dilapidated  hut,  learned  from  a  woman,  that  they  had  passed, 
during  the  night,  the  road  they  should  have  taken.  They 
retraced  their  steps,  and  at  dark,  finding  the  road,  they 
stopped  at  a  house  for  the  night.  Here  they  got  a  good 
supper,  bed  and  breakfast,  but  discovered,  after  careful  ques- 


558  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

tioning,  that  instead  of  being  across  the  Sabine,  and  out  of 
Texas,  they  were  on  the  west  side  of  that  river,  and  but  five 
miles  from  where  they  set  out  thirty-six  hours  before. 

Early  next  day  the  river  was  reached,  and  crossed  on  a 
table  turned  bottom  up.  Now  there  was  no  mistake,  and 
the  fugitives  had  to  be  prepared  for  bold  movements.  They 
had  prepared,  before  starting,  orders  with  the  signature  of  the 
Colonel  of  a  Texas  regiment,  directing  them  to  go  to  their 
homes  near  Vermillionville,  Louisiana,  to  remount  and  refit. 
The  order  stated  that  their  horses  had  died,  and  the  men 
were  out  of  clothes.  As  Rebel  soldiers  they  successfully 
passed  Niblett's  Bluff,  through  the  fortification,  ate  dinner 
with  the  Rebels,  and  handled  the  "  Vandal  Yankees"  without 
mercy.  Here,  incidentally,  they  gathered 'all  needful  infor 
mation  in  regard  to  stopping  places  on  the  road. 

They  were  now  forty-five  miles  from  "  Lake  Charles,"  the 
most  dangerous  point  on  the  route,  where  a  number  of  es 
caped  men  had  been  recaptured. 

On  the  evening  of  the  thirtieth  they  reached  the  "city," 
crossed  boldly  at  the  ferry,  and  lodged  with  the  ferryman,  at 
whose  house  there  was  a  squad  of  Provost  guards.  Their 
papers  were  examined  and  pronounced  good.  On  the  first  of 
December  they  rode  in  the  wagon  of  their  host  twelve  miles 
on  the  road,  and  carried  a  letter  of  introduction  to  a  friend 
of  his,  who  lived  some  twenty  miles  beyond.  Here  again 
they  enjoyed  the  hospitality  due  the  soldier. 

On  the  second  they  traveled  hard  over  a  low,  flat  prairie, 
covered  with  water,  and  met  the  most  dangerous  adventure 
of  the  trip.  A  Confederate  Colonel,  stationed  at  Lake 
Charles,  met  them,  and  with  a  musket  presented,  demanded 
their  papers.  He  closely  examined  them,  and  deliberately 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  party  were  escaped  Yankees, 
and  that  their  papers  were  forgeries.  This  insult  was  re 
sented  in  a  becoming  manner,  and  the  Colonel  was  convinced 
that  they  were  really  Louisiana  soldiers,  going  home  on  leave 
to  refit.  To  atone  for  his  unjust  suspicions,  he  put  his  own 
indorsement  on  the  papers. 

They  kept  on  their  journey  until  four  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing,  when  a  heavy  rain  came  on.  They  waited  until  light, 


UNDER  THE  FLAG  ONCE  MORE.  559 

and  discovered  a  wood  about  a  mile  distant.  Here  they  de 
termined  to  remain  all  day,  but  found  the  wood  to  be  but  a 
narrow  strip  of  oak,  with  no  underbrush,  a  house  on  either 
side,  not  twenty  rods  off,  and  the  sceng  not  improved  by 
a  negro  riding  from  one  house  to  the  other.  Being  in  so  ex 
posed  a  place,  they  concluded  to  go  to  one  of  the  houses. 
They  found  an  officer  at  home  on  leave,  and  two  Rebel  sol 
diers  on  furlough.  The  clothes  of  the  fugitives  were  soaking 
wet,  and  they  were  almost  frozen,  as  a  "Norther"  had  come 
with  daylight,  but  the  Rebels  made  them  welcome,  gave 
them  hot  coffee  and  seats  at  a  large  fire.  Starting  out  again 
after  dinner,  they  overtook  a  Rebel  Government  train  going 
east,  and  rode  in  it  till  night.  The  night  of  the  third,  near 
Vermlllionville,  the  officers  passed  in  the  woods  the  spot 
where  the  Forty-Sixth  encamped  the  year  before,  and  were 
now  safe  as  regarded  the  road,  for  Colonel  Flory  had  been 
over  it  three  times. 

They  had  now  eighty  miles  to  the  lines.  They  traveled 
at  night,  hiding  by  day,  and  living  on  parched  corn.  They 
met  squads  of  Rebels  on  the  road,  but  turned  off  as  soon  as 
they  heard  them.  They  passed  around  the  towns,  and 
reached  Berwick  Bay  on  the  night  of  the  seventh.  They 
hailed  a  gunboat  lying  in  the  stream,  and  went  on  board  the 
next  day,  the  most  completely  overjoyed  men  of  which  it  is 
possible  to  conceive. 

Their  Confederate  rags  were  soon  stripped  off,  and  suits 
of  navy  blue  given  them.  They  were  once  again  under  the 
stars  and  stripes,  and  they  bowed  with  reverence  as  they 
gazed  on  the  old  flag,  and  felt  its  protecting  power. 

In  twenty-five  days  these  officers  traveled  five  hundred 
miles,  swam  over  twenty  streams,  pushing  their  clothing  be 
fore  them  on  rafts;  for  twenty  days  they  were  in  the  water 
almost  constantly,  and  for  many  days  had  nothing  to  eat  but 
corn. 


560  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

IN  AND  ABOUT  MEMPHIS. 

The  situation  of  Memphis  rendered  it  a  frontier  post  from 
its  surrender  in  June,  1862,  almost  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  necessitated  widely-extended  picket  lines,  strong  guards 
along  the  railroads,  and  full  garrisons  in  Forts  Pillow  and 
Pickering,  above  and  below  the  city,  as  well  as  frequent  ex 
peditions  into  the  interior,  also  made  it  a  depot  for  troops,  or 
a  base  from  which  they  were  sent  out  to  distant  fields.  Its 
military  population  was  consequently  fluctuating,  at  one 
time  consisting  of  such  immense  numbers  as  to  forbid  the 
idea  of  approach  to  the  enemy,  at  another  so  reduced  by  de 
mands  from  the  front  as  to  seem  to  invite  his  advance. 

Among  the  Indiana  troops  which  remained  many  months, 
in  Memphis  chiefly,  but  also  at  other  points  in  West  Ten 
nessee,  performing  picket,  guard,  fatigue  and  provost  duty,  and 
engaging  in  expeditions  in  search  or  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
were  the  Fifty-Second,  brought  up  from  Corinth  in  July, 
1862,  and  detained  principally  in  Fort  Pillow,  until  Septem 
ber,  1864;  the  Ninety-Third  and  Eighty-Ninth,  arriving  in 
November  and  December  of  the  same  year,  and  leaving  per 
manently  also  in  1864;  the  Twenty- Fifth,  moved  from  Davis' 
Mills  in  January,  1863,  and  employed  chiefly  in  provost  duty 
until  January,  1864;  Mueller's  battery,  which  reached  Mem 
phis  in  June,  1862,  and  departed  permanently,  only  when  its 
term  of  service  expired  in  July,  1865;  Cockefair's,  Brown's 
and  Kidd's  batteries,  and  the  Seventh  cavalry,  which,  reach 
ing  West  Tennessee  in  December,  1863,  left  Memphis  for 
the  last  time  in  July,  1865. 

The  Seventh  was  put  in  Grierson's  cavalry.  Shortly 
afterward  Colonel  Shanks  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
a  brigade. 


^braEPermefrC0"*^ 


BREV  MAJ  GEN. 


ACTIVITY  IN  WEST   TENNESSEE.  501 

The  Sixty-Sixth  was  not  employed  in  Memphis,  but 
guarded  Corinth,  Colliersville  and  Pulaski. 

West  Tennessee  was  General  Forrest's  favorite  field. 
Streaming  through  or  penetrating  into  it,  he  was  always  on 
hand  to  strike  a  blow  where  it  might  prove  effectual;  and 
though  often  suffering  heavy  loss,  he  was  never  discouraged 
by  disaster.  Before  the  war  his  home  was  in  Memphis;  he 
was  a  negro  trader,  and  his  slave-pen  was  also  there;  conse 
quently  it  was  the  scene  of  his  strongest,  if  not  his  tenderest 
associations.  From  the  ruthless  Forrest  down  to  daring 
Dick  Davis,  who  was  the  leader  of  a  prowling,  cunning  band 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  men,  and  who  at  last  expiated  his  crimes 
on  the  gallows,  the  enemy  in  West  Tennessee  was  unrest 
ing,  insatiable  and  irresponsible.  He  cut  the  roads,  robbed 
the  trains,  seized  and  murdered  stragglers.  He  constantly 
threatened  Memphis,  often  assailed  its  approaches,  and  once 
getting  in  the  rear  of  an  army  that  was  in  search  of  him, 
snatched  it  from  its  defenders,  though  he  was  not  able  to 
hold  it  a  single  half  hour. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1862,  and  throughout  the  next  year, 
excursions  from  Memphis  were  frequent  and  rapid,  but  were 
chiefly  in  search  of  guerillas.  It  was  seldom  that  some  part 
of  the  Fifty-Second  was  not  on  the  march.  In  August, 
Lieutenant  Bodkin  was  seriously  wounded  in  an  affray  with 
bushwhackers.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Main  lost  his  health 
from  over  exertion,  and  wras  compelled  to  remain  three 
months  in  the  hospital.  Near  Durhamville,  December  17, 
the  regiment  had  a  severe  fight  with  guerillas. 

Late  in  December,  1863,  nearly  all  the  troops  in  West 
Tennessee  and  North  Mississippi  were  thrown  out  to  catch 
Forrest,  who  had  boldly  posted  himself  at  Jackson  for  re 
cruiting  and  foraging  purposes.  But,  as  usual,  cooperating 
forces  did  not  cooperate.  General  A.  L.  Smith,  with  six 
thousand  men  from  Memphis  and  its  vicinity,  succumbed  to 
rain,  cold  and  fathomless  mud,  returning  to  Memphis  after  a 
struggle  of  two  or  three  days  with  these  obstacles.  General 
Mower,  in  consequence,  who  had  advanced  with  a  force 
from  North  Mississippi,  went  back  to  Corinth.  General 
36 


562  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Grierson,  with  a  cavalry  division,  was  misled  by  a  demon 
stration  of  the  enemy  upon  Colliersville,  and  allowed  For 
rest  to  pass  him  and  escape  over  Wolf  river  on  the  only 
bridge  which  had  not  been  burned.  Grierson  followed  the 
enemy  to  Holly  Springs,  skirmishing  sharply  with  his  rear, 
but  with  no  chance  of  overtaking  his  main  force. 

Everybody  remembers  the  extraordinary  change  which  oc 
curred  in  the  weather  on  the  first  day  of  1864.  The  fore 
noon  had  been  soft  and  warm,  with  a  gentle  rain,  or  a  melt 
ing  snow.  Late  in  the  afternoon  a  cold  wind  blew  up,  and 
rapidly  lowered  the  temperature.  By  midnight,  the  mercury 
was  at  zero  in  Alabama;  in  Indiana,  it  was  forty  degrees 
below.  Grierson,  on  his  return  march,  was  exposed  to  the 
bitterness  of  the  change.  Half  his  men  froze  the  unlucky 
members, — hands,  feet  and  noses, — which  are  comparatively 
unprotected.  Many  were  unable  to  sit  on  their  horses,  and 
were  carried  in  ambulances. 

The  Seventh,  which  was  foremost  in  the  pursuit  and  hind 
most  in  the  retreat,  behaved  admirably.  Several  men,  who 
held  out  uncomplainingly  throughout  the  long  and  dreadful 
march,  died  from  the  exposure,  after  their  return  to  camp. 

Even  about  Memphis,  where  the  soldiers  could  generally 
find  some  means  of  shelter,  there  was  very  great  suffering. 
Lieutenant  Alexander,  of  the  Fifty-Second,  was  frozen  to 
death  near  Fort  Pillow. 

Soon  after  Sherman's  return  from  Chattanooga  to  Vicks- 
burg,  he  set  on  foot  an  expedition  for  the  destruction  of 
Confederate  public  property,  and  if  circumstances  were  en 
couraging,  for  an  advance  into  Rebel  territory.  The  forces 
designated  for  his  operations  were  to  move  in  two  columns, 
one  from  Memphis,  under  General  W.  S.  Smith;  the  other 
from  Vicksburg,  under  the  direct  command  of  Sherman,  and 
were  to  meet,  provided  the  former  was  not  heavily  opposed, 
at  Meridian,  a  railroad  centre  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the 
state  of  Mississippi.  A.  J.  Smith  moved  down  from  Mem 
phis,  and  reinforced  Sherman  with  his  division,  which  in 
cluded  the  Twenty-Fifth,  Fifty-Second  and  Eighty-Ninth 
regiments,  and  the  Third,  Ninth  and  Fourteenth  batteries  of 
Indiana  troops.  The  Twenty-Third  and  Fifty-Third  had 


MERIDIAN  EXPEDITION.  563 

remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg  since  the  siege,  ex 
cept  during  one  or  two  important  expeditions,  and  were  al 
ready  included  in  Sherman's  column. 

February  3,  with  the  Sixteenth  corps  under  Hurlbut,  and 
the  Seventeenth  under  McPherson,  his  command  in  all 
amounting  to  twenty  thousand  infantry,  twelve  thousand 
cavalry  and  sixty  pieces  of  light  artillery,  and  with  a  wagon 
train  carrying  twenty  clays'  rations,  Sherman  set  out  on  sev 
eral  roads.  After  crossing  the  Big  Black,  he  began  to  receive 
marks  of  the  enemy's  attention.  The  march,  however,  was 
not  obstructed  further  than  by  lightly  hovering  skirmishers. 
The  enemy  was  in  two  large  divisions  under  French  and 
Loring,  and  showed  a  formidable  front  at  Champion  Hills, 
Clinton,  Jackson,  and  on  Line  creek;  but,  after  slight  en 
gagements,  melted  away  from  each  point.  At  Pearl  river 
he  even  abandoned  his  pontoon  bridge. 

Before  the  appointed  time,  Sherman  reached  Meridian. 
He  staid  a  week,  advancing  part  of  his  force  six  miles  north, 
and  making  his  stay  as  destructive  as  possible.  Then,  not 
having  been  joined  by  the  cooperating  body  from  Memphis, 
he  gave  up,  if  he  had  ever  entertained,  the  idea  of  penetrat 
ing  to  Mobile,  or  any  other  distant  point,  and  made  a  sort 
of  triumphal  return  to  Vicksburg,  which  he  reached  March  4. 

General  Smith  suffered  considerable  delay  in  concentrat 
ing  his  widely  scattered  cavalry,  and  was  not  able  to  leave 
Memphis  until  the  tenth.  His  force  consisted  of  nearly  eight 
thousand  horsemen  and  a  small  body  of  infantry,  and  in 
cluded  our  Seventh  cavalry,  and  the  Seventy-Second  mounted 
infantry,  which  was  brought  over  from  Middle  Tennessee  to 
Memphis  in  December.  After  two  days  of  unopposed  pro 
gress,  he  was  confronted  on  the  Tallehatchie  by  Forrest's 
cavalry.  Leaving  his  infantry  at  the  point  to  hold  the  en 
emy's  attention,  he  hastened  up  the  river  thirty  miles,  effected 
a  crossing  without  difficulty,  and  when  rejoined  by  his  in 
fantry,  pushed  on  through  Pontotoc.  He  soon  found  him 
self  again  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  Near  Huston,  at 
the  entrance  of  a  wide  swamp,  which  was  crossed  by  a  single 
corduroy  road,  in  the  possession  of  a  hostile  force,  he  turned 
eastward  under  cover  of  a  demonstration  in  front.  He  struck 


564  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  railroad  at  Okolona,  and  advanced  to  West  Point,  tear 
ing  up  the  track  and  destroying  stores. 

The  black  inhabitants  of  the  country,  mounted  on  the 
horses  of  the  white  population,  met  him  with  welcome  and 
thanksgiving,  and  joined  him  by  hundreds.  "  God  bless 
you!"  "Has  you  come  at  last?"  We've  been  lookin' for 
you  so  long,  we'd  most  done  give  it  up!"  were  oft  repeated 
expressions  of  their  simple  and  grateful  hearts. 

Beyond  West  Point,  hostile  forces  held  all  the  crossings  of 
a  swamp  on  the  right,  of  the  Octibbeha  in  front,  and  of  the 
Tombigbee  on  the  left,  while  at  the  same  time  they  threat 
ened  the  rear.  It  was  high  time  to  consider  the  situation. 
Encumbered  by  negroes,  captured  horses  and  mules,  and  by 
his  pack  trains;  embarrassed  by  the  marshy  nature  of  the 
ground;  aware  that  the  enemy's  force  was  much  larger  than 
his  own,  and  calculating  that  his  superior  and  coadjutor  must 
by  this  time  have  left  Meridian,  Smith  determined  to  face 
about.  But  it  was  no  easy  task.  Over  sixty  miles  the  re 
turn  march  was  a  continuous  fight. 

Our  Seventh  cavalry,  eight  hundred  and  thirteen  strong, 
assisted  by  a  battery  of  howitzers,  covered  the  rear  to  Oko 
lona,  where,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-second  of  Febru 
ary,  skirmishing  assumed  the  proportions  of  a  battle.  While 
the  trains  continued  the  journey  and  a  heavy  line  of  cavalry 
formed  behind  a  hill  in  front  of  Okolona,  the  Seventh  ad 
vanced  on  the  trot,  exchanged  shots  with  the  enemy  and 
withdrew,  drawing  the  Rebels  after  it  in  full  force  to  the  sec 
ond  line.  The  shock  of  the  collision  unseated  many  a  rider. 
Nevertheless,  a  close  and  fierce  struggle  followed.  The 
Union  troops  clung  desperately  to  each  foot  of  ground,  but 
the  Rebels  slowly  drove  them.  The  colors  of  the  Seventh 
remained  standing  in  the  centre  of  the  space  when  there 
were  but  sixty  yards  between  the  lines.  The  staff  was  thrust 
in  the  ground,  and  beside  it,  with  his  bridle  in  one  hand  and 
his  revolver  in  the  other,  was  the  small,  dauntless  figure  of 
the  youngest  soldier  in  the  regiment.  He  had  seen  the  bearer 
wounded,  had  raised  the  fallen  standard  and  planted  it  in  the 
ground,  and  now  was  conscious  only  of  furious  foes  advanc 
ing  to  snatch  it  away.  Not  while  he  lived  should  they  touch 


THE  SEVENTH  AT  OKOLONA.  565 

it.  But  through  the  din  the  peremptory  order  to  fall  back 
reached  him,  and  both  boy  and  banner  gained  the  lines  in 
safety. 

While  General  Smith  attempted  to  make  a  second  stand, 
Colonel  Shanks,  with  the  Seventh  cavalry,  made  a  success 
ful  sabre  charge,  saving  a  battery  which  had  been  abandoned 
by  its  support,  and  repeating  the  charge  as  the  enemy  rallied. 

The  Seventh  was  complimented  by  Generals  Smith  and 
Grierson  for  its  efficiency  and  valor  in  the  battle  of  Okolona. 
It  suffered  largely,  losing  eighty-four  men.  One  of  its  most 
daring  officers  was  captured,  although  not  until  he  was  se 
verely  wounded. 

After  leaving  Okolona,  the  Seventh  moved  with  the  ad 
vance,  and  the  Seventy-Second  covered  the  rear. 

Smith  now  raced  with  the  enemy  for  the  Tallehatchie,  and 
though  the  Rebels  were  on  both  his  flanks,  he  reached  it  first, 
and  crossed  it  with  all  his  captures,  at  New  Albany.  Thence 
unmolested  he  pursued  his  way  to  Memphis. 

So  great  destruction  of  Rebel  property  had  never  previ 
ously  been  made  as  was  effected  by  the  two  bodies  engaged 
in  the  Meridian  foray.  McPherson's  corps  alone  destroyed 
sixty  miles  of  railroad, — a  very  important  work,  as  the  roads 
which  connected  the  interior  with  the  Mississippi  afforded  to 
the  Rebels  highly  prized  facilities  for  impeding  navigation. 
Sherman  suffered  a  total  loss  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
men.  Smith,  beside  a  corresponding  destruction  of  railroads 
and  property,  devoured  and  destroyed  an  enormous  amount 
of  the  produce  of  the  country.  He  burned  a  million  bushels 
of  corn,  ate  fifty  thousand  hams,  and  allowed  nearly  eight 
thousand  negroes  to  escape  from  the  land  of  bondage.  He 
inflicted  a  loss  of  five  hundred  killed  and  wounded,  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  captured,  while  his  own  losses  in  men  did 
not  amount  to  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  little  hero  who  saved  the  flag  at  Okolona  was  James 
Weir  Graydon,  a  boy  of  fifteen,  and  as  well  worth  notice,  in 
his  way,  as  the  good  and  valiant  Colonel  of  the  Seventh. 
Whether  detailed  or  not,  he  was  in  every  hazardous  expedi 
tion  in  which  the  regiment  or  any  part  of  it  was  engaged. 
He  seemed  to  have  no  sense  of  danger.  Keen  and  quick 


566  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

as  a  hawk,  he  darted  at  a  task  and  accomplished  it  while 
older  soldiers  were  calculating  its  feasibility,  or  turning 
round  to  take  a  start,  In  the  pursuit  of  Forrest  in  Decem 
ber,  when,  at  Egypt  Station,  a  detachment  of  the  Seventh 
was  repulsed  by  the  Rebel  rear,  Graydon's  horse  lagged  be 
hind,  and  he  was  set  upon  by  five  men.  He  shot  three,  and 
with  Lieutenant  Dumcnt,  who  hastened  to  his  relief,  cap 
tured  the  others.  While  on  a  scout  in  Missouri,  under  Lieu 
tenant  Skelton,  he  was  sent  forward  on  the  fleetest  horse  in 
the  regiment  in  command  of  four  men.  Espying,  near  Pleas 
ant  Hill,  a  squad  of  about  twenty  Rebel  horsemen,  he  directed 
a  man  to  go  back  with  the  intelligence.  But  instead  of 
waiting  for  orders  or  a  reinforcement,  he  took  his  bridle  in 
his  teeth,  a  revolver  in  each  hand,  set  spurs  to  his  horse  and 
flew  over  the  ground,  while  his  comrades,  running  at  full 
speed,  gallantly  supported  him.  Dashing  into  the  cavalry, 
and  firing  right  and  left,  they  not  only  cleared  the  ground, 
but  pursued  the  enemy  a  mile  or  more.  The  boyish  leader 
received  a  severe  reprimand,  which  was  counterbalanced  the 
next  moment  by  liberal  commendation. 

These  stories  are  told  by  Lieutenant  Braugher,  and  the 
same,  with  others  of  like  character,  are  narrated  by  different 
members  of  the  regiment. 

With  all  his  temerity,  the  young  Hotspur  never  was  harmed 
by  lead  or  steel. 

When  we  see  names,  which  were  known  in  the  war  for 
Independence,  figuring  bravely  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion, 
(and  Indiana  has  a  good  share  of  these  names.)  we  are 
tempted  to  believe  that  the  heroes  of  the  past  have  not  wholly 
withdrawn  from  sublunary  things.  One  almost  fancies  that 
the  gallant  Captain  Graydon,  who  lifted  his  sword  for  liberty 
with  Washington,  and  in  his  later  age,  with  equal  grace, 
took  up  his  pen,  looked  with  curiosity  not  unmixed  with  sat 
isfaction,  on  the  young  off-shoot  of  the  family  tree. 

In  March  and  April  of  1864  the  Union  troops  generally 
kept  within  their  stations,  while  Forrest,  breathing  fire  and 
slaughter,  roamed  through  West  Tennessee.  He  captured 
the  entire  force  at  Union  City.  Upon  posts  which  were  par 
tially  garrisoned  by  negro  troops  he  denounced  burning  ven- 


BATTLE  OF  GUNTOWN.  567 

geance,  threatening  to  "kill  niggers  for  being  niggers,  and 
whites  for  fighting  with  niggers." 

At  Fort  Pillow,  in  spite  of  a  brave  resistance,  he  had  the 
fiendish  satisfaction  of  putting  his  threats  into  execution, 
nailing  men  by  the  ears  to  fences  and  shooting  them,  bury 
ing  them  alive,  and  leaving  undone  no  horror  which  the  in 
genuity  of  a  lost  soul  could  invent. 

In  May  the  Union  forces  in  West  Tennessee  concentrated 
at  Memphis,  and  became  the  challenging  and  advancing 
party,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  Forrest  from  reinforcing 
Johnston  in  Georgia. 

After  several  small  preliminary  operations  General  Sturgis, 
on  the  first  of  June,  with  twelve  thousand  troops,  including 
the  most  of  A.  J.  Smith's  corps,  lately  returned  from  the  Red 
river  campaign,  and  Grierson's  cavalry,  three  thousand  in 
number,  undertook  a  most  perilous  march,  one  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  south-east,  toward  Tupelo,  on  the  Mobile  and 
Ohio  Railroad.  Rain  was  incessant.  The  enemy's  skir 
mishers  were  annoying.  At  Ripley  the  Seventh  cavalry  lost 
four  killed  in  a  skirmish.  June  10,  the  first  clear  day  of  the 
march,  near  Guntown,  Grierson  encountered  Forrest's  horse, 
and  driving  it,  confronted  and  engaged  his  foot,  which  was 
strongly  posted  on  a  high,  sloping,  naked  bank,  beyond  Tish- 
omingo  creek.  General  Sturgis  whipped  up  his  infantry, 
which  was  five  or  six  miles  in  the  rear,  and  his  wagons,  two 
hundred  in  number,  and  reached  the  front,  with  the  latter  all 
in  disorder,  and  the  former  utterly  exhausted,  the  day  being 
intensely  hot.  Without  delaying  to  form  his  infantry  he 
threw  it,  regiment  by  regiment,  against  the  Rebel  line  of  bat 
tle.  The  Seventh  cavalry  and  Fourteenth  battery,  which 
had  Grierson's  extreme  right,  were  already  outflanked,  and 
the  centre  and  left  were  holding  their  ground  with  difficulty. 
The  panting  infantry  at  their  heels,  and  the  wagons  crowding 
confusedly  into  the  stream,  apparently  hurrying  toward  the 
front,  necessitated  disaster.  Skirmishing  began  about  eleven 
in  the  forenoon.  About  one  the  engagement  became  gen 
eral  and  fierce.  It  lasted  until  four,  when  the  enemy  having 
turned  the  left,  and  nearly  surrounded  the  force,  a  retreat  was 
commenced.  The  Fourteenth  was  the  last  of  the  artillery  to 


568  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

ieave  the  field.  In  consequence  of  some  of  its  horses  being 
shot  down,  one  of  its  guns  had  to  be  left  on  the  ground. 

The  confusion  among  the  teamsters  was  terrible.  At 
midnight  some  of  the  wagons  stuck  fast  in  a  swamp  and  so 
blocked  up  the  road  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  abandon 
the  whole  train, — wagons,  ambulances  and  artillery. 

The  infantry  was  saved  from  destruction  only  by  the  faith 
ful  and  gallant  cavalry  which  closely  covered  the  rear,  until 
Ripley  was  reached,  and  there  finally  checked  pursuit. 

The  defeat  was  a  disaster  of  the  worst  character,  except 
that  the  troops  were  not  disgraced.  The  retreat  was  made 
in  hunger  as  well  as  haste,  supplies  having  been,  of  course, 
lost  with  the  wagons.  Not  a  few  men  marched  a  hundred 
miles  without  a  mouthful  of  food.  Many  of  the  bravest  and 
best  fell  victims  to  the  stupidity  and  heartlessness  of  General 
Sturgis,  who  escaped  unhurt. 

The  Sixth  battery  lost  three  men  and  ten  horses.  One 
section  of  the  Fourteenth  battery,  with  thirty-two  men,  was 
included  in  the  expedition,  and  was  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Morse,  the  successor  of  Captain  Kidd.  The  men 
were  mostly  recruits,  but  they  fought  like  veterans,  with  a 
valor  deserving  a  better  result.  Beside  all  its  horses  and 
guns,  it  lost  seven  men. 

The  Seventh  cavalry  lost  forty.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Brown 
and  Captain  Elliott  were  wounded.  General  Grierson  com 
plimented  the  Seventh  in  the  following  terms: 

"  Your  General  congratulates  you  upon  your  noble  conduct 
during  the  late  expedition.  Fighting  against  overwhelming 
numbers,  under  adverse  circumstances,  your  prompt  obedi 
ence  to  orders  and  unflinching  courage,  commanding  the  ad 
miration  of  all,  made  even  defeat  almost  a  victory.  For 
hours,  on  foot,  you  repulsed  the  charges  of  the  enemy's  in 
fantry,  and  again  in  the  saddle  you  met  his  cavalry,  and 
turned  his  assaults  into  confusion.  Your  heroic  perseverance 
saved  hundreds  of  your  fellow  soldiers  from  capture.  You 
have  been  faithful  to  your  honorable  reputation,  and  have 
fully  justified  the  confidence  and  merited  the  high  esteem  of 
your  commander." 


DICK  DAVIS.  569 

Two  hundred  and  fifty-three  of  the  Ninety-Third  were 
killed,  wounded  or  captured,  the  greater  part  captured. 

Adjutant  Moody  was  among  the  killed.  Lieutenant  Col 
onel  Poole  and  Lieutenant  Reeves  were  wounded  and  cap 
tured.  Dr.  Sackett  and  Captain  Bodenhamer  were  cap 
tured.  Captain  Courvoiscr  was  wounded. 

The  part  of  A.  J.  Smith's  command  not  engaged  in  the 
Guntown  expedition  was  on  its  way  up  the  Mississippi.  It 
landed  at  Columbia,  Arkansas,  and  marched  round  Lake 
Chicot,  about  fifteen  miles,  to  find  and  disperse  a  force, 
under  General  Marmaduke,  which  had  been  firing  on  trans- 

'  O 

ports.  The  advance  met  with  a  stubborn  resistance,  which 
yielded  quickly  to  the  main  body.  The  Ninth  battery  and 
the  Fifty-Second  regiment  were  in  the  fight.  The  Eighty- 
Ninth  regiment  guarded  the  ambulances  and  buried  the  dead. 

About  the  first  of  July,  Lieutenant  Hare,  with  a  detach 
ment  of  the  Seventh  Indiana  cavalry,  found,  twenty  miles 
southeast  of  Memphis,  the  bodies  of  five  men,  stripped,  pu 
trid  and  un buried.  On  inquiry,  it  was  learned  that  these 
were  the  remains  of  Union  soldiers,  who,  unarmed,  footsore 
and  almost  famished,  on  the  retreat  from  Guntown,  had 
been  murdered  in  cold  blood  by  Dick  Davis  and  his  gang. 
Lieutenant  Hare  and  his  men  buried  them  in  one  grave  be 
neath  the  shade  of  a  little  oak. 

Before  the  year  was  out,  the  chief  murderer  was  brought 
to  justice.  October  2,  Captain  Skelton  scouring  the  region 
south-east  of  Memphis,  with  forty  men,  was  fired  on  by 
guerillas,  who,  having  fired,  scattered  and  fled  from  a  wood 
in  which  they  had  lain  in  ambush.  Skelton  and  his  party 
dashed  after  them,  leaping  fences  and  overtaking  and  seizing 
four  men  before  they  had  time  to  reload.  The  leader  was 
collared  by  Skelton,  and  proved  to  be  the  notorious  Davis. 
His  trial  sealed  his  fate. 

General  A.  J.  Smith  was  in  command  of  the  next  expedi 
tion  from  Memphis.  He  skirmished  hotly  from  the  outset, 
and  on  the  fourteenth  of  July,  at  Tupelo,  fought  a  battle. 
His  number  was  twelve  thousand.  Forrest,  with  fourteen 
thousand,  made  three  unsuccessful  assaults,  and  after  a  com 
bat  of  three  hours,  retired,  leaving  on  the  field  more  dead 


570  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  wounded  than  Smith  lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  miss 
ing.  After  a  short  delay,  during  which  his  cavalry  skirmished 
sharply,  Smith  started  back  to  Memphis.  On  Old  Town 
Creek,  the  enemy  sharply  attacked  his  rear,  but  was  driven 
off.  The  Eighty-Ninth  Indiana  lost  thirteen  at  Tupelo,  and 
two  on  the  road  between  Charleston  and  LaGrange,  shot 
while  in  the  railroad  train.  The  regiment  was  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Craven,  Colonel  Murray  being  in 
charge  of  the  brigade,  and  supported  the  Third  battery. 

The  Sixth  battery  lost  eight.  The  Ninth  battery,  the 
Fifty-Second  and  Ninety-Third  regiment?,  were  also  in  the 
Tupelo  fight.  Lieutenant  Herron,  of  the  Fifty-Second,  was 
killed.  He  was  a  fearless  and  efficient  officer. 

The  Seventh  cavalry  was  not  engaged  in  the  expedition 
to  Tupelo,  having  previously  been  sent  to  Vicksburg.  An 
account  of  its  doings  in  that  region  is  given  in  the  following 
letter: 

"CAMP  WHITE  STATION,  NEAR  MEMPHIS,  TENN.,  ) 

July  25,  1864.      J 

"DEAR  MOTHER  : — According  to  orders  we  started  to  Mem 
phis,  to  get  on  the  boat  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  We  pushed 
off  about  six  in  the  evening.  Arrived  at  Helena  next  morn 
ing,  and  lay  over  until  evening.  About  two  next  morning, 
we  were  fired  into  from  the  Mississippi  side.  Of  course  we 
were  all  up  and  on  the  lookout  in  a  minute.  But  they 
thought  best  not  to  try  it  again.  Arrived  at  Vicksburg  on 
the  evening  of  the  seventh,  and  started  out  to  Big  Black 
Station,  consequently  did  not  see  much  of  the  ground  Grant 
fought  over. 

"  Nothing  of  interest  occurred  except  a  few  skirmishes 
round  peach  and  pear  orchards,  until,  with  a  large  force 
under  General  Slocum,  we  made  a  short  raid  down  to  Utica, 
where  we  had  quite  a  fight.  Lieutenant  Skelton  distin 
guished  himself.  Being  on  picket  duty  with  twenty  men,  he 
took  two  men  and  started  on  a  patrol,  corning  unexpectedly 
across  about  twenty  Jonnies,  who  fired  at  his  small  squad, 
wounding  one  man  and  the  horse  of  the  other.  Nevertheless 
Skelton,  with  a  revolver  in  each  hand,  put  them  all  to  a  run, 


FORREST  VISITS  MEMPHIS.  571 

except  three,  who  fell.  Captain  Wright  had  a  similar  en 
gagement,  but  was  accompanied  by  part  of  company  D. 
From  Rocky  Springs  to  Port  Gibson,  the  Jonnies  were  quite 
troublesome  to  the  advance  guard,  company  D.  Our  regi 
ment  was  sent  round  in  the  rear  of  the  town,  and  was  just 
too  late  to  capture  a  squad  of  cavalry  commanded  by  Wirt 
Adams.  However,  we  captured  fifteen.  Then  we  had  good 
watermelons  enough  to  feed  three  divisions;  ro  a  sting-ears 
by  the  hundreds,  and  blackberries  by  the  bushel. 

The  next  morning  all  the  column  but  our  regiment  was 
moving  on  the  road  to  Grand  Gulf,  when  our  pickets  were 
driven  in,  and  we  were  attacked  by  about  five  hundred  Reb 
els  under  Wirt  Adams.  We  held  them  in  check  as  long  as 
the  Colonel  saw  fit,  and  lay  in  ambush  for  them  after  we 
crossed  the  Big  Pierre.  Presently  they  came  a  yelling,  and 
we  let  into  them.  The  way  the  saddles  were  emptied  was 
a  shame.  We  arrived  at  Grand  Gulf  on  the  evening  of  the 
eighteenth,  and  on  the  twentieth  started  for  Memphis.  It 
seemed  like  coming  home  to  come  back  to  Memphis. 

"JAMES   GRAYDON" 

In  August,  General  Smith  started  out  with  ten  thousand 
men  to  have  another  fight  with  Forrest.  He  went  to  the 
Tallahatchie,  spent  several  days  looking  for  the  Rebel  chief, 
but  found  only  small  detached  bodies  of  cavalry. 

Meantime  Forrest  seized  the  opportunity  to  visit  Memphis 
with  three  thousand  of  his  best  mounted  men.  He  entered 
the  city  and  began  to  destroy  property,  but  as  six  hundred 
Union  troops  were  in  the  vicinity,  his  sojourn  was  short,  and 
his  departure  was  hasty.  He  carried  away  with  him  three 
hundred  prisoners,  and  left  behind  him  two  hundred. 

H.  D.  Castetter  tells  the  story  of  the  expedition: 

"CAMP  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD  INDIANA  VOLUNTEERS. 
"NEAR  MEMPHIS,  August  31,  1864. 

"DEAR  MICKEY: — As  we  are  settled  once  more  in  our  old 
homestead,  (for  Memphis  seems  like  a  home  to  the  soldiers 
of  this  command,  I  assure  you,)  I  will  tell  you  of  our  late 
expedition.  It  was  a  failure.  Forrest  outgeneraled  Smith 


572  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

entirely.  But  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  We  lay  at  Holly 
Springs  four  days,  and  at  Waterford  two,  while  our  pioneers, 
with  a  small  force  of  cavalry,  went  ahead  to  the  Tallehatchie. 
They  were  bridging  it,  when  the  enemy  got  a  couple  of 
pieces  of  artillery  in  position  on  the  opposite  side,  and  shelled 
them  so  they  could  not  work.  So  we  went  down  to  their 
help.  We  could  hear  the  barking  of  the  "pups"  all  the  way, 
and  I  thought  we  would  now  have  the  tug  of  war  sure.  Our 
brigade  went  across  the  railroad  bridge.  We  lay  on  our  arms 
all  night,  the  Rebels  tossing  over  a  shell  once  in  a  while,  just 
to  let  us  know  they  were  still  there.  The  bridge  was  finished 
during  the  night.  Some  of  our  cavalry  crossed  early  in  the 
morning,  dismounted  and  took  the  advance,  accompanied  by 
a  couple  of  "dogs."  They  pushed  out  a  mile,  had  a  little 
fight,  and  the  Rebels  skedaddled.  We  marched  into  their 
position,  which  was  a  very  nice  one.  They  had  thrown  up 
logs  and  rails  for  a  breastwork.  We  lay  there  about  ten 
days  until  the  railroad  was  fixed  up  in  running  order,  and 
brought  out  our  provisions.  Then  we  stayed  three  days,  be 
cause  rain  had  made  the  roads  impassable.  We  got  started 
at  last.  When  we  got  to  Hurricane  creek  the  Rebels  made 
another  stand,  but  soon  skedaddled.  We  went  on  to  Oxford, 
where  a  courier  came  to  General  Smith,  with  orders  to  hurry 
back  to  Memphis,  as  Forrest  was  there.  We  started  imme 
diately  on  the  retrograde  movement.  The  Rebels  followed 
us  up,  supposing  we  would  cross  the  Tallehatchie  in  a  hurry, 
and  they  could  play  hob  with  our  rear  guard,  but  they  were 
badly  mistaken,  and  got  their  fingers  burnt.  We  had  a 
pretty  sharp  fight.  They  left  ten  dead  and  twelve  wounded 
on  the  field,  beside  twenty  prisoners.  Our  loss  was  twelve 
wounded,  of  which  one  has  since  died. 

"At  La  Grange  we  took  the  cars  for  Memphis,  and  here 
we  arrived  day  before  yesterday.  Old  Forrest  and  his  men 
were  in  the  city  about  twenty  minutes.  They  ransacked  the 
Gayoso  House,  and  Forrest  and  his  staff  registered  their 
names  for  breakfast.  The  troops  round  the  city  soon  got 
waked  up,  and  Mr.  Forrest  went  off  in  a  hurry.  The  joke  is, 
that  while  Smith  was  away  down  in  Mississippi,  hunting  for 


COOLNESS  OF  SERGEANT  ANDERSON.  573 

him,  he  slipped  in  behind  and  came  to  Memphis.  He  carried 
oft*  several  prisoners,  among  them  nine  from  our  regiment. 

"  There  is  a  rumor  that  we  will  go  to  Atlanta.  I  hope  it 
is  true,  for  I  don't  like  to  march  all  over  Mississippi  every 
month,  and  I  would  like  to  be  with  a  big  army." 

The  Seventh  cavalry,  after  its  return  from  Vicksburg,  \vas 
put  on  out-post  duty  at  Colliersville  and  Somerville.  It  was 
frequently  engaged  with  Henderson's  Texan  Rangers.  Once 
six  men,  under  Sergeant  Anderson,  had  a  very  narrow  escape. 
They  were  on  picket  near  Wolf  river,  with  orders  to  patrol, 
every  three  hours,  about  four  miles  of  the  Raleigh  road.  Re 
turning  from  the  morning  patrol,  they  found  themselves 
threatened  by  ten  times  their  number  of  Henderson's  scouts. 
Anderson  cut  his  way  through  a  squad  which  had  gained  his 
front,  and  commenced  a  race  for  the  ford  over  Wolf  river. 
He  took  the  rear.  All  were  over  but  one  man  and  himself, 
when  his  comrade's  horse  slipped  and  fell  on  the  bank,  with 
the  rider  underneath.  Anderson  immediately  turned  to  one 
side  of  the  road,  waited  for  the  pursuers,  emptied  the  saddles 
of  the  first  horses  which  approached,  and  plunged  into  the 
river  only  after  the  fallen  man  had  risen,  remounted  and  en 
tered.  He  crossed  amid  the  cheers  of  those  who  had  already 
gained  the  further  shore. 

Frequent  excursions  continued  to  be  made  into  Arkansas, 
Missouri  and  Mississippi  by  the  troops  in  West  Tennessee, 
but  the  enemy  was  not  encountered  in  force  in  these  regions 
after  the  summer  of  1864. 


574  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

IN  THE  PRISON  HOSPITAL  AND  THE  PRISON  PEN. 

"  The  hopes  and  fears,  the  blood,  the  tears 

That  marked  the  bitter  strife, 
Are  all  now  crowned  by  victory 
That  gave  the  nation  life." 

— Inscribed  in  the  National  Cemetery  at  Andersonville. 

"But  vain  are  words  to  check  the  tide 
Of  widowed  grief  and  orphaned  woe." 

— Halpine. 

The  wise  man  of  the  East,  when,  in  his  melancholy  age,  he 
considered  all  the  oppressions  that  were  done  under  the  sun, 
and  beheld  the  tears  of  such  as  were  oppressed  and  how  they 
had  no  comforter,  praised  the  dead  which  were  already  dead 
more  than  the  living  which  were  yet  alive. 

Who  did  not  weep  for  our  oppressed  in  the  prisons  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  and  say  with  the  sorrowful  sage,  that 
the  dead  were  more  to  be  praised?  The  slain  who  were 
laid  to  their  last  rest  on  the  battlefield,  knew  not  hunger,  nor 
cold,  nor  weariness,  nor  any  kind  of  bodily  pain.  They  never 
learned  the  pangs  of  impotent  rage,  nor  gnawing  grief,  nor 
cowering  fear,  nor  the  mad  temptations  which  beset  and  tor 
ture  the  prisoner.  Yes,  they  were  happier.  The  solemn  pity 
with  which  their  graves  are  regarded  gives  way  to  shudder 
ing  horror  when  the  door  of  the  prison  is  opened. 

The  short  and  simple  annals  of  Colonel  Poole,  of  our 
Ninety-Third,  are  among  the  most  touching  of  the  prison 
stories.  A  single  line  in  the  Adjutant  General's  report  re 
cords  his  fate: 

"  Wounded  and  captured  June  10,  '64 ;  died  of  starvation,  at  Macon,  Ga., 
March  5,  1865." 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Poole  was  severely  wounded  in  the 


THE  PATIENT  PRISONER.  575 

battle  of  Guntown,  Mississippi,  and  was  captured  the  next 
day  with  Dr.  Sackett,  who  had  put  him  in  an  ambulance 
and  was  trying  to  get  him  off  the  field.  He  was  sent  directly 
to  Mobile,  whence,  in  August,  he  was  taken  to  Cahawba. 
There  his  wounds  almost  healed,  and  he  would  have  been  in 
a  fair  way  of  recovery  had  not  chronic  diarrhoea,  induced  by 
bad  food,  exhausted  his  strength.  In  November  he  was  re 
moved  to  Macon. 

He  was  never  able  during  his  imprisonment  to  sit  up  a 
whole  day.  For  many  months  he  did  not  leave  his  bed. 
He  suffered  great  physical  pain  and  weakness,  much  anxiety 
about  the  welfare  of  his  family,  unutterable  longing  to  see 
his  beloved  ones  again,  and  all  the  heart  sickness  of  hope  de 
ferred  and  disappointed,  without  the  consolation,  in  nine  long 
months,  of  one  word  from  his  home;  but  he  bore  all  with 
such  gentle  fortitude  and  such  sweet  patience,  and  at  last  he 
consigned  his  soul  so  calmly  to  his  Maker,  that  his  fellow 
prisoners  gave  him  their  love,  and  his  Rebel  guards  could  not 
withhold  their  respect.  During  his  imprisonment,  Colonel 
Poole  eagerly  availed  himself  of  all  opportunities  to  write  to 
his  wife;  but  as  these  were  only  seven,  as  he  was  restricted 
to  a  single  page,  and  as  he  generally  had  no  paper  but  the 
fly  leaf  of  some  old  book,  his  letters  are  valuable  only  for  the 
unconscious  picture  they  afford  of  a  manlv  arid  tender  char 
acter. 

From  Mobile,  on  the  fifteenth  of  July,  he  wrote: 

"  I  have  waited  long  and  earnestly  for  an  opportunity  to 
write  to  you.  This  is  the  first  that  has  offered.  My  wounds 
are  getting  along  finely.  I  think  in  a  few  weeks  I  shall  be 
entirely  recovered.  If  it  were  not  for  an  abscess  on  my  left 
ankle,  I  could  walk  very  well  now.  My  wound  is  in  the  left 
hip.  I  am  also  wounded  in  the  right  thumb,  hence  my  bad 
writing.  (He  says  nothing  of  two  other  wounds,  one  in  the 
head,  one  in  the  shoulder.)  I  have  suffered  more  on  your 
account  than  with  all  my  wounds.  I  know  how  much  you 
must  have  suffered.  I  have  been  very  kindly  treated  by  the 
authorities.  We  expect  an  exchange  soon. 

"Remember  me,  Oh  remember  me  at  a  throne  of  grace, 
that  I  may  be  speedily  exchanged  and  restored  to  my  beloved 


576  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

family.  My  prayer  is  ever  for  you  and  the  children.  I  do 
not  know  how  to  express  my  feelings  better.  You  have  my 
whole  heart's  affection.  Give  yourself  no  further  uneasiness 
about  me.  I  am  getting  along  all  right,  and  only  wait  an 
exchange  to  come  to  you.  Remember  me,  and  be  assured 
that  you  are  ever  the  dearest  object  to  me  in  this  world." 

From  Cahawba:  "  I  sit  down  this  morning  to  the  pleasant 
task  of  writing  you  the  second  time  since  my  capture.  I 
have  been  so  sorry  that  I  could  not  write  oftener,  for  I  know 
how  uneasy  you  must  have  been ;  but  there  has  been  no  op 
portunity  of  sending  letters  through  the  lines.  My  wounds 
are  healing  nicely.  I  am  able  to  walk  about  the  room,  and 
think,  in  another  week,  I  can  walk  out  in  town.  I  am  kindly 
treated,  and  have  been  all  the  time  since  my  capture.  The 
wound  in  my  left  hip  is  running  some,  but  improving  very 
finely.  The  one  under  my  right  shoulder  is  entirely  healed 
up,  also  those  in  my  head  and  hand,  although  my  thumb  is 
disabled.  We  are  expecting  an  exchange  soon.  I  never 
wanted  to  see  you  so  much  in  my  life.  My  constant  thought 
and  prayer  is  for  your  welfare.  Remember  me.  My  space 
is  so  short  that  I  must  shorten  what  I  have  to  say.  This  is 
a  pleasant  and  healthy  place,  with  good  water.  It  is  on  the 
Alabama  river.  Know  that  you  are  ever  remembered  by 
me,  and  shall  be  until  my  latest  breath.  Give  my  love  to 
the  children,  and  kiss  the  baby  for  me." 

The  next  letter,  dated  September  22,  is  also  from  Cahawba: 
"  I  have  had  a  backset  since  I  last  wrote,  and  have  been  as 
bad  as  ever,  but  I  am  now  able  to  sit  up,  and  think  I  shall 
get  along  to  a  final  recovery.  I  send  this  by  Captain  Stan- 
•  ton,  who  is  exchanged.  I  hope  for  an  exchange  soon.  I  am 
very  anxious  to  get  out.  I  want  to  see  you  all  so  much  that 
I  can  hardly  stand  it.  Pray  for  my  delivery.  My  constant 
prayer  is  for  you  all  at  home.  I  do  not  know  how  you  get 
along  if  you  have  not  drawn  some  of  my  salary.  Do  not 
suffer  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  My  treatment  is  good  and 
kind.  The  weather  is  getting  to  be  a  little  cooler,  which  will 
be  very  much  in  my  favor.  I  am  improving  very  fast,  and 
with  favorable  weather,  in  eight  or  ten  days  shall  be  able  to 
go  where  I  please. 


LONGING  FOR  HOME.  577 

"  Teach  Ella  to  lisp  my  name.  It  will  be  such  a  satisfac 
tion  to  know  that  she  but  even  speaks  of  me.  Oh  how  I 
should  like  to  be  with  you  all  once  more.  Pray  for  my  de 
livery  soon." 

"  CAHAWBA,  October  11. 

"  I  improve  the  opportunity  of  sending  a  letter  by  flag  of 
truce.  I  am  still  confined  to  my  bed,  but  yet  I  think  I  am 
doing  very  well,  all  things  considered.  I  have  some  hopes 
of  being  exchanged  in  a  short  time.  I  think  a  northern  at 
mosphere  will  help  me.  I  trust  our  kind  Heavenly  Father 
will  restore  me  to  you  in  this  life,  but  should  His  will  be 
otherwise,  and  I  be  called  away,  I  am  ready  to  go,  and  feel 
assured  that  I  will  meet  you  and  our  children  in  a  better 
world.  I  should  be  glad  to  write  more,  but  have  neither 
time  nor  space,  and  have  to  employ  an  amanuensis.  May 
God  in  his  goodness  preserve  you  from  all  evil!  I  receive 
all  the  care  and  attention  that  is  possible.  My  treatment  has 
been  very  kind  since  I  have  been  here." 

"  CAHAWBA,  November  5. 

"I  am  getting  along  well,  am  much  better  than  I  have 
been  since  I  was  wounded,  and  hope  that  I  will  soon  be  with 
you  all  once  more,  as  there  are  good  prospects  of  an  early 
exchange.  I  am  able  to  sit  up  most  of  the  day.  I  feel  very 
uneasy  about  you,  and  my  uneasiness  increases  as  the  win 
ter  approaches.  I  hope  you  are  not  in  need  of  money." 

"  MACON,  December  15,  1864. 

"  This  morning  there  is  a  chance  to  pass  letters  through, 
and  I  gladly  embrace  it.  We  left  Cahawba  November  19 
for  Savannah,  where  we  were  to  be  exchanged.  We  arrived 
here  on  the  twenty-third,  and  were  compelled  to  stop  on  ac 
count  of  the  railroad  being  torn  up  by  Sherman.  I  am  irri 
proving  very  fast.  I  am  very  uneasy  about  you.  I  cannot 
rest  day  nor  night,  for,  as  the  cold  weather  approaches,  I  fear 
you  will  suffer  for  the  want  of  money.  Oh  how  I  long  to 
see  you  all!  I  hope  I  shall  be  at  home  the  middle  of  next 
month.  Do  not  let  the  children  forget  me.  Teach  little 
37 


578  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Ella  to  lisp  my  name.  There  is  no  chance  of  your  letters 
getting  to  me." 

The  last  letter,  written  January  18,  1865,  is  as  follows: 
UI  learn  from  Rebel  papers  that  our  commissioner  went  to 
Richmond  some  weeks  since,  with  instruction  to  arrange  a 
cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners.  I  hope  it  will  be  suc 
cessful,  for  I  do  want  out  of  this  so  bad  that  I  can  hardly 
bear  the  thought  of  staying  another  day.  Our  treatment  is 
kind,  though  our  rations  are  not  good,  not  such  as  sick  men 
should  have,  though  I  believe  the  authorities  are  doing  the 
best  they  can  to  make  us  comfortable.  How  much  I  want 
to  see  you  I  cannot  say.  I  am  very  uneasy  for  fear  you  arc 
suffering  for  money.  To  think  that  my  family  should  suffer 
for  the  comforts  of  life,  when  the  Government  is  owing  me, 
and  I  cannot  help  them,  is  too  bad.  All  the  use  I  ever  ex 
pect  to  have  for  money  is  to  make  my  family  comfortable. 
Language  fails  to  express  my  longing  desire  to  be  with  you 
at  home  once  more.  I  think  you  can  appreciate  my  feeling, 
to  some  extent,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  have  not  heard  a  word 
directly  from  you  since  I  left  Memphis,  and  only  once  indi 
rectly.  I  think  of  you  constantly,  and  my  prayer  is  always 
for  y.our  comfort  and  welfare.  Teach  Ella  to  lisp  my  name. 
Tell  the  children  to  remember  me,  though  I  know  they  will. 
May  the  Lord  bless  and  protect  you  all!  Do  the  best  you 
can  during  my  absence.  Keep  in  good  spirits,  and  trust  in 
Providence  for  my  delivery  and  safe  return." 

A  letter  addressed  by  Colonel  Poole  from  Cahawba,  Sep 
tember  23,  1864,  to  Showfield  and  Foster,  Northern  men  in 
business  in  Memphis,  somewhat  modifies  his  assurances  to 
his  wife  of  kind  treatment.  It  is  as  follows: 

"  I  am  wounded  and  a  prisoner  here.  I  was  very  unfor 
tunate  when  I  was  captured,  and  lost  all  my  clothes  and 
money  by  the  enemy,  I  am  entirely  destitute  of  anything 
in  the  way  of  clothes,  I  have  eleven  months'  pay  due  me 
from  the  Goverment.  If  you,  gentlemen,  will  buy  and  send 
me  by  flag  of  truce,  a  suit  of  clothes,  I  will  amply  repay  you 
on  my  return  to  Memphis.  I  hope  to  be  exchanged  very 
Boon.  I  hope  you  will  take  pity  on  me  and  send  me  the 


IN  THE  PRISON  PEN.  579 

needed  articles.      I  am  entirely  without  clothes,  have  not 
even  a  shirt." 

The  sutlers  of  the  Ninety-Third  attended  to  the  request. 
Captain  Bodenhamer,  who  was  also  captured  at  the  battle 
of  Gnutown,  met  with  an  earlier  release.  He  died  in  prison 
at  Charlestown,  December  7,  1864. 

Lucien  W.  Kennedy,  a  private  in  the  Fourteenth  Indiana 
battery,  addresses  the  following  account  of  his  imprisonment 
to  General  Terrell,  Adjutant  General  of  Indiana: 

"I  was  captured  near  Guntown,  Mississippi,  on  the  elev 
enth  of  June,  1864,  the  day  after  the  action;  was  taken  by 
rail  from  there  to  Mobile,  Alabama;  was  kept  there  three 
days;  was  then  taken  by  rail  and  water  to  *  lovely  Anderson- 
ville,'  Georgia,  where  I  was  confined  until  the  tenth  of  Sep 
tember,  1864.  Our  rations  while  there  consisted  of  a  very 
small  amount  of  wormy  meat,  and  corn  meal  ground  cob 
and  all.  Once  in  a  while  we  received  a  piece  of  corn  bread 
about  three  inches  square  for  a  day's  rations,  but  we  were 
often  compelled  to  do  without  anything  for  two  or  three  days 
at  a  time. 

"  Men  were  dying  at  that  time  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  a  day,  caused  by  starvation  and  exposure.  To 
such  straits  were  we  reduced,  that  no  sooner  would  a  man 
die,  than  we  would  seize  and  carry  him  to  the  gate,  prepara 
tory  to  taking  him  to  the  'Dead  Yard,'  that  being  our  only 
passport  outside  the  lines  to  get  wood.  I  have  seen  men  lie 
in  the  swamp  four  days  after  they  would  die,  (after  orders 
were  issued  preventing  us  carrying  them  out.) 

"  I  have  seen  the  guards  shoot  the  prisoners  at  the  '  Dead 
Line'  when  they  would  not  be  within  three  feet  of  it,  they 
seeming  to  take  great  pleasure  in  getting  to  shoot  one  of  us. 
I  have  also  seen  them  shoot  among  the  crowd  just  for  the  fun 
of  the  thing,  to  see  how  many  they  could  kill  and  disable  at 
one  shot. 

"  I  was  taken  from  thence  on  the  night  of  September 
10,  by  rail  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  where  we  ar 
rived  the  night  of  the  fifteenth.  We  remained  there  until 
the  third  of  October,  without  any  blankets  or  protection  of 


580  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

any  kind.  A  portion  of  the  time  we  were  exposed  to  the 
fire  of  our  own  guns  in  the  harbor. 

"  From  thence  we  wrere  taken  to  Florence,  South  Carolina, 
by  rail.  I  had  good  rations  on  that  trip,  having  foraged  one 
of  the  Rebs'  haversacks,  containing  fifteen  hard  tack  and  four 
pounds  of  good  ham,  of  which  I  estimated  the  value  to  be 
about  as  much  as  the  amount  of  our  Government  debt.  We 
remained  at  Florence  until  the  tenth  of  December. 

"  While  there,  three  boys  of  the  Twentieth  Illinois  infantry 
and  myself  furnished  ourselves  with  a  fine  basement  apart 
ment,  and  so  long  as  the  weather  would  permit,  lived  very 
comfortably.  Said  weather  consisted  mostly  of  rain  and 
sleet. 

"  On  the  above  date  we  were  paroled,  arriving  at  Charles 
ton  on  the  morning  of  the  eleventh,  and  were  transferred  to 
the  transport  New  York,  where  we  received  new  clothing, 
rations  and  medical  attendance;  thence  to  the  transport 
United  States,  which  took  us  to  Annapolis,  Maryland. 

"During  the  voyage  I  was  taken  with  fever,  consequent 
upon  my  long  exposure.  I  arrived  at  home  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  January,  1865,  the  ghost  of  my  former  self. 

"  Captain  Wirz  and  Lieutenant  Davis  commanded  at  An- 
dersonville  while  I  was  there.  I  have  forgotten  the  name  of 
the  officer  commanding  at  Florence,  suffice  it  to  say  that  he 
was  a  very  red-headed  lieutenant,  and  took  special  delight  in 
running  in  among  the  prisoners  and  knocking  them  right  and 
left  with  a  club. 

"  In  conclusion,  I  will  say  that  I  have  failed  to  do  the  sub 
ject  justice." 

Kennedy  was  eighteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  capture. 
He  lives  now  in  Wabash,  Indiana. 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

• 

THE  THIRTEENTH  INFANTRY. 

Away  down  in  old  Virginia,  in  the  region  of  the  Great 
Dismal  Swamp,  and  the  numerous  little  Dismals,  as  the 
smaller  swamps  are  locally  called,  the  Thirteenth  spent  more 
than  nine  months  of  the  hardy  career  begun  among  the  stormy 
mountains  of  West  Virginia.  When  M'Clellan  was  recalled 
from  the  banks  of  the  James,  in  the  summer  of  1862,  Ferry's 
brigade  was  transferred  by  way  of  Fortress  Monroe  to  the 
little  village  of  Suffolk,  which  lies  at  the  head  of  the  Nanse- 
mond,  twelve  miles  from  its  confluence  with  the  James,  and 
is  an  important  railroad  junction  covering  the  landward  ap 
proaches  to  Norfolk,  and  commanding  all  of  North  Carolina 
east  of  the  Chowan.  In  that  delightful  climate,  where,  in 
the  middle  of  December,  the  mercury  frequently  stands  at 
seventy  degrees  in  the  shade,  and  honey-bees  are  lured 
from  their  hives  by  the  soft  sunshine,  the  troops  enjoyed  al 
most  perfect  health,  and  in  the  whole  force,  which  at  one 
time  amounted  to  fourteen  thousand,  the  Thirteenth  was  the 
hardiest  and  healthiest  regiment.  In  four  months,  from  Au 
gust  to  November,  the  sickly  season  of  the  year,  but  one 
death  from  sickness  occurred.  The  regiment  numbered 
nearly  six  hundred,  of  whom  all  but  about  fifty  recruits  were 
original  volunteers. 

Formed  of  heterogeneous  material,  Irish,  German  and 
Scotch,  beside  the  preponderating  Hoosier  element  and 
separated  during  the  most  of  its  course  from  other  Indiana 
troops,  the  Thirteenth  possessed  and  maintained  as  much 
individuality  as  is  possible  to  a  military  organization.  Its 
courage  was  undoubted,  its  powers  of  endurance  unfail 
ing,  and  its  loyalty  spotless,  but  there  was  a  fearful  degree 
of  what  are  called  soldiers'  vices  in  both  rank  and  file. 


582  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA, 

On  the  whole,  it  was  a  "hard"  regiment  in  the  sense  of  the 
soldier's  use  of  the  word.  Yet  of  course  many  men  and 
officers  were  not  only  exempt  from  vice,  but  possessed  every 
excellence. 

"An  original  character  in  our  regiment,"  writes  a  member 
of  the  Thirteenth,  "was  William  Sutton,  But,  as  he  was 
commonly  termed,  of  company  B.  He  was  from  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Peru,  and  was  very  tall  and  lanky,  about  six  feet 
three,  I  should  judge.  He  had  probably  never  seen  the  in 
side  of  a  school  house  or  a  spelling  book  in  his  life.  As  the 
term  is  generally  used,  he  had  not  the  slightest  approach  to 
an  education,  and  yet  for  all  the  practical  purposes  of  sol 
diering  he  was  not  to  be  surpassed.  No  man  could  enliven 
a  camp  fire,  find  where,  on  a  foraging  trip,  the  most  of  the 
necessaries  of  life  were  to  be  obtained,  or  handle  a  rifle  on 
the  skirmish  line  with  more  success  and  less  exposure  to  the 
mischances  of  war,  than  'Old  Silt.'  His  propensity  for 
'gobbling'  prisoners  and  striking  for  the  rear  with  them,  was 
notorious.  And  the  facility  with  which  he  dispossessed 
those  unfortunates  of  stray  pieces  of  tobacco,  or  other  arti 
cles  necessary  to  the  soldier's  happiness,  was  always  an  oc 
casion  of  wonder  and  admiration  to  others  not  gifted  with  the 
requisite  amount  of  'cheek.'  His  inimitable,  'You  don't 
happen  to  have  any  spare  tobacco  about  your  breeches 
pocket,  do  you?'  drawled  out  as  slowly  and  patronizingly  as 
if  he  were  conferring  the  greatest  favor  in  the  world  on 
'Jonny,'  never  failed  to  elicit  a  bountiful  supply  from  the 
poor  wretch,  trembling  in  his  boots  and  begging  to  be  hur 
ried  to  the  rear,  lest  some  stray  ball  humming  round  from 
the  hostile  barrels  of  his  friends'  guns  might  leave  on  him  a 
mark  no  more  honorable  than  pleasant. 

"When  fighting  was  over,  no  man  could  spin  longer  or 
more  improbable  stories  about  the  day's  proceedings,  or  dive 
deeper  into  the  mysteries  of  the  commander's  plans,  than  our 
friend.  And  see  him  on  the  march,  his  gun  strapped  on 
his  shoulder,  striding  along  as  if  it  were  but  a  pleasant  re 
creation,  and  not  a  toilsome  and  disagreeable  day's  work,  as 
it  was  to  most  of  us,  joking  with  and  at  everything  that 
made  its  appearance  on  the  roadside,  man,  woman  or  child, 


LIFE  ON  THE  NANSEMOND.  583 

white,  yellow  or  black;  and  after  the  day's  work  is  over, 
when  the  most  of  us  are  content  to  lie  before  the  fire,  and 
rest  our  wearied  limbs,  gathering  our  sable  cooks,  and  with 
the  aid  of  some  quondam  barn  door  and  some  friendly  knee, 
making  them  show  us  the  steps  of  the  "Juba"  till  long  after 
dark,  and  till  the  bugle  notes  give  warning  that  quiet  is  de 
sirable  even  in  a  bivouac.  Such  was  one  of  the  represent 
ative  men  of  the  Thirteenth,  a  man  who  could  fight  well  for 
his  country,  and  yet  claimed  his  right  to  grumble  at  the  Ad 
ministration  and  'the  conduct  of  the  war;'  one  who  never 
shirked  a  hard  day's  encounter,  never  spoiled  for  a  fight,  and 
who,  after  four  years  and  a  half  of  hard  service,  returned 
whence  he  came,  his  knowledge  of  men  and  things  enlarged 
by  personal  experience,  his  faith  in  and  love  for  his  country 
increased  by  the  trials  he  had  endured  for  her  sake." 

Life  on  the  Nansemond  possessed  the  monotony  of  an 
isolated  military  post  in  a  hostile  region.  Reconnoitring 
parties,  generally  composed  of  artillery,  cavalry  and  infantry, 
started  out  one  night,  fought  the  enemy  the  next  night, 
and  returned  to  camp  the  second  day.  Usually  two  or  three 
men  were  lost  on  each  expedition.  Many  of  the  roads  were 
sandy,  therefore  dry,  and  also  tiresome. 

General  Peck  had  command  of  the  post.  Colonel  R.  S. 
Foster  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  brigade  in  Sep 
tember,  although  he  did  not  receive  promotion  until  the  next 
Tune.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Dobbs  had  command  of  the 
regiment. 

The  night  of  October  2,  three  regiments  of  infantry,  a  bat 
tery  of  artillery  and  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Spear,  set  out  from  Suffolk,  on  a  march  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  to  Blackwater,  a  deep  and  narrow 
river  which  served  as  a  sort  of  land  mark.  The  Confederate 
foot  which  trespassed  on  the  region  east  of  it,  was  soon 
chased  back,  and  a  show  of  force  on  its  western  bank  was 
sure  to  invite  a  demonstration  from  General  Peck.  Toward 
noon  of  the  third,  Colonel  Spear  came  in  sight  of  the  Rebels 
on  the  opposite  bank.  Companies  D  and  F  of  the  Thir 
teenth,  deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  advancing  cautiously, 
almost  reached  the  river,  and  several  guns  obtained  a  posi- 


584  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

lion  before  they  were  discovered.  The  Rebels  saluted  with 
grape  and  canister.  The  Union  artillery  returned  the  salute. 
A  three  hours,  engagement  followed,  during  which  the  skirm 
ishers,  while  they  held  their  ground,  kept  themselves  so  well 
under  cover  that  they  lost  but  one  man  killed  and  two 
wounded.  Colonel  Spear  complimented  their  coolness  and 
courage. 

O 

On  an  expedition  in  the  middle  of  November,  the  Thir 
teenth  had  seven  men  captured. 

At  noon  of  December  11,  portions  of  Foster's  and  Ferry's 
brigades  started  to  Blackwater,  on  the  South  Quarry  road, 
taking  with  them  a  pontoon  train  of  old  canal  boats  from 
the  Dismal  Swamp  canal.  A  part  of  the  road  lay  through  a 
muddy  cypress  swamp,  and  all  of  it  was  exceedingly  narrow, 
with  deep  ditches  on  each  side;  in  consequence  the  wagons 
were  slow,  and  it  was  impossible  for  the  cavalry  and  infantry 
to  pass  them.  To  cross  the  river,  companies  B,  F,  I  and  D, 
of  the  Thirteenth,  mounted  behind  horsemen.  But  they 
were  forced  to  dismount  at  the  water's  edge  by  a  volley 
of  musketry  from  rifle-pits  and  a  block-house.  They  ran 
behind  trees,  and  fired  in  return  whenever  a  head  rose  above 
the  defences,  which  were  but  thirty  yards  distant.  Unable 
to  fire,  the  Rebels  opened  a  conversation.  "Come  over  and 
take  breakfast  with  us!"  "l^ou'd  better  breakfast  with  us. 
We  have  coffee!"  "Come  over  and  get  salt!"  As  the  talk 
went  on,  the  Rebel  heads  gradually  rose  above  the  intrench- 
ments,  and  the  firing  on  both  sides  recommenced.  It  was 
kept  up  actively  by  B  and  D,  while  F  and  I,  under  the 
guidance  of  Captain  Zent,  slipped  out  of  the  woods,  and 
crossed  the  river  below  in  boats.  The  Rebels  in  the  block 
house  discovered  their  appproach  and  ran,  but  a  Captain 
and  twelve  men  were  captured.  A  force  which  went  up  the 
river  at  the  same  time,  drove  back  a  flanking  Rebel  party. 

The  Union  loss  was  fourteen  killed  and  wounded.  Garri 
son  M'Farland,  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  Thirteenth,  was 
killed. 

Reports  of  a  bloody  Union  repulse  reached  Suffolk,  and 
Ferry's  force  \vas  received  with  subdued  sneers  by  the  men 
of  the  town,  while  the  women  expressed  their  joy  without 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  THE  DESERTED  HOUSE.  5Q5 

restraint.  "I  prayed  to  God  all  last  night/'  said  one,  "that 
you  might  never  live  to  cross  the  Blackwater,  and  my  prayers 
were  answered,  for  you  have  been  driven  back." 

The  last  of  December  Ferry's  brigade  received  orders  to 
prepare  to  go  to  North  Carolina.  Two  regiments  immedi 
ately  started  to  Norfolk.  January  4,  the  Thirteenth  was 
transferred  to  Foster's  brigade,  and  the  Thirty-Ninth  Illinois 
was  ordered  to  depart  the  next  day.  The  Thirty-Ninth  and 
Thirteenth  were  first  thrown  together  in  the  cold  January  of 
1862,  when  Jackson  drove  before  him  the  Union  troops  in 
the  mouth  of  the  Shcnandoah  valley.  A  friendship  followed, 
which  was  cemented  into  a  brotherly  attachment  by  mutual 
dangers  and  hardships.  The  approaching  separation  was 
not  a  little  painful.  The  Thirteenth  went  to  the  camp  of  the 
Thirty-Ninth,  and  gave  it  three  cheers.  The  cheers  were  re 
turned,  and  the  Illinois  Colonel  made  a  speech.  The  Thir 
teenth  then  returned  to  its  own  camp.  It  was  shortly  after 
followed  by  the  Thirty-Ninth.  Several  good  speeches  were 
made  by  the  Indiana  officers,  then  there  was  a  general  hand 
shaking  and  farewell.  The  next  morning  the  Thirteenth 
inarched  to  Ferry's  quarters,  and  saluted  him.  He  seemed 
to  be  touched  by  the  testimonies  of  affection  which  had  been 
given.  He  named  over  all  the  hard  marches  and  skirmishes 
in  which  the  Thirteenth  had  been  engaged  under  him,  and 
declared  that  the  Indiana  regiment  was  the  pride  of  his  brig 
ade,  and  the  pride  of  every  division  it  had  been  in.  "  Officers 
and  boys  of  1he  Thirteenth,  good-bye,"  was  his  conclusion. 
The  three  cheers  which  followed  were  a  heart-felt  mingling 
of  thanks,  and  pride,  and  sorrow.  The  regiment  escorted 
him  through  town  to  the  railroad. 

The  most  serious  engagement  of  the  winter  occurred  on 
the  thirtieth  of  January,  between  a  large  force,  under  Pryor, 
advanced  to  the  Deserted  House,  or  Kelly's  store,  eight  miles 
from  Suffolk,  and  an  equal  number,  under  Corcoran.  Cor 
coran  started  before  midnight  of  the  twenty-ninth,  and  drove 
in  the  Rebel  pickets  shortly  after  three,  pursued  them  to  the 
camp,  and  opened  on  it  an  artillery  fire.  Prior  was  surprised, 
but  not  thrown  into  confusion,  and  promptly  returned  the 
fire.  After  three  hours  of  lively  cannonading,  infantry  ad- 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

vanced,  the  Thirteenth  on  the  right,  to  charge  the  enemy's 
lino.  The  Rebels  retreated,  and  a  running  fight  continued 
until  four  in  the  afternoon.  Six  miles  from  the  battle  field, 
as  three  companies  of  the  Thirteenth,  deployed  in  the  woods 
on  both  sides  of  the  road,  were  moving  on,  a  volley  was  fired 
at  them  from  an  ambuscade  beyond  the  swamp.  Sheltered 
by  trees,  they  returned  the  fire.  The  residue  of  the  regiment 
came  up  rapidly,  shouting,  "Go  in,  Hoosicrs!"  and  with  the 
skirmishers  charged  and  drove  the  Rebels  from  their  ambush. 
The  force  was  then  collected,  the  Thirteenth  was  thanked 
and  praised  by  Corcoran,  ten  wounded  men  from  its  ranks, 
and  one  of  its  officers,  "Lieutenant  Newsom,  were  placed  in 
ambulances,  and  the  return  march  was  commenced. 

General  Corcoran,  throughout  the  affair,  was  brave,  cool 
and  cautious,  but  some  of  his  troops,  lately-arrived  conscripts, 
and  even  his  Irish  legion,  whose  patriotism  had  been  tam 
pered  with  by  the  copperheads,  behaved  badly.  "  I  heard 
one  of  them,"  writes  Frank  Reissner,  "say  after  the  fight,  to 
a  nigger,  'Bad  luck  to  the  color  of  ye!  It's  for  the  likes  of 
ye  the  poor  divils  arc  gittin  kilt!'  When  the  shells  came 
pretfy  thick  they  said,  'This  is'no  place  for  a  man  that  has  a 
big  family  in  New  York.  Where's  the  bloody  divil  that'll 
follow  me  to  the  rear?'  Some  said  to  the  wounded,  'That's 
the  way  there  are  so  many  widders  made  in  New  York,  by 
your  bloody  bouldness.'" 

In  the  same  letter  Reissner  says:  "The  shooting  wasn't 
slow.  If  you  witnessed  a  battle  like  it  once  you  would  think 
a  soldier's  life  not  quite  so  pleasant,  in  reality,  as  it  seems 
when  you  talk  about  it  in  your  saloons  and  other  places.  I 
tell  you,  for  about  five  minutes,  it  makes  one's  flesh  crawl. 
Then  a  fellow  feels  more  like  himself,  and  when  his  comrades 
begin  to  drop  round  him,  he  could  kill  a  hundred  Rebels  at 
every  pull  of  his  musket." 

Both  parties  claimed  the  victory,  and  each  asserted  that  it 
held  the  field,  which  neither  did,  as  one  ran  from  it  in  flight, 
and  the  other  ran  over  it  in  pursuit. 

In  the  spring  Suffolk  suffered  a  siege  of  twenty-three  days, 
a  force  of  forty  thousand,  during  that  time,  occupying  more 
than  half  a  circle  from  the  Nansemond  river  on  the  north,  to 


SIEGE  OP  SUFFOLK.  537 

the  Edenton  road  on  the  south-east,  and  endeavoring,  by 
every  appliance  of  skill,  and  every  exertion  of  courage,  to  get 
possession  of  the  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  railroads,  and  com 
plete  the  circle.  They  succeeded  in  pressing  the  Union  pick 
ets  back  within  a  mile  of  the  fortifications,  and  in  planting  a 
battery  on  a  bend  in  the  river,  about  five  miles  below  Suffolk, 
but  after  the  first  few  days  they  could  not  extend  their  lines, 
and  did  not  gain  a  single  advantage. 

The  Nansemond  river,  patrolled  as  it  was  by  several  well- 
manned,  though  small  gunboats,  was  an  excellent  line  of 
defence  on  the  north-west;  and  the  Dismal  Swamp  was  still 
better  on  the  South ;  but  the  ready  spade  and  rifle,  the  quick 
foot  and  keen  eye  of  each  soldier  in  the  garrison  formed  the 
main  assurance  of  safety.  Every  able-bodied  man  was  cm- 
ployed  every  day  and  often  at  night  on  picket  or  fatigue  duty. 
Even  the  pickets  were  compelled  sometimes  to  use  the  spade 
and  shovel.  "Say  Bill,"  cried  a  picket,  while  wearily  dig 
ging  after  midnight,  "  I  hope  old  Peck  will  die  two  weeks  be 
fore  I  do!"  "Why?"  asked  his  fellow  sentinel  and  laborer. 
"Because,  he'll  have  the  bad  place  so  strongly  fortified  that 
I  can't  get  in,"  was  the  reply. 

The  levity,  proceeding,  as  it  no  doubt  did,  from  poverty  of 
language  or  ideas,  does  not  hide  the  soldier's  opinion  of  the 
fortifications  of  Suffolk. 

The  Thirteenth  was  engaged  in  several  slight  skirmishes, 
and  a  number  of  scouting  expeditions.  May  3,  Longstreet 
drew  ofT  and  rapidly  retreated,  either  discouraged  by  his  want 
of  success,  or  impelled  to  relieve  Lee's  necessities,  which 
seemed  great  enough  in  the  beginning  of  the  Chanccllorsville 
campaign  to  warrant  a  concentration  of  all  his  forces.  Near 
midnight  Peak's  troops  started  in  pursuit.  They  captured 
several  hundred  without  much  fighting,  but  went  no  further 
than  the  Blackwater. 

Peck  estimated  the  Rebel  loss,  during  the  siege,  at  two 
thousand,  the  Union  loss  at  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine. 
Lieutenant  Conran,  of  the  Thirteenth,  was  mortally  wounded. 
He  was  an  intrepid  and  generous-hearted  young  soldier. 
Eight  other  Indianians  were  wounded.  In  a  march  of  fifty 
miles,  accomplished  in  the  middle  of  May,  for  the  purpose 


588  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  protecting  workmen  who  were  destroying  railroads,  not  a 
man  of  the  Thirteenth  was  lost,  although  the  enemy  was 
met  and  driven,  and  forty  miles  of  railroad  iron  were  loaded 
up  and  brought  into  Suffolk.  In  a  reconnoissance  of  eighty- 
six  miles,  undertaken  shortly  after,  no  enemy  was  found. 

Some  men  complained,  during  their  stay  at  Suffolk,  of 
hard  treatment.  The  honest  denial  of  a  private  has  its  inter 
est:  "Any  man  that  writes  home  that  he  is  abused  by  our 
officers  must  be  hard  up  for  something  to  say  that  is  not  true. 
We  have  good  officers,  and  they  punish  no  man  without  a 
cause-  There  are  none  punished  in  our  army  but  those  that 
deserve  punishment." 

The  writer  of  the  above,  John  Carse,  is  a  young  Scotch 
man.  His  clear  and  pleasant  letters  have  always  one  form 
of  beginning:  "With  pleasure  I  write  you  a  few  lines,  hop 
ing  they  will  find  you  in  good  health,  as  they  leave  me  the 
same  at  present.  Thank  God  for  it." 

In  June  General  Dix  was  influenced  tb  abandon  Suffolk 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  enemy  from  its  front;  and  the  re 
port  that  during  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  Richmond  was 
defended  by  little  more  than  a  brigade. 

Accordingly  General  Peck's  force  was  moved  up  to  For 
tress  Monroe,  over  the  Norfolk  and  Petersburg  railroad,  which 
runs  through  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp  almost  the  entire 
distance.  A  portion,  which  included  the  Thirteenth,  em 
barked  on  transports  to  join  an  expedition,  under  Keyes, 
against  Richmond,  and  sailing  up  the  Chesapeake,  the  York 
and  the  Pamunky,  landed  at  the  White  House. 

The  expedition  was  commenced  with  vigor,  but  the  airs 
or  memories  of  the  peninsula  were  enervating,  and  it  gradu 
ally  "dwindled  down  to  naught."  It  moved  on  many  roads, 
and  in  as  crooked  a  course  as  the  rivers  of  the  region.  The 
railroad  bridge  over  the  South  Anna  was  destroyed,  heavy 
skirmishing  took  place,  there  was  even  a  prospect  of  a  battle, 
but  at  the  important  moment  Keyes  faced  about  and 
marched  northward.  He  reached  White  House  seven  days 
after  he  left  it,  having  marched  ninety  miles.  The  Thirteenth 
went  on  down  the  peninsula,  embarked  on  steamboats  at 
Hampton,  disembarked  at  Plymouth,  on  the  Elizabeth,  and 


STRENGTH  OP  CHARLESTON.  559 

went  into  camp  at  Bower's  Hill,  eight  miles  distant.  Gen 
eral  Foster  had  command  of  the  post.  Bower's  Hill  was  ex 
changed  in  less  than  a  month  for  the  stirring  precincts  of  the 
fated  city  of  Charleston. 

The  siege  of  Charleston  commenced  early  in  1862,  It  can 
not  be  said  that  it  had  progressed  during  the  intervening 
period,  but  it  had  proved  itself  a  fixed  fact,  to  the  detriment 
of  blockade  runners,  if  not  to  the  alarm  of  the  city,  and  it 
was  now  progressing.  General  Gilmore  and  Commodore 
Dahlgren  were  in  command,  the  one  of  the  sea  forces,  the 
other  of  the  land  troops.  Nearly  twenty-five  thousand  men, 
on  ship  and  shore,  were  ready  to  resist  any  attack,  although, 
on  account  of  the  length  of  the  picket  line,  but  eleven  thou 
sand  could  be  concentrated  for  an  offensive  purpose.  The 
besiegers  w^ere  even  better  supplied  with  cannon  than  with 
men,  having  ninety-six  heavy  guns  beside  the  artillery  of  the 
navy.  Munitions,  engineering  tools,  indeed  all  kinds  of  ser 
viceable  instruments  and  means  which  money  could  buy  or 
skill  supply,  were  apparently  inexhaustible. 

Charleston,  however,  was  far  from  lying  at  the  mercy  of 
the  powerful  armament.  Situated  behind  a  labyrinth  of 
islands  and  islets,  between  two  deep  and  broad  rivers,  and  in 
a  region  of  countless  winding,  reedy  creeks,  salt  and  sand 
marshes,  and  tangled  jungles  of  palmetto,  oak,  cane  and  vines, 
position  alone  gave  it  incalculable  strength.  And  it  was 
probably  the  best  fortified  seaport  on  earth.  It  had  nearly 
four  hundred  guns  in  position  and  afloat.  Railroads  in  its 
rear  could  easily  reinforce  a  garrison  which  was  already  large. 
Its  artificial  defences  were,  of  course,  where  its  main  danger 
lay,  in  its  front.  Sullivan's  Island  and  Morris'  Island,  the 
one  on  the  south,  the  other  on  the  north  of  the  principal  pas 
sage  from  the  sea,  extending  curved,  embattled  points  toward 
and  within  a  mile  of  each  other,  refused  an  entrance  into  the 
harbor.  Fort  Sumpter,  standing  on  an  artificial  island  mid 
way  between  the  two,  barred  advance,  not  more  by  powerful 
guns  and  a  vigilant  garrison  than  by  a  stout  hawser,  reach 
ing  north  to  Fort  Moultrie,  on  Sullivan's  Island,  and  attached 
by  nets,  seins  and  cables,  to  torpedoes  beneath  the  water, 
and  by  three  rows  of  piles,  stretching  south  to 


590  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Point,  on  Morris  Island,  and  to  points  further  west;  while 
forts  and  batteries,  lining  both  sides  of  the  harbor,  and  iron 
clads  between  were  primed  for  combat. 

Folly  Island,  on  which  the  Thirteenth  landed,  August  3, 
1863,  and  Morris  Island,  were  all  with  which  the  Indiana  sol 
diers  had  to  do  during  their  stay  in  front  of  Charleston.  On  the 
former  they  encamped.  On  the  latter  they  did  their  digging 
and  fighting,  marching  to  their  work  through  hot  sand,  vseven 
miles,  two  or  three  times  a  week,  and  remaining  after  each 
march  twenty-four  hours  in  the  trenches. 

Folly  Island  is  a  strip  of  sand  with  low  sand  hills  along 
the  north  and  east,  marshes  and  a  thick  growth  of  vegetation 
on  the  south  and  west  Morris  is  a  larger  island,  but  of  the 
same  character.  It  is  five  miles  long  and  is  three  or  four 
miles  wide.  Both  are  partially  flooded  by  the  highest  tides. 
One  of  the  strongest  defences  of  Charleston  was  Fort  Wag 
ner,  near  the  northeast  end  of  Morris,  and  extending  across 
the  island.  It  was  rendered  peculiarly  difficult  of  approach 
by  the  sudden  narrowing  of  the  island  to  a  tenth  of  the  width 
of  the  ground  on  which  the  fort  stood,  and  by  a  cross  fire 
from  Sumpter,  Cummings'  Point  and  several  heavy  batteries 
on  James  Island,  it  had  been  proved  impregnable  to  assault 
by  an  attempt  in  which  fifteen  hundred  Union  soldiers,  in 
cluding  the  officers  in  chief  command,  were  lost,  to  but  one 
hundred  Rebels.  Regular  approaches  were  now  in  progress. 
The  enemy's  fire  was  constant,  but  as  it  was  less  accurate  at 
night,  the  works  were  pushed  forward  mainly  under  cover  of 
darkness. 

The  first  parallel  was  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards 
long,  the  second  parallel,  six  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  the 
first,  was  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  long.  Heavy 
breaching  batteries,  laboriously  dragged  through  the  deep 
sand,  were  established  in  both.  On  the  left  of  the  island,  on 
piles  driven  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  through  a  bed  of  soft, 
black  mud,  a  log  platform  was  laid  and  a  single  large  gun, 
called  the  Swamp  Angel,  was  mounted.  From  the  heavy 
guns  established  in  the  parallels,  fire  opened  on  Wagner, 
Cummings'  Point  and  Sumpter.  The  last  was  the  object  of 
the  warmest  attention,  and  in  a  few  days  was  rendered  so' 


CAPTURE  OF  FORT  WAGNER.  591 

far  powerless  as  to  be  unable  longer  to  impede  the  approaches 
to  Wagner.  A  third  and  fourth  parallel  were  soon  estab 
lished,  the  latter  only  a  hundred  yards  from  a  ridge  which 
sheltered  Rebel  sharpshooters.  The  sharpshooters  were  driven 
out  by  the  bayonet,  and  a  fifth  parallel  was  established  two 
hundred  and  forty  yards  from  the  front.  In  front  of  the  be 
siegers  the  ground,  which  was  but  twenty-five  yards  from  sea 
to  sea,  was  filled  with  torpedo  mines. 

Still  advancing  and  digging,  however,  a  ditch  was  made, 
under  the  poor  concealment  of  a  moon-lit  night,  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  Wagner.  Every  energy  was  now  turned 
toward  checking  the  enemy's  fire,  which,  concentrating  at 
each  advance,  poured  like  hail  on  the  narrow  neck,  separating 
the  besiegers  from  the  fort. 

At  length,  by  sharpshooters  crowded  into  the  advanced 
trenches,  by  an  overpowering  artillery  fire  poured  into  the 
fort,  and  by  powerful  calcium  lights  which  at  night  blinded, 
while  they  displayed  the  garrison,  the  Rebel  guns  were  held 
in  check  sufficiently  to  allow  sappers  to  work.  September  6, 
the  besiegers  were  so  close  to  the  fort  that  there  could  no 
longer  be  a  doubt  as  to  the  success  of  a  general  assault.  Ac 
cordingly  arrangements  for  the  purpose  were  made,  to  take 
effect  at  nine  the  next  morning.  In  the  night  the  garrison, 
with  the  exception  of  seventy  men,  fled,  leaving  all  the  fur 
niture  of  the  fort. 

The  assaulting  force,  which  included  the  Thirteenth,  peace 
ably  entered  and  took  possession. 

The  Thirteenth  remained  on  Morris  and  Folly  islands,  oc 
cupied  in  fatigue  and  picket  duty,  until  the  latter  part  of 
February.  Its  health  during  the  period  was  good,  except  in 
September  and  October,  when  all  the  troops  about  Charles 
ton  suffered  in  consequence  of  severe  labor,  an  inferior  quality 
of  rations,  bad  water,  and  the  heat  of  the  climate.  Twentv- 
five  out  of  a  hundred  of  the  Thirteenth  were  ill,  a  smaller  pro 
portion  than  in  most  other  regiments.  In  the  two  months  it 
lost  but  four  men  by  disease.  One  of  the  victims  was  Lieu 
tenant  Robert  Scott,  who  was  deeply  regretted. 

February  23,  the  Thirteenth  joined  General  Seymour  at 
Jacksonville,  Florida,  finding  the  place  full  of  wounded,  and 


592  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Seymour's  small  force  exceedingly  disheartened,  the  disas 
trous  battle  of  Olustee  having  just  been  fought. 

Nothing  occurred  beyond  the  ordinary  routine  of  military 
life  at  an  advanced  post,  except  the  destruction  of  valuable 
salt  works,  and  two  or  three  unimportant  raids.  April  17, 
the  Thirteenth  embarked  on  transports,  and  set  its  face  toward 
the  north.  It  disembarked  at  Gloucester  Point,  Virginia, 
where  it  was  assigned  to  the  Second  brigade,  Third  division 
of  the  Tenth  Army  Corps,  in  Butlers  army. 


MEADE  FOLLOWS  LEE  INTO  VIRGINIA.  593 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  SECOND  WINTER  ON  THE  RAPPAHANNOCK. 

With  many  a  weary  step,  and  many  a  groan, 

Up  the  high  hill  he  heaves  a  huge  round  stone. —  Pope. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  July,  1863,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
crossed  the  familiar  river  from  which  it  derived  its  name,  and 
returned  to  the  beautiful  domain  of  Virginia.  General  Meade 
moved  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Blue  ridge,  reckoning  on 
effecting  an  entrance  into  Shenandoah  valley  in  front  of  Lee, 
who  rested  several  days  on  Opequan  creek,  and  marched  but 
slowly  in  the  beginning  of  his  retreat.  Buford's  cavalry  cov 
ered  the  general  advance.  On  the  twenty-second,  near  Ches 
ter's  Gap,  the  First  brigade  skirmished  sharply  with  Rebel 
cavalry  and  infantry.  It  was  reinforced  by  Ward's  division 
of  the  Third  corps,  and  the  enemy  was  driven  from  the  field. 
As  the  Rebel  force  hastily  moved  off,  it  became  evident  that 
it  formed  Lee's  rear  guard.  From  the  spurs  of  the  moun 
tains  Lee's  troops  and  trains  were  now  seen,  moving  along 
the  turnpike  in  the  direction  of  Culpepper  Court  House  and 
Gordonsville.  Lee  had  won  the  race. 

The  army  of  the  Potomac  settled  down  on  the  line  of  the 
Rappahannock,  near  Warrenton.  It  was  disappointed  in  its 
expectation  of  finding  rest,  for  though  during  many  following 
months  it  neither  performed  nor  undertook  great  achieve 
ments,  it  seldom  remained  a  few  consecutive  weeks  undis 
turbed.  One  week  it  sought  the  enemy,  the  next  week  it 
avoided  him;  now  it  drove  him,  anon  it  fled  before  him.  Its 
activity  increased  as  its  numbers  diminished.  Two  large 
bodies  of  troops  were  sent  off  in  the  summer,  one  to  North 
38 


591  THE  S01YOTER  OF  INDIANA. 

Carolina,  the  other  to  the  protection  of  New  York  city,  which 
was  in  danger  of  insurrection.  The  Fourteenth  and  Twen 
tieth  Indiana  were  included  in  the  force  which  went  to  New 
York. 

Meade's  first  efforts  were  given  to  the  discovery  of  the  ene 
my's  position.  On  the  first  of  August,  an  excessively  warm 
day,  Buford's  cavalry  settled  the  question.  It  crossed  the 
Rappahannock  at  the  railroad  station  on  a  pontoon  bridge, 
and  with  heavy  skirmishing  pushed  back  first  a  brigade,  then 
a  division  of  Stuart's  cavalry,  within  a  mile  of  Culpepper 
Court  House,  the  vicinity  of  which  was  covered  by  the  tents 
of  the  Rebel  army.  Buford  retreated  before  infantry  until 
he  was  reinforced  by  the  first  corps,  when  the  enemy  with 
drew.  Buford  went  into  camp  on  the  south  side  of  the  river. 
On  the  fourth  he  was  attacked  by  two  brigades  of  cavalry, 
and  succeeded  in  repulsing  the  attack. 

The  Third  cavalry  was  engaged  in  both  the  reconnoissance 
and  the  repulse,  and  suffered  the  loss  of  one  man. 

Colonel  Chapman,  who  was  in  command  of  the  First 
brigade,  during  the  temporary  absence  of  Colonel  Gamble, 
was  warmly  recommended  for  promotion  by  Generals  Pleas- 
onton  and  Buford.  Pleasonton  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Indiana 
polis':  "I  have  recommended  Chapman  for  a  Brigadier, 
which  he  deserves  highly,  not  only  for  his  services,  but  for 
his  character.  Your  State  should  be  proud  of  the  Third 
Indiana  cavalry.  It  has  won  a  name  for  dash  and  service 
second  to  none  in  the  army."  Hitherto  Chapman  and  the 
Third  had  been  inseparable  in  service  and  in  honor,  and  as 
he  was  an  officer  who  had  not  only  himself  but  his  com 
mand  "well  in  hand,"  and  in  consequence  was  entirely  relia 
ble,  while  he  was  also  dashing  and  brilliant,  no  doubt  the 
regiment  owed  much  of  its  usefulness  to  its  commander,  who 
in  turn  was  indebted  not  a  little  to  the  regiment  which  had 
never  failed  in  endurance  nor  swerved  in  action.  On  the 
fourth  of  September,  Chapman  was  placed  permanently  in 
command  of  the  brigade.  Major  M'Clure  succeeded  to  the 
charge  of  the  regiment,  but  he  was  soon  promoted  to  the 
command  of  a  new  regiment,  and  Major  Patton  became  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  Third 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  JACK'S  SHOP.  595 

The  little  brooks  dried  up  in  the  hot  weather,  obliging  the 
cavalry  to  change  its  quarters  repeatedly,  and  at  length  to 
withdraw  to  Catlett's  Station. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  September,  Buford,  supported  by 
Warren  with  the  Second  corps,  crossed  the  Rappahannock 
and  crowded  Stuart  back  through  Brandy  Station  and  Cul- 
pepper,  and  across  the  Rapidan,  capturing  two  guns  and  a 
number  of  prisoners,  and  discovering  that  Lee's  army  was 
reduced  by  the  loss  of  a  large  number  of  troops  sent  to  rein 
force  Bragg  in  Tennessee.  In  consequence,  Meade  immedi 
ately  advanced  with  his  main  army  to  Culpepper  Court 
House. 

On  the  twenty-first,  the  Third  marched  with  Buford's  di 
vision  to  reconnoitre  the  ground  lying  between  the  Robert 
son  and  Rapidan  rivers,  proceeding  as  far  as  Madison  Court 
House.  The  next  day,  Chapman's  brigade  proceeded  along 
the  turnpike  in  the  direction  of  Gordonsville,  as  far  as  "Jack's 
shop,"  where  it  encountered  two  brigades  of  Rebel  cavalry. 
After  a  spirited  engagement  of  several  hours,  the  Rebels 
were  routed  and  driven  across  the  Rapidan,  leaving  a  num 
ber  of  wounded  in  Chapman's  hands,  including  several  offi 
cers.  Chapman's  brigade  was  highly  complimented  by 
General  Buford  for  its  gallantry.  The  command  then  re 
turned  to  its  camp  near  Stephensburgh. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  shortly  afterward  depleted 
by  the  withdrawal  of  Howard's  and  Slocum's  corps  under 
General  Hooker.  The  Twenty-Seventh  Indiana  was  with 
drawn  with  its  corps,  but  the  first  squadron  of  the  First  cav 
alry,  although  it  had  long  been  Howard's  escort,  was  left  be 
hind.  Daniel  Bragunier,  a  member  of  the  squadron,  was 
at  home  on  furlough  at  the  time  the  changes  were  made, 
and  on  his  return  had  so  much  difficulty  in  finding  his  com 
rades,  that  his  description  of  his  wanderings,  during  his 
search,  is  explanatory  to  some  extent  of  the  existence  of 
stragglers  in  a  well-regulated  army.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  a 
man  of  less  shrewdness  roving  about  until  he  found  himself 
pounced  upon  and  punished  as  a  deserter: 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"  GLYMOUNT  LANDING,          1 

COMPANY  B,  FIRST  INDIANA  CAVALRY,      > 

October  27,  1863.  ) 

"I  wrote  you  a  letter  on  the  thirteenth,  and  on  the  next 
day,  fully  equipped,  left  Dismounted  Camp  for  our  squadron, 
which  was  reported  to  be  at  or  about  Fort  Washington.  I 
went  to  Fort  Washington,  but  no  one  there  could  tell  me 
anything  about  the  First  Indiana.  Major  Brooks,  command 
ing  at  the  Fort,  a  regular  army  officer,  had  never  heard  of  the 
First  Indiana  cavalry,  but  he  sent  me  into  the  Fort  with  in 
structions  to  get  my  dinner  and  stay  until  I  got  tired.  The 
Sixteenth  Indiana  battery  is  on  duty  at  the  Fort,  and  I  soon 
made  myself  at  home,  talking  to  the  boys  of  the  old  Hoosier 
State.  I  ate  my  dinner,  and  after  a  couple  of  hours,  in  com 
pany  of  one  of  the  Sixteenth,  I  started  up  Piscataway  creek 
to  learn,  if  possible,  anything  in  reference  to  our  squadron, 
but  could  learn  nothing.  So  I  returned  to  Dismounted  Camp 
and  reported  my  unsuccessful  expedition,  and  as  they  knew 
nothing  of  the  squadron's  whereabouts,  I  requested  to  be  sent 
to  Washington  to  inquire  at  the  War  Department.  But 
everything  in  Dismounted  Camp  must  go  through  a  regular 
process, — so  I  had  to  make  application  to  the  Sergeant  in 
charge  for  a  pass  to  Washington,  from  him  it  had  to  go  to 
the  Lieutenant  commanding  the  brigade,  and  from  him  to  a 
Major,  commanding  the  division,  and  from  him  to  the  head 
quarters  of  the  camp,  which  process  takes  from  two  to  four 
days. 

"After  waiting  very  impatiently  three  days  to  hear  from  my 
pass,  I  went  to  headquarters  to  make  inquiries,  and  found  it 
had  been  delayed.  Being  somewhat  out  of  humor  at  the 
proceedings,  I  fell  in  with  a  squadron  of  cavalry  going  to  the 
front,  and,  without  a  pass,  proceeded  through  the  defences  of 
Washington.  After  getting  through  Washington,  and  know 
ing  that  some  of  our  squadron  were  in  hospital  at  Alexan 
dria,  I  left  the  cavalry  squad  and  went  there.  I  encountered 
a  picket  who  could  not  allow  me  to  go  on  without  proper 
passes.  As  it  was  raining,  I  complained  greatly ;  fumbled 
over  a  package  of  letters  and  passes,  showed  him  the  letter 
given  me  at  Indianapolis,  by  which  I  was  charged  with  a 


LOST  IN  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC.  597 

squad  of  soldiers  for  Washington,  but  protested  that  I  could 
not  find  my  pass,  and  so  he  suffered  me  to  proceed  without 
one,  saying  he  supposed  I  was  all  right.  I  next  proceeded  to 
the  hospital  and  found  our  boys,  but  they  could  give  me  no 
information.  I  went  to  the  Provost  Marshal  of  the  town 
and  asked  for  a  pass  to  our  squadron  or  back  to  Dismounted 
Camp.  He  sent  me  to  Major  Ward,  Assistant  Provost  Mar 
shal  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  but  even  Major  Ward 
could  give  me  no  information.  He  sent  me  to  the  front  to 
the  inspector  general  of  the  arrny,  but  on  reaching  the  front 
I  found  the  inspector  general  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  the 
battle  near  Brandy  Station.  After  repeated  inquiries  I  went 
to  General  Pleasonton,  and  from  him  was  sent  to  General 
Buford,  who  called  all  his  staff  around  him  and  showed  his 
willingness  to  get  me  started  in  the  right  direction  to  my 
company.  But  although  it  had  been  ordered  to  report  to 
him,  on  General  Howard  being  sent  to  Rosecrans,  he  had  not 
heard  from  it.  He  very  pleasantly  remarked  that  he  thought 
General  Howard  had  stolen  them  out  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac,  that  he  wanted  them  very  much.  From  General 
Buford  I  was  sent  back  to  Alexandria.  I  reported  to  Major 
Ward  and  was  sent  back  to  Dismounted  Camp,  where  I  laid 
in  another  application  for  a  pass  to  Washington,  and  in  three 
days  got  her  through.  Went  to  Washington  to  the  War 
Department,  and  from  there  to  General  Hcintzelman's  head 
quarters,  where  I  at  last  received  the  desired  information. 

"In  two  more  days  I  reined  in  at  Ihe  camp  of  the  First 
Indiana  cavalry.  The  boys  are  in  good  health  and  spirits 
although  on  duty  every  other  day.  Their  duty  is  picketing 
and  patroling,  and  since  they  came  here  they  have  taken 
twenty-eight  deserters  and  smugglers,  with  goods  for  the 
Rebels  over  the  river.  Dumfries  is  nearly  opposite  our  camp, 
and  before  our  squadron  came  here  the  citizens  kept  up  quite 
a  trade  with  the  Rebels." 

General  Meade  resumed  the  offensive,  on  the  return  of 
the  troops  which  had  been  sent  to  New  York,  with  Buford's 
cavalry  in  the  advance. 

Chapman's  brigade  charged  through  the  rough  Rapidan 
at  Germanna  ford,  and  captured  fifteen  pickets  and  their 


598  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

horses.  Moving  on  up  the  river,  the  Third  skirmishing 
ahead,  and  the  rest  of  the  division  trotting  behind,  the  cav 
alry  expected  to  uncover  Morton's  ford  for  the  passage  of 
the  army,  but  the  night  was  dark  and  the  country  strange, 
and  it  was  compelled  to  bivouac  before  the  point  was  at 
tained.  In  the  morning,  Buford  was  surprised  to  find  the 
army  gone.  It  had  been  close  up  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  but  at  midnight  it  was  alarmed  by  the  report  of  a  Rebel 
flank  movement,  and  fell  back.  Buford  was  now  recalled, 
and  while  recrossing  the  river,  was  heavily  attacked  in  rear 
and  flank  by  Fitz  Hugh  Lee's  division  of  cavalry  supported 
by  a  brigade  of  infantry.  He  repulsed  the  attack  and  regained 
the  rear  of  the  army,  though  while  covering  a  heavy  wagon 
train  he  was  repeatedly  compelled  to  stand  and  fight.  The 
next  day,  Buford  reconnoitred  as  far  as  Culpepper  Court 
House,  skirmishing  lightly,  and  disclosing  Lee's  flank  move 
ment.  Throughout  the  retreat,  beside  reconnoitring  and 
skirmishing,  he  guarded  the  entire  wagon  train.  Both  arm 
ies  moved  with  all  possible  speed,  Meade  aiming  to  reach 
Centreville  and  concentrate  there,  Lee  endeavoring  to  strike 
the  road  at  Bristow  Station  in  Meade's  front.  About  noon 
of  October  14,  Warren,  who  brought  up  the  rear  of  the  re 
treat,  was  astonished  to  find  a  large  force  of  the  enemy  in 
his  front.  Fortunately,  General  Hill,  the  commander  of  the 
hostile  force,  was  equally  taken  by  surprise,  and  was  longer 
in  recovering  his  equanimity.  Consequently  the  ensuing 
fight  resulted  in  Warren's  favor,  and  enabled  him  to  move 
on  at  dark,  although  the  main  Confederate  army  was  then 
coming  up.  The  Fourteenth  Indiana  participated  in  the 
engagement. 

Foiled  in  his  enterprise,  Lee  found  consolation  in  destroy 
ing  the  Alexandria  and  Orange  railroad,  and  whatever  else 
he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  The  army  of  the  Potomac  fol 
lowed  him  southward,  and  being  delayed  by  rain,  by  the 
necessity  of  repairing  the  road,  and  by  the  proximity  of  the 
enemy,  suffered  considerable  hardship,  especially  on  the 
picket  line.  The  Seventh  Indiana  was  on  the  line  through 
out  the  march.  One  night  twelve  men  were  detailed  from 
that  regiment  to  patrol  a  mile  of  the  road  between  the  Rap- 


FORTITUDE  OF  THE  SEVENTH.  599 

pahannock  and  a  culvert.  They  put  up  four  tents  after  a 
severe  struggle  with  the  wind,  but  could  not  get  a  fire  started 
before  a  heavy  rain  was  upon  them.  They  sat  on  a  heap 
made  of  their  blankets,  and  held  their  ammunition  and  their 
crackers  on  their  laps  from  dark  until  ten,  when  they  were 
able  to  make  their  fire,  and  to  wade  along  their  beat.  A  de 
scription  of  the  night  is  wound  up  by  the  narrator  with: 
"  There  is  no  telling  what  a  fellow  can  stand  till  he  tries." 
The  good  humor  of  the  Seventh  was  indestructible.  It  could 
not  be  quenched  by  water,  nor  frozen  up,  nor  burnt  out. 
Roused  at  four  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  October, 
the  regiment  marched  from  seven  o'clock,  through  rain,  and 
wading  several  streams,  yet  yelping  and  hallowing  so  ob 
streperously  that  General  Rice  was  compelled  to  issue  orders 
forbidding  the  uproar,  and  it  went  into  camp  at  four  in  the 
afternoon,  in  good  spirits,  though  wet,  hungry  and  cold,  and 
with  nothing  to  burn  but  green  pine  and  cedar. 

October  26,  Buford's  cavalry  had  a  skirmish  with  two  brig 
ades  of  Rebel  cavalry,  and  November  8,  had  a  spirited  en 
gagement  with  Rebel  infantry  and  cavalry. 

A  storming  party  from  Sedgwick's  corps  carried  the  forti 
fications  at  Rappahannock  station,  capturing  fifteen  hundred 
prisoners.  At  Kelly's  ford  pontoons  were  laid  under  the  fire 
of  the  enemy's  guns,  while  Ward's  division  waded  the  river, 
dashed  upon  the  enemy's  line,  and  captured  it  with  five  hun 
dred  prisoners. 

Lee  withdrew  beyond  the  Rapidan,  and  dividing  his  army, 
posted  Hill,  with  one  portion,  along  the  railroad,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  Charlottesville,  and  Ewell,  with  the  remainder,  on 
the  left  bank  of  Mine  run,  a  narrow  tributary  to  the  Rapidan, 
with  which  it  flows  at  right  angles. 

Meade  encamped  between  the  Rappahannock  and  Rapi 
dan,  on  nearly  the  same  ground  he  occupied  before  his  last 
retreat.  The  latter  river  became  the  line  of  observation, 
across  which  the  hostile  armies  watched  each  other. 

At  dawn  of  November  26,  General  Meade  again  took  up 
the  march,  intending  to  cross  the  Rapidan  at  several  fords, 
move  swiftly  twenty  miles  by  the  plank  and  turnpike  roads 
toward  Orange  Court  House,  and  strike  Ewell  and  Hill,  who 


600  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

were  separated  by  an  interval  of  several  miles.  Having  pro 
vided  his  troops  with  ten  days'  rations,  he  left  his  trains  on 
the  north  side  of  the  river. 

Warren,  with  the  Second  corps,  and  French,  with  the 
Third,  were  to  meet  at  Robertson's  tavern,  on  the  Orange 
turnpike,  and  being  joined  by  the  remainder  of  the  army, 
were  to  turn  the  line  of  the  Mine  run  defences,  which  did  not 
extend  to  the  turnpike. 

The  enterprise  was  balked  by  dilatoriness  and  awkward 
ness  on  the  part  of  several  corps  commanders.  Warren 
reached  Robertson's  tavern  the  morning  of  the  twenty-sev 
enth,  and  encountered  there  three  of  Ewell's  divisions.  He 
was  hard  pressed,  but  was  relieved  by  a  portion  of  the  First 
corps,  which  turned  from  its  prescribed  course  to  his  aid. 
French,  who  ought  promptly  to  have  fallen  in  on  Warren's 
right,  exhausted  double  the  time  allotted  him,  and  squandered 
the  strength  and  spirit  of  his  troops  by  delaying  at  the  cross 
ing,  by  wandering  in  the  woods,  by  entreating  for  a  change 
of  orders,  and  by  inefficient  skirmishing. 

During  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  the  various  corps 
came  up,  and  were  disposed  of  for  a  determined  attack;  but 
as  the  enemy  retreated  behind  his  works,  on  the  western  bank 
of  Mine  run,  they  were  obliged  to  advance  two  miles  to  reach 
his  front.  It  was  after  dark  and  in  the  pelting  of  a  cold  No 
vember  rain  that  the  Second,  First,  Third  and  Sixth  corps 
formed  in  line  of  battle.  As  they  were  on  unexplored  ground, 
action  was  deferred  until  the  next  day,  which,  however,  a 
surprise  being  now  out  of  the  question,  was  consumed  in  re 
connoitring. 

Mine  Run,  with  Ewell's  corps  along  its  line,  was  no  insig 
nificant  obstacle,  for  though  the  stream  is  narrow  and  shal 
low,  the  first  bank  on  the  western  side  is  abrupt  in  some 
places,  marshy  in  others,  and  in  many  points  is  covered  with 
dense  thickets,  while  the  second  bank  slopes  upward  a  half 
mile,  and  its  crest  is  one  hundred  feet  above  the  surface  of 
the  water.  With  every  needed  defence  and  the  addition  of 
Longstreet's  corps,  which  had  been  allowed  full  time  to  come 
up,  the  position  did  not  invite  assault.  Warren  and  Sedg- 
wick  reported  the  discovery  of  assailable  points,  the  one  on 


MINE  RUN  EXPEDITION.  (301 

the  left,  the  other  on  the  right  of  the  enemy;  and  influenced 
Meade  to  order  an  assault  on  both  flanks.  Accordingly, 
General  Meade  directed  Warren,  with  nearly  half  the  army, 
to  move  at  eight  in  the  morning;  the  batteries  of  the  right 
and  centre  to  open  at  the  same  hour;  Sedgwick  to  assault  at 
nine;  and  three  divisions  of  the  First  and  Third  corps,  which 
were  holding  the  centre,  to  make  demonstrations,  and  when 
the  flank  attack  should  be  successful,  to  advance. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  thirtieth,  the  whole  army  was 
under  arms;  Sedgwick's  force  was  massed  to  make  a  heavy 
assault,  and  Warren's  troops  were  in  readiness,  perfectly 
steady,  yet  so  assured  of  the  desperate  character  of  the  work 
before  them,  that  their  names  on  slips  of  paper,  were  pinned 
to  their  blue  blouses.  They  were  content  to  die  if  need  were 
but  not  to  lie  in  an  unknown  grave,  or  under  a  misspelled 
name. 

At  the  designated  moment  the  batteries  and  skirmishers 
dashed  across  Mine  Run,  but  Warren  did  not  fire  a  gun  nor 
take  a  step.  Alarmed  by  the  aspect  of  the  fortifications 
which  had  been  strengthened  and  lengthened  through  each 
hour  of  delay,  he,  at  the  last  moment,  took  upon  himself  the 
responsibility  of  disobeying  the  very  orders  which  he  had  pro 
posed  and  urged. 

Of  course  it  was  all  over  with  the  Mine  Run  expedition. 
Meade  crossed  the  Rapidan,  took  up  his  pontoons,  and 
reached  Culpepper  Court  House  after  an  absence  of  ten  as 
cold,  hard,  dreary  days  as  the  army  of  the  Potomac  ever  knew. 

The  Seventh,  Fourteenth,  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  In 
diana  were  in  the  expedition.  The  Twentieth  lost  about 
twenty  men.  Lieutenant  Rotramel  and  several  others  of  the 
Fourteenth  were  killed.  The  Seventh  gained  not  a  little 
credit,  performing  the  duty  of  skirmishers  in  front  of  the 
centre,  crossing  the  stream  early  in  the  day,  and  remaining 
on  the  field  until  eight  at  night. 

The  army  now  went  into  winter  quarters.  During  the 
next  three  months  its  repose  was  seldom  disturbed.  The 
Third,  which  was  quartered  about  two  miles  southwest  of 
Culpepper  Court  House,  was  employed  in  picket  and  out 
post  duty  on  the  right  flank  and  in  reconnoitring  the  country 


602  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

in  advance  of  our  lines.  A  reconnoisance  made  by  the  Third 
in  connection  with  the  Eighth  New  York,  in  all  two  hun 
dred  and  five  men,  on  the  thirty-first  of  January,  1864,  was 
extended  beyond  Madison  Court  House,  and  across  Robert 
son  river,  pushing  back  the  cavalry  pickets  and  out  posts  of 
the  enemy,  killing  one  and  capturing  twelve.  The  party 
brought  in  a  number  of  refugee  families,  and  returned  to 
camp  the  same  evening,  having  marched  fifty  miles  without. 
loss. 

The  first  week  in  February  a  futile  attempt  was  made  to 
capture  Richmond,  which  had  been  stripped  of  troops  in 
favor  of  North  Carolina.  A  large  cavalry  force  moved  by 
way  of  the  peninsula,  while  a  small  body  of  horse  and  two 
divisions  of  Warren's  corps  crossed  the  Rapidan  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Confederate  army.  Near  Morton's  ford, 
after  wading  the  ice  cold  stream,  the  infantry  met  the  enemy 
in  a  severe  encounter.  Our  Fourteenth  lost  two  killed  and 
thirteen  wounded. 

The  last  day  of  February,  a  bold  expedition  under  Kilpat- 
rick,  and  consisting  of  more  than  three  thousand  men,  started 
to  release  the  prisoners  in  Richmond.  Three  hundred  picked 
men  from  Chapman's  brigade  were  included.  They  con 
sisted  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  Third  Indiana  and  Forty 
of  the  Eighth  Illinois,  and  were  under  the  command  of  Major 
Patton.  At  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  Colonel  Dahlgren, 
with  four  hundred  men,  separated  from  the  main  body  to 
enter  Richmond  from  the  south.  Kilpatrick's  march  was  but 
slightly  opposed.  He  reached  and  passed  the  first  line  of  the 
Richmond  defences,  passed  the  second  line,  and  drew  up  be 
fore  the  third  line,  which  was  but  three  and  a  half  miles  from 
the  city.  The  enemy  saluted  him  sharply,  and  a  warm 
though  not  general  engagement  followed. 

Major  Patton,  who  was  in  close  contact  with  the  Rebels, 
felt  assured  that  if  he  had  been  ordered  to  do  so,  and  had 
been  supported  by  such  a  force  as  General  Kilpatrick  had  at 
his  disposal,  and  close  at  hand,  he  could  have  carried  the 
works.  But  Kilpatrick  desisted  and  retreated  without  making 
determined  effort.  He  encamped  six  miles  from  Richmond, 
but  was  almost  immediately  forced  to  get  up  and  move  on 


KILPATRICK'S   RICHMOND  RAID.  603 

Not  again  attempting  to  gain  rest,  he  hurried  to  the  Pamunky, 
whence,  as  he  found  no  boats,  he  struck  down  the  peninsula, 
meeting,  before  many  miles,  troops  from  Fortress  Monroe, 
who  relieved  him  from  the  pressing  attentions  of  the  enemy. 

The  unfortunate  Dahlgren,  delayed  by  a  false  guide,  and 
sprung  upon  from  every  quarter,  lost  his  life.  At  least  one 
hundred  of  his  men  were  captured. 

The  failure  was  one  of  those  disappointments  which  arc 
called  blessings  in  disguise,  as  by  the  connivance,  permission 
or  direction  of  the  Confederate  authorities,  certainly  with 
their  knowledge,  several  barrels  of  gunpowder  had  been 
placed,  so  as  to  blow  up  Libby  prison,  with  its  thousands  of 
occupants — had  the  enterprise  been  a  success. 

On  his  return,  Kilpatrick  was  relieved  from  his  command 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  was  succeeded  by  General 
Wilson,  to  whose  division  Chapman's  brigade  was  transferred. 


601  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

AFFAIRS  AT  HOME  IN  1864. 

Where  wilt  thou  find  a  cavern  dark  enough, 

To  mask  thy  monstrous  visage?     Seek  none,  Conspiracy; 

Hide  it  in  smiles  and  affability. — Julius  Ccesar. 

Many  of  the  troops  who  went  out  at  the  opening  of  the 
war,  re-enlisted  in  the  field  during  the  hard  winter  of  1863 
and  1864,  for  a  new  term  of  service,  and  received  a  furlough 
of  thirty  days.  A  public  reception  was  given  to  them  in 
Indianapolis,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  show  the  honor 
in  which  they  were  held,  and  to  comfort  them  for  leaving  again 
"  God's  country,"  as  they  delighted  to  call  the  land  which 
had  not  been  betrayed  into  rebellion.  Regiments  and  bat 
teries  retained  their  original  form  and  number  until  the  with 
drawal  of  the  i  non-veterans,'  when,  in  most  cases,  two,  or 
even  three,  reduced  organizations  were  consolidated  into  one. 

Six  companies  of  black  troops  were  organized  in  Indiana 
polis  in  April,  and  turned  over  to  the  United  States  as  a  bat 
talion  in  the  Twenty-Eighth  United  States  Infantry.  Cap 
tain  Russell,  of  the  Eleventh  Regulars,  but  previously  an 
official  on  the  Central  Railroad,  was  appointed  Lieutenant 
Colonel  of  the  battalion.  Other  Indiana  officers  were  Cap 
tains  Peddigo,  Wells  and  Hackhiser,  Adjutant  Secrest,  and 
Major  Logan,  who  entered  several  months  later.  The  bat 
talion  went  to  Alexandria,  where  it  remained  a  short  time 
in  a  camp  of  instruction. 

April  6,  Governor  Morton  received  a  despatch  from  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  who  had  succeeded  General  Grant  in  com 
mand  of  the  department  of  the  Mississippi,  requesting  him 
to  notify  all  regiments  on  furlough  in  Indiana,  to  join  their 
proper  brigades:  those  belonging  to  the  armies  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  Cumberland,  to  go  direct  to  Nashville;  those  be- 


ONE  HUNDRED  DAYS  REGIMENTS.  605 

longing  to  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  to  proceed  to  Cairo, 
where  they  would  receive  further  orders.  He  concluded  with 
the  following  paragraph: 

"  The  season  is  advancing,  and  no  excuse  can  be  enter 
tained,  such  as  waiting  for  more  recruits.  Three  hundred 
men  in  time  are  better  than  a  thousand  too  late.  I  will  hold 
commanders  of  regiments  to  strict  account  for  absence  a 
day.  Now  is  the  time  that  every  soldier  should  be  in  his 
proper  place.  I  ask  that  all  absentees  be  sent  to  the  front." 

Governor  Morton  replied  the  same  day,  promising  cooper 
ation  in  urging  forward  veteran  regiments. 

The  exigency  suggested  to  Morton  the  expediency  of  re 
lieving  the  veterans  who  were  employed  in  defending  forts 
in  the  rear,  and  in  guarding  railroads,  by  calling  out  and  as 
signing  to  that  duty  men,  who  having  remained  at  home  on 
account  of  the  inevitable  demands  of  business,  and  for  the 
welfare  of  the  community,  would  yet,  during  a  short  period, 
be  able  to  serve  in  the  field  without  serious  detriment  to  the 
interests  for  which  they  were  responsible. 

A  term  of  one  hundred  days  suggested  itself.  He  con 
sulted  with  General  Noble  and  General  Terrell,  and  hearing 
that  Governor  Brough  was  in  Indianapolis,  sought  an  inter 
view  and  laid  before  him  the  incipient  plan.  It  met  with 
cordial  approval.  The  Governors  of  Indiana  and  Ohio  then 
united  in  an  invitation  to  the  Governors  of  Illinois,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  to  meet  for  consultation  at  the  house 
of  Governor  Morton,  on  Friday  the  fifteenth  of  April.  The 
invitation  was  accepted,  and  at  the  consultation  the  proposi 
tion  was  unanimously  approved.  Governor  Morton  and 
three  of  the  other  gentlemen  then  proceeded  to  Washington, 
and  laid  the  plan  before  the  Cabinet,  where  it  met  with  the 
first  opposition.  Nevertheless,  within  two  days  it  was  ac 
cepted,  and  on  April  23  the  Governor  of  Indiana  issued  a  call 
for  twenty  thousand  volunteers,  to  serve  one  hundred  days. 
In  response  eight  regiments  were  formed.  They  were  the 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Second,  Colonel  Vance ;  One  Hun 
dred  and  Thirty-Third,  Colonel  Hudson ;  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-Fourth,  Colonel  Gaven;  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
Fifth,  Colonel  Wilson;  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Sixth,  Colo- 


GOG  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

nel  Foster;  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Seventh,  Colonel  Rob 
inson;  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Eighth,  Colonel  Shannon; 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Ninth,  Colonel  Humphreys. 

Perhaps  a  few  men  seized  the  opportunity  of  enlisting  for 
a  short  term  in  order  to  gain  the  honored  name  of  'soldier' 
for  political  use,  (believing  the  rear  to  be  safe,)  and  supported 
their  fortitude  by  carrying  to  the  field  luxuries  unknown  to 
the  genuine  man  of  arms,  but  as  a  whole  the  hundred  days1 
men  were  the  most  solid  and  patriotic  men  in  the  State,  and 
their  departure,  leaving  vacancies  in  every  public  place,  even 
in  pulpits,  and  occurring  in  the  midst  of  anxiety,  produced 
by  the  terrible  nature  of  the  struggles  in  which  the  whole  vast 
military  power  of  the  Union  was  engaged,  had  a  peculiar 
effect  on  society.  There  fell  upon  it  a  sort  of  stillness  and 
melancholy.  Business  was  dull.  The  streets  wore  a  sombre 
aspect.  Homes  were  gloomy.  The  apparel  of  the  women 
was  grave  and  sad.  Loving  and  loyal  eyes  were  turned 
southward,  and  hearts  were  strained  to  their  utmost  tension. 
There  was  something  altogether  awful  in  the  close  and  hur 
rying  future.  Any  day  might  be  the  last;  and  the  last 
miffht  be  for  ffood  or  ill. 

O  O 

In  July,  in  obedience  to  the  inexorable  necessities  of  the 
time,  the  President  issued  a  call  for  five  hundred  thousand 
volunteers,  announcing  that  after  the  lapse  of  fifty  days,  de 
ficiencies  should  be  supplied  by  a  draft.  The  quota  of  Indi 
ana  was  thirty-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-two, 
but  was  subject  to  a  credit  of  ten  thousand  and  seventy-one. 
Recruiting  for  old  regiments  and  batteries  was  prosecuted 
with  tolerable  success,  and  re-enlisting  in  the  field  continued, 
but  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  form  new  organizations. 
Governor  Morton  endeavored  to  form  eleven  regiments  of 
infantry,  to  serve  one  year.  He  succeeded  in  organizing  the 
One  Hundred  and  Fortieth,  under  Colonel  Brady,  and  the 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-Second,  under  Colonel  Comparet, 
also  one  battery,  the  Twenty-Fifth,  under  Captain  Sturm. 
The  whole  number  of  volunteers,  re-enlisted  veterans,  naval 
•recruits,  and  men  who  paid  commutation,  amounted  to  twelve 
thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven.  Meantime  twelve 


SONS  OF  LIBERTY.  (307 

thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-four  men  were  furnished 
by  the  draff,  many  of  these  being  substitutes.  At  the  end 
of  the  year  it  was  found  that  a  surplus  to  the  state's  credit 
of  one  hundred  and  ninety  remained. 

Two  serious  obstacles  checked  volunteering.     Friends  of 

O 

the  Government  hesitated  to  drain  the  state  of  its  loyal  men 
before  the  important  elections  of  the  fall,  and  the  opposition, 
now  goaded  to  desperation,  left  no  stone  unturned  to  weaken 
the  army,  or  to  render  it  useless. 

Crimes  of  a  certain  complexion  are  never  credited  until 
they  are  committed,  or  are  in  some  other  way  unmistakably 
exposed,  not  so  much  because  of  their  atrocity  as  because  of 
their  stupidity.  Nobody  believes  that  a  man  will  kill  him 
self  until  the  poison  is  on  his  lips,  or  the  bullet  is  in  his  brain. 
So  there  was  no  serious  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  northern 
conspiracy  until  the  serpent  had  its  head  up,  and  its  fangs 
whetted.  Indications  alluded  to  in  the  public  journals  ex 
cited,  after  their  first  appearance,  little  more  than  derision  or 
a  passing  alarm.  Even  the  refusal  of  the  Democratic  major 
ity  in  the  Legislature  to  allow  an  investigation,  though  start 
ling  at  the  time,  was  afterward  ascribed  to  an  idle  contumacy. 
The  day  had  now  come  when  this  fond  credulity  was  to  be 
swept  away. 

The  Order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  or  of  the 
American  Knights,  or  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  extended  its 
baleful  power  through  the  northern,  western  and  middle 
states.  It  was  under  the  supreme  and  despotic  command  of 
the  well-known  traitor,  C.  L.  Vallandigham.  Except  that  its 
aims  were  exclusively  political,  the  order  was  Jesuitical  in 
character,  implicit  obedience  being  the  chief  corner  stone  on 
which,  as  a  structure,  it  rested,  and  the  sanctification  of  the 
means  by  the  end  the  warrant  for  its  existence  and  undertak 
ings.  The  oath  of  membership  was  paramount  to  the  oath 
of  allegiance.  The  laws  of  the  order  were  more  binding  than 
the  laws  of  the  country.  Seeking  secession,  through  the 
ballot-box  if  possible,  otherwise  by  force  of  arms,  it  taught 
that  any  state  had  the  right  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  at 
her  own  will  and  pleasure,  and  that  this  right,  having  been 


608  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

exercised,  the  Union  no  longer  existed,  in  consequence  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  usurper. 

A  few  articles  from  the  ritual  of  the  order  may  show,  with 
out  further  description,  the  character  of  its  aims  and  teachings : 

"All  men  are  endowed  by  the  Creator  with  certain  rights — 
equal  only  so  far  as  there  is  equality  in  the  capacity  for  the 
appreciation,  enjoyment  and  exercise  of  these  rights." 

"In  the  Divine  economy  no  individual  of  the  human  race 
must  be  permitted  to  encumber  the  earth,  to  mar  its  aspects 
of  transcendent  beauty,  nor  to  impede  the  physical  nor  intel 
lectual  man,  neither  in  himself  nor  in  the  race  to  which  he 
belongs.  Hence  a  people,  upon  whatever  plane  they  may  be 
found  in  the  ascending  scale  of  humanity,  whom  neither  the 
divinity  within  them  nor  the  inspiration  of  divine  and  beau 
tiful  nature  around  them  can  impel  to  virtuous  action,  and 
progress  onward  and  upward,  should  be  subjected  to  a  just 
and  humane  servitude  and  tutelage  to  the  superior  race  until 
they  shall  be  able  to  appreciate  the  benefits  and  advantages 
of  civilization." 

"  The  Government  designated  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica  has  no  sovereignty,  because  that  is  an  attribute  belong 
ing  to  the  people,  in  their  respective  State  organizations." 

"  The  Federal  Government  can  exercise  only  delegated 
power,  hence  if  those  who  shall  have  been  chosen  to  admin 
ister  that  Government  shall  assume  to  exercise  power  not 
delegated,  they  shall  be  regarded  and  dealt  with  as  usurpers." 

"  It  is  the  inherent  right  and  inherent  duty  of  the  people  to 
resist  such  officials,  and  if  need  be  expel  them  by  force  of 
arms." 

"It  is  incompatible  with  the  history  and  nature  of  our  sys 
tem  of  Government  that  Federal  authority  should  coerce,  by 
arms,  a  sovereign  State." 

"Might  makes  right"  is  the  sum  of  the  whole,  and  is  per 
spicuously  enough  stated.  The  oath  of  initiation  is  clear 
enough,  too.  Secresy  was  enforced  by  the  penalty  of  a 
"shameful  death,"  which  must  be  consummated  and  rounded 
off  by  quartering,  the  parts  to  be  cast  out  respectively  at  the 
east  gate,  the  north  gate,  the  south  gate  and  the  west  gate. 
About  the  "gates"  is  somewhat  obscure.  Charges  to  the  Ne- 


SIGNS  AND  PASS  WORDS.  (5Q9 

ophyte,  delivered  by  Knights  Guardian,  of  whom  there  was 
one  for  each  point  of  the  compass,  read  like  gibberish. 

Meetings  were  held  secretly,  and  under  the  strict  watch  of 
sentinels.  Yet  hundreds  of  men,  in  full  and  close  commu 
nion,  never  compromised  themselves  by  attending  the  lodges, 
it  being  according  to  the  policy  of  the  order  to  hold  able  and 
responsible  characters  in  a  safe  obscurity. 

Signs  and  pass-words  were  used  for  recognition,  as  well  as 
to  obtain  entrance  into  lodges.  Suppose  a  stranger,  perhaps 
a  Rebel  emissary,  in  the  presence  of  one  of  whose  kinship 
he  is  desirous,  yet  doubtful.  He  places  the  heel  of  his  right 
foot  in  the  hollow  of  his  left,  and  folds  his  arms.  The  other, 
provided  he  is  one  of  the  initiated,  assumes  the  same  attitude. 
Number  one  extends  his  right  foot.  Number  two  says,  "  Nu." 
Number  one  replies,  "  Oh."  Two  answers,  "  Lac."  (Calhoun 
backwards.)  One  says,  "S."  Two  says,  "L."  One  ex 
claims,  "Give  me  liberty!"  Two  responds,  "Or  give  me 
death!"  Whereupon  they  shake  hands,  and  are  brothers. 
Written  correspondence  was  carried  on  by  means  of  a  cipher 
or  some  simple  change  in  the  use  of  words,  as  "Mules"  for 
"  United  States  soldiers." 

So  much  pains  was  taken  to  make  the  idea  of  force  famil 
iar,  and  to  weaken  the  restraints  of  law  and  even  of  decency, 
that  the  initials  S.  L.  would  more  correctly  represent  Sons  of 
License  than  of  Liberty.  In  Indiana,  early  in  the  summer 
of  1864,  the  order  numbered  forty  thousand  members,  of 
whom  nearly  thirty  thousand  were  organized  into  regiments, 
and  provided  with  arms.  The  chief  officers  were  H.  H. 
Dodd,  Grand  Commander;  Horace  Heffren,  Deputy  Grand 
Commander;  and,  the  state  being  divided  into  four  military 
districts,  William  Bowles,  L.  P.  Milligan,  Andrew  Hum 
phreys  and  Stephen  Horsey,  Major  Generals.  According  to 
the  policy  of  thrusting  to  the  front  comparatively  insignifi 
cant  individuals,  the  most  of  the  officers  were  simply  agita 
tors,  serviceable  cats'  paws.  A  Grand  Council,  and  in  its 
recesses  a  committee  of  thirteen,  attended  to  business.  By 
voluntary  contributions,  Rebel  gold,  (more  than  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  of  which  were  received  through  Canada,) 
39 


(510  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  by  taxes  imposed  ostensibly  for  the  establishment  of 
newspapers  and  a  university,  the  order  was  enabled  to  pro 
cure  ammunition  and  arms,  which  were  transmitted  in  boxes 
marked,  " Hardware,"  "Nails,"  or  "Pick-axes,"  and  were 
stowed  in  secure  hiding-places,  frequently  in  stables  or  corn- 
cribs. 

Dr.  Bowles,  although  an  old  man,  was  more  than  ordina 
rily  enterprising,  and  was  lavish  of  time  and  money  for  the 
promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  order.  He  proposed  that  to 
each  regiment  a  company  of  lancers  should  be  attached,  and 
every  lance  provided  with  a  sharp  hook  to  catch  and  cut  a 
horse's  bridle. 

He  was  frequently  closeted  with  a  German  chemist,  called 
Booking)  by  whose  aid  he  planned  further  innovations  in  the 
modern  system  of  civilized  warfhre.  One  Sunday  morning 
in  May,  while  honest  people  were  at  church,  the  hoary-headed 
Major  General  and  the  Grand  Commander  met  the  foreigner 
in  an  obscure  basement  in  Indianapolis,  and  examined  in 
struments  of  murder  and  destruction, — infernal  machines  they 
were  called ,-~  which  he  exhibited  and  explained.  With  a 
little  harmless  looking  box  or  portmanteau,  the  chemist  gave 
assurances  that  inextinguishable  fires  might  be  kindled  with 
out  exciting  suspicion.  The  contents  were  an  alarm  clock 
with  the  bell  removed,  a  gun,  a  tube  filled  with  powder,  a 
bottle  of  Greek  fire,  and  a  quantity  of  tow.  The  clock,  set 
at  a  given  time,  would  spring  the  lock  of  the  gun,  the  explod 
ing  cap  of  which,  through  the  powder  and  tow,  would  in 
flame  the  Greek  fire.  Not  differing  in  appearance  from  a 
thousand  traveling  sacks  left  in  a  hotel,  on  a  steamboat  or  in 

O  ' 

Government  offices,  it  would,  unsuspected,  faithfully  execute 
its  work.  The  German  had  two  other  instruments  of  destruc 
tion, — a  round  and  a  conical  shell,  each  containing  an  outer 
and  an  inner  chamber,  filled,  the  one  with  Greek  fire,  the 
other  with  powder,  which,  made  to  come  in  contact  by  the 
shock  of  a  blow,  would  set  anything  combustible  to  burning. 
By  a  string  attached  to  it,  the  round  shell,  which  looked  like 
a  boy's  India  rubber  ball,  could  be  thrown  into  the  window 
of  a  third  or  fourth  story,  or  to  a  similar  distance  in  a  straight 
line.  A  man,  walking  along  a  deserted  street  or  a  quiet  alley, 


ASSASSINATION  ATTEMPTED.  61 1 

might,  with  the  seeming  toy,  quite  unobservedly  set  fire  to 
any  building. 

The  imagination  is  tempted  to  add  to  the  three  conspira 
tors  gloating  over  the  murderous  inventions,  a  fourth  person 
age,  whom  it  is  not  well  to  name. 

Arrangements  were  partially  made  in  the  spring  of  1863, 
for  an  uprising  of  the  order  throughout  the  Western  States, 
in  November  of  the  same  year;  and  Mr.  Voorhees  entered 
into  negotiations  with  James  W.  Wall,  United  States  Sen 
ator  from  New  Jersey,  for  twenty  thousand  rifles  for  Indiana, 
but.  the  scheme  was  thwarted  by  the  course  of  circumstances, 
and  in  the  end  relinquished.  The  condition  of  the  North  in 
the  summer  of  1864,  promised  a  tempting  opportunity.  Ac 
cordingly,  the  sixteenth  of  August  was  set  for  insurrection 
and  for  an  overt  declaration  of  rebellion  in  the  loyal  States. 
Confederate  forces  were  to  co-operate  by  advancing  into 
Missouri  and  Kentucky.  Fifty  thousand  veteran  soldiers 
imprisoned  in  the  North,  were  to  be  released,  armed,  com 
manded  by  officers  from  the  South,  and  consolidated  with 
the  Sons  of  Liberty.  The  movement  was  to  be  introduced 
and  covered  by  Democratic  mass  meetings.  In  Indiana,  be 
sides  meetings  at  other  points,  a  mass  meeting  was  to  be 
held  at  Indianapolis.  At  a  given  signal  the  convention  at 
the  capital  was  to  break  up,  and  with  fire  arms  and  fire 
brands,  to  take  possession  of  the  town,  to  enkindle  incendi 
ary  flames,  to  open  the  prison  camp  and  the  arsenal,  bestow 
ing  the  contents  of  the  one  upon  the  five  thousand  released 
inmates  of  the  other,  and  to  proclaim  Secretary  Athon  Gov 
ernor  of  Indiana.  Governor  Morton,  meanwhile,  was  to  be 
seized  and  held  by  a  committee  of  ten,  who  were  empowered 
to  put  him  out  of  the  way, if  necessary. 

However,  the  Governor  of  Indiana  was  awake  to  the  per 
ils  of  the  hour.  A  few  individuals  in  authority  had  long 
been  convinced  of  the  existence  of  the  traitorous  society,  al 
though  they  had,  until  quite  lately,  been  unable  to  obtain 
evidence  which  would  warrant  open  proceedings.  During 
1862,  Governor  Morton's  life  was  three  times  attempted. 
As  he  was  going  from  his  office  to  his  house,  on  a  dark 
night,  long  after  the  occupants  of  other  offices  had  left,  and 


612  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

while  his  figure  was  fully  revealed  by  the  only  remaining  light 
in  the  hall  of  the  State  House,  a  bullet  whistled  close  to  his 
face,  Mr.  Fletcher,  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
fell  a  victim  to  the  second  attempt.  The  third  effort  was  baf 
fled  before  it  had  grown  to  a  head.  Late  one  night  Governor 
Morton  was  roused  from  his  sleep  by  his  door  bell.  A  man 
and  woman  on  the  step  asked  to  be  allowed  to  give  him  im 
portant  information  relating  to  himself.  He  led  them  into  an 
apartment,  and  at  their  request  locked  the  door  behind  therru 
They  were  agitated,  and  the  man  was  either  unable  or  un 
willing  to  speak.  After  requiring  that  what  she  disclosed 
should  be  kept  secret,  the  woman  informed  him  that  they 
lived  on  Illinois  street,  and  having  charge  of  a  saloon,  had 
become  acquainted,  through  the  conversation  of  their  guestsr 
with  a  plot  for  his  abduction  and  assassination,  and  that  to 
carry  out  the  purpose  a  common  fund  had  been  formed,  a 
noted  Democratic  lawyer  having  contributed  five  hundred 
dollars.  Refusing  all  reward  and  not  staying  for  thanks,  the 
visitors  hastened  away  as  soon  as  they  had  delivered  their 
information. 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  in  consequence  of  intelligence 
given  by  a  member  of  a  cavalry  regiment,  at  that  time  in 
camp  at  Indianapolis,  sixty  soldiers  were  arrested  and  put  in 
irons  on  the  charge  of  belonging  to  a  treasonable  society. 

A  few  days  afterwards,  learning  that  a  political  meeting 
was  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Walpole,  Governor  Mor 
ton  requested  the  informer,  who  was  a  member  of  the  soci 
ety,  to  attend,  procuring  for  him  a  pass  from  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  camp.  The  man  never  was  seen  after  the 
meeting.  His  friends,  who  live  in  the  country,  have  not  to 
this  day  had  a  word  explanatory  of  his  fate. 

Detectives  at  length  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entrance 
into  the  order,  and  in  making  regular  reports,  especially  in 
regard  to  the  proceedings  of  a  lodge  which  met  in  Military 
Hall,  Washington  street,  Indianapolis. 

One  day,  Judge  Wick,  an  "old  settler"  of  Indianapolis, 
called  on  Governor  Morton.  Shaking  hands  cordially,  he 
entered  into  friendly  conversation,  during  the  course  of  which 
he  endeavored  to  allay  the  Governor's  suspicions  of  the  Dem- 


SUSPICION  AROUSED.  G13 

ocratic  party.  He  said:  " I  am  intimately  acquainted  with 
all  the  chief  Democrats,  as  you  know.  In  German  saloons, 
in  Irish  doggeries,  in  the  offices  and  parlors  of  the  leaders, 
I  hear  their  plans  discussed  and  their  ideas  freely  expressed; 
and,  I  do  assure  you,  feeling  for  you  a  friendship  which  be 
gan  when  we  were  members  of  the  same  party,  and  which 
was  cemented  by  mutual  services  on  the  bench,  I  do  assure 
you,  on  the  honor  of  an  old  man,  that  you  are  entirely  mis 
taken  in  your  suspicions.  No  secret  order  opposed  to  the 
Government  is  in  existence." 

For  answer,  Governor  Morton  drew  out  a  detective's  re 
port  of  the  proceedings  of  the  last  meeting  in  Military  Hall, 
including  an  utterly  disloyal  and  wicked  address  by  the  very 
man  who  sat  there,  so  complacently  asserting  the  purity  of 
his  party.  ,  When  the  reader  looked  up  Judge  Wick  was  a 
ghastly  image  of  terrified  and  convicted  guilt.  His  tongue 
refused  to  speak,  and  great  drops  of  sweat  stood  on  his  fore 
head.  He  feebly  rose  from  his  chair,  and  tottered  to  the  door. 

In  July  Colonel  Carrington,  commander  of  the  district  of 
Indiana,  found  one  hundred  and  twelve  copies  of  the  Ritual 
of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Voorhees,  in  Terre 
Haute;  he  discovered,  also,  letters  from  the  chief  traitors. 

Suspicion  at  last  was  creeping  through  the  country.  In 
some  communities  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  people 
sold  their  crops  and  personal  property,  and  held  themselves 
in  readiness  for  flight.  Already  the  black  shadow  of  ap 
proaching  insurrection  fell  across  the  fair  fields  of  Indiana. 
Kentucky  began  to  effervesce  with  more  than  usual  violence, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  send  a  portion  of  the  small  force,  so 
needed  at  the  Capital,  to  the  Ohio  river.  Accordingly  Gen 
eral  Hovey,  with  four  hundred  men  of  the  Forty-Sixth  and 
Thirty-Second,  and  with  the  militia  of  Posey  and  Vander- 
burg  counties,  drove  back  from  the  river  squads  of  Buckner's 
troops,  who  were  conscripting  for  the  southern  cause,  and 
kept  the  border  quiet;  while  a  Massachusetts  regiment  sur 
rounded  and  picketed  Indianapolis. 

The  revelations  and  the  preparations  for  defence  startled 
the  conspirators.  They  were  also  disappointed  in  the  appear 
ance  of  the  expected  armies  from  the  South.  They  began 


614  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

to  fear  that  an  outbreak  would  plunge  them  into  political,  if 
not  personal  ruin.  The  more  they  put  their  heads  together, 
and  consulted  and  considered,  the  more  plainly  failure  stared 
them  in  the  face. 

In  vain  Mr.  Dodd  represented  that  "the  people  are  now 
ripe  for  Revolution,"  and  that  "it  is  better  to  direct  Revo 
lution  than  to  let  Revolution  direct  us."  In  vain,  John  C. 
Walker,  a  cruel,  godless  man,  who  seemed  to  be  uncon 
scious  of  fear  and  incapable  of  shame,  urged  them  to  harden 
their  purposes.  More  cautious  or  more  timid  counsels  pre 
vailed,  and  the  wheel  for  whose  turning  the  way  had  been 
so  assiduously  prepared,  was  checked.  The  Rebel  officers, 
who  had  already  arrived,  were  warned  to  withdraw.  The 
convention  was  held  quiet.  The  sixteenth  of  August  passed 
without  demonstration. 

Meantime  disclosures  of  their  character  and  doings  went 
on.  August  21,  Governor  Morton  received  an  anonymous 
letter  from  Buffalo,  giving  intelligence  that  the  Agent  of 
the  State,  John  C.  Walker,  had  secretly  purchased  thirty 
thousand  revolvers  and  forty-two  boxes  of  ammunition,  that 
sixty-four  boxes  of  arms  and  ammunition  had  been  landed 
in  New  York  city,  destined  for  Indianapolis,  and  that  of 
these  thirty-two  had  just  been  forwarded,  addressed  to  J.  J. 
Parsons,  and  marked  Sunday  School  Books.  Morton  im 
mediately  informed  Colonel  Jones,  of  the  Forty-Second  In 
diana,  at  the  time  Provost  Marshal,  who  despatched  a  Lieu 
tenant  to  the  depot,  to  watch  for  the  arrival  of  the  suspected 
freight.  It  was  already  there, — thirty-two  boxes  marked 
"  S.  S.  Books,  care  of  J.  J.  Parsons."  The  young  Lieuten 
ant  galloped  to  headquarters  for  further  orders.  He  was 
sent  back  in  haste  with  a  reprimand  for  having  endangered 
the  opportunity.  He  had  in  reality  lost  it.  On  his  return 
the  boxes  were  gone,  and  he  could  learn  nothing  in  regard 
to  them.  Without  the  slightest  trace  or  clue,  and  feeling 
perplexed  and  mortified,  he  was  riding  along  Delaware  street, 
when  he  noticed  an  empty  dray  returning  toward  the  depot. 
It  flashed  on  him  that  here  was  a  chance,  and  he  called  the 
drayman  to  stop.  The  man  whipped  his  horse  and  drove 
on.  The  officer  repeated  his  call.  The  conscience-stricken 


EXPOSURE  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY.          615 

drayman  furiously  beat  his  horse,  which  broke  into  a  gallop, 
but  a  presented  pistol  brought  him  to  a  stand.  The  dialogue 
which  followed  was  short.  "Where  did  you  take  those 
boxes?"  "To  Mr.  Dodd's  office."  There  they  were  found. 
They  contained  four  hundred  large-sized  revolver?,  and  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  rounds  of  fixed  ammunition. 
Other  packages  to  the  same  address  were  seized  in  New  York. 

It  afterward  come  to  light  that  the  writer  of  the  letter 
from  Buffalo  was  a  lady  who  had  been  requested  to  make 
the  disclosure  by  her  brother,  a  gentleman  engaged  in  busi 
ness  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  had  made  the  discovery, 
but  dared  not,  for  personal  reasons,  attempt  a  direct  exposure. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  August  General  Hovey  assumed 
command  of  the  district  of  Indiana.  He  soon  afterward  ar 
rested  the  Grand  Commander,  the  Deputy  Grand  Com 
mander,  the  four  Major  Generals  and  several  other  conspira 
tors.  Dodd  was  first  brought  to  trial.  He  made  revelations 
which  so  clearly  proved  his  guilt  that  though  he  had  given 
his  word  of  honor  not  to  attempt  an  escape,  he  slid  down  a 
rope  from  a  window  in  the  fourth  story  of  the  "bastilc"  or  "in 
quisition,"  as  the  S.  L.  called  the  Government  building  in 
which  he  was  confined,  and  in  the  gray  of  the  morning  made 
off  toward  Canada. 

Several  of  the  prisoners  saved  themselves  by  turning 
State's  evidence.  Bowles  and  Milligan  were  sentenced  to 
be  hung,  but  their  lives  were  spared  on  the  intercession  of 
him  whose  life,  above  all  others,  they  had  conspired  to  destroy. 
Governor  Morton's  magnanimity  burned  them  like  coals  of 
fire,  and  intensified  their  political  aversion  into  personal  hatred. 

Leading  members  of  the  party  at  first  endeavored  to  hide 
their  complicity  in  the  crime  by  derision  of  the  fugitive  Dodd, 
but  they  no  longer  had  power  to  deceive.  At  a  later  date, 
putting  on  a  bold  face,  they  pretended  to  ignore  past  issues; 
but  while  their  lives  are  spared,  and  while  their  names  are 
remembered,  they  will  be  the  scorn  of  all  good  men. 

The  exposure  of  the  conspiracy,  together  with  victories 
gained  in  the  field,  favorably  influenced  the  elections.  Indi 
ana  carried  the  Republican  tickets  throughout  by  over  twenty 
thousand  majority. 


<>16  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

OPERATIONS  IN  VIRGINIA  IN  MAY  AND  JUNE  OF  1864. 

The  greatest  gift  the  hero  leaves  his  race 
Is  to  have  been  a  hero. —  The  Spanish  Gypsy. 

Active  operations  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  having  ter 
minated  the  first  of  December,  with  the  retreat  from  Mine 
Run,  the  troops  remained  in  winter  quarters  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Culpepper  until  the  first  of  May,  1864.  It  was  a 
long  and  quiet  rest,  during  which  no  stir  nor  promise  was 
visible  to  lookers  on.  Like  the  workings  of  nature  in  the 
dead  and  darkness  of  winter,  preparations  for  the  spring  cam 
paign  were  hidden  and  secret. 

Congress  and  the  President  instituted  an  era  of  consolida 
tion  by  placing  General  Grant,  with  the  title  of  Lieutenant 
General,  in  command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 
The  central  idea  of  the  Lieutenant  General  was  consolida 
tion.  He  ascribed  Confederate  success  to,  the  impunity  with 
which  forces  were  sent  from  Lee  to  Bragg  and  Beauregard, 
and  from  Bragg  and  Beauregard  to  Lee;  and  in  order  to  en 
gage  the  entire  strength  of  the  enemy,  he  concentrated  into 
two  great  armies,  as  far  and  as  fast  as  possible,  the  almost 
countless  bodies  of  troops  which  were  dispersed  throughout 
the  country.  He  reorganized  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  into 
three  infantry  corps,  the  Second,  Fifth  and  Sixth,  which  were 
commanded  respectively  by  Hancock,  Warren  and  Sedgwick, 
and  one  cavalry  corps,  which,  in  two  divisions,  was  put  under 
the  command  of  General  Sheridan.  He  ordered  Burnside's 
corps  from  East  Tennessee  to  Annapolis,  whence  he  removed 
it  to  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  railroad,  to  guard  the  road, 
and  to  form  a  reserve  to  Meade's  army.  Burnside's  corps, 
although  at  this  date  it  had  never  lost  a  banner  nor  a  gun, 
and  although  it  made  a  fine  appearance,  was  composed 


PLANS  AND  PREPARATIONS.  (317 

largely  of  new  troops.  One  division,  under  the  command  of 
Ferrero,  former  dancing-master  at  West  Point,  consisted  of 
black  soldiers,  the  first  admitted  to  the  privilege  of  fighting 
for  their  country. 

By  the  reorganization  the  position  of  Indiana  regiments 
was  but  slightly  changed.  The  Seventh,  Colonel  Grovor, 
was  in  Rice's  brigade;  the  Nineteenth,  Colonel  Williams, 
was  in  Cutler's  brigade,  and  both  remained  in  Wadsworth's 
division,  which  now  formed  a  part  of  Warren's  corps.  The 
Twentieth,  Colonel  Taylor,  and  the  Fourteenth,  Colonel 
Coons,  were  in  Hancock's  corps,  the  latter  in  Carroll's  brig 
ade,  Gibbon's  division,  the  former  in  Ward's  brigade,  Bir- 
ney's  division.  The  Third  cavalry,  in  Chapman's  brigade, 
was  in  Wilson's  division.  The  Third  cavalry  was  in  con 
stant  requisition  for  the  performance  of  picket  and  out-post 
duty,  and  reconnoissance. 

General  Grant  arranged  to  threaten  both  the  front  and 
flanks  of  Ihe  Rebel  Capital.  He  directed  Butler,  reinforced 
by  Smith's  and  Gilmore's  corps,  from  South  Carolina  and 
Florida,  to  make  a  feint  on  the  peninsula,  then  go  up  the 
James  and  take  Petersburg,  or  intrench  himself  near  City 
Point,  and  he  ordered  Sigel  to  move  up  the  Shenandoah  on 
Stanton  and  Lynehburg,  and  thus  cut  Richmond's  western 
communications,  while  he  made  ready  to  move  with  Meade 
from  Culpepper. 

"  This  is  the  last  year  of  the  war,  which  ever  wins,"  was  the 
general  feeling  of  the  South,  and  the  utterance  of  a  Rich 
mond  paper  of  April  29,  "Which  ever  wins,"  was  an  inadver- 
tant  admission,  yet  it  was  warranted  by  the  character  and 
attitude  of  the  Southern  armies.  All  the  strength  of  the 
South  was  in  them,  cities  and  frontier  garrisons  being  guarded 
by  boys  and  old  men,  and,  sustained  by  that  terrible  element 
which  often  makes  desperate  armies  victorious  armies,  they 
were  stronger  than  ever  before. 

The  struggle  round  the  Rebel  Capital  in  1864  was  a  dead 
lier  game  than  any  that  had  yet  been  played  in  the  East. 
While  one  army  was  fired  by  desperation,  the  other  was 
nerved  by  resolution, — the  resolution  which  gave  Donelson, 
Shiloh  and  Vicksburg  to  Federal  arms.  Led  by  the  man 


618  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

who,  it  is  well  said,  would  have  been  called  Pertinax  had  he 
been  a  Roman,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  for  the  first  time, 
fought  out  its  battles.  It  not  only  made  victory  sure,  but 
wrung  advantage  from  defeat.  Penetrating  an  impoverished, 
hostile,  broken,  strongly  defended  and  unfamiliar  territory, 
marching  all  night  and  battling  all  day,  Hanking  to  fight  and 
fighting  to  flank,  expelling  the  enemy  from  stronghold  to 
stronghold,  and  driving  him  from  one  line  of  defence  to  an 
other;  it  changed  its  base  of  supplies  from  the  Rapidan  to 
Fredericksburg,  from  Fredericksburg  to  Port  Royal,  from 
Port  Royal  to  the  White  House,  from  the  White  House  to 
the  James,  and  swung  itself  through  the  tangled  copses  of 
the  Wilderness,  over  the  murderous  hills  of  Spottsyivania, 
across  the  North  Anna,  the  Chickahominy  and  the  James, 
from  the  north-west  to  the  south-east  of  Richmond.  For  the 
bold  march  it  paid  a  heavy  toll.  Every  step  was  made  in 
blood.  Each  mile  of  the  sixty  between  the  Rapidan  and  the 
Chickahominy  cost  a  thousand  men.  Sixty  thousand  who 
entered  the  Wilderness  fell  by  the  way  because  of  wounding, 
capture  or  death. 

The  newspapers  called  the  campaign  a  drama;  and  like  a 
chorus  ihey  recounted  in  snatches  its  progress.  The  patriot 
people  from  May  to  August  did  not  once  exult.  They  trem 
bled  between  hope  and  fear.  Their  hearts  were  filled  with 
an  aching  which  can  never  be  told. 

"  The  President,  with  great  black  rings  under  his  eyes,  and 
his  head  bent  forward  on  his  breast,  'mourned  the  slain  of 
the  daughter  of  his  people.'" 

During  the  campaign  a  marked  change  occurred  in  the 
character  of  the  army.  Reinforcements  from  various  quar 
ters  kept  up  the  number,  which  was  about  one  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  men,  without  preserving  the  fearless  and  hope 
ful  spirit  of  the  beginning.  Drafted  men  and  bounty  seek 
ers  formed  a  large  portion  of  the  new  comers;  volunteers, 
even  though  they. enlisted  from  the  single  motive  of  patriot 
ism,  were  necessarily  inferior  to  veterans;  and  veterans  were 
no  longer  what  they  had  been.  Their  vital  force  was  im 
paired  by  hardships  which,  during  the  months  of  May  and 
June,  were  not  relieved  by  good  and  sufficient  food.  More- 


ENTERING  THE  WILDERNESS.  619 

over,  as  commissioned  officers  fell  by  thousand?,  the  men 
missed  the  familiar  face  and  voice  of  their  old  leaders,  and 
reluctantly  obeyed  the  orders  of  strangers. 

It  is  time  now  to  give  the  operations  of  the  campaign  in 
such  detail  as  is  necessary  for  tracing  out  the  course  of  Indi 
ana  troops. 

At  midnight  of  Tuesday  the  third  of  May,  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  set  in  motion,  Grant  hoping  to  lead  it 
across  the  Rapidan  and  through  the  fateful  Wilderness  to 
the  open  country  about  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  before 
coming  in  contact  with  his  antagonist.  At  daybreak,  Wil 
son's  cavalry,  foremost  of  which  was  Chapman's  ready  brig 
ade,  crossed  the  river  on  the  right  at  Germanna  ford  and 
drove  back  the  enemy's  pickets.  Warren's  corps  followed 
and  pushed  straight  into  the  Wilderness,  encamping  at  night 
at  the  Old  Wilderness  Tavern,  five  miles  from  Chancellors- 
villc.  Scdgwick  crossed  at  the  same  ford,  and  rested  in  the 
rear  of  Warren.  Hancock  made  the  passage  at  Ely's  ford 
and  halted  near  Chancellors vHlc.  Wilson's  cavalry  covered 
the  right  front  and  flank;  Gregg's  was  on  the  left  front  and 
flank.  The  entire  Army  of  the  Potomac  encamped  in  the  jun 
gles  of  the  Wilderness  before  the  close  of  the  day.  Through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  its  history,  the  Seventh  Indiana  kept 
up  a  prayer  meeting,  which  was  organized  at  its  first  camp 
in  Indianapolis.  Now  in  the  Wilderness,  as  the  shades  of 
night  were  falling,  Chaplain  Jewell  began  to  sing.  Half  the 
regiment  and  many  men  from  other  regiments  joined  in  the 
hymn,  then  listened  to  a  passage  of  Scripture,  an  earnest 
exhortation  and  a  fervent  prayer. 

The  army  was  on  the  alert  early  on  Thursday,  the  cavalry 
reconnoitring;  Warren,  supported  by  Seclgwick,  moving  to 
ward  Parker's  store,  which  was  five  miles'  southwest  of  his 
camping  ground,  and  Hancock  advancing  toward  Shady 
Grove,  directly  south  of  Chancellorsville.  But  with  all  its 
haste  it  was  caught  in  the  toils  of  the  forest.  Chapman's 
brigade  proceeded  on  by-roads  to  Craig's  Meeting  House,  on 
the  Catharpin  road,  which  it  reached  about  midday.  It  was 
massed  in  an  open  field  on  the  side  of  the  road,  while  a 
batallion  of  the  First  Vermont  cavalry  reconnoitred.  This 


620  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

detachment  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance  when  it  was 
attacked  by  a  force  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  and  driven  into 
its  supports.  Chapman  engaged  the  enemy  and  drove  him 
back  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  a  ravine,  heavily  bordered 
with  a  thick  growth  of  pine.  With  the  Third  Indiana  and  a 
part  of  the  Eighth  New  York,  he  held  the  position  about  an 
hour,  when  skirmishers  reported  that  the  enemy  had  been 
strengthened,  and  supplied  with  ammunition,  and  that  they 
could  hear  their  officers  giving  orders  preparatory  to  an  at 
tack.  In  a  few  minutes  Colonel  Chapman  was  attacked 
vigorously.  The  enemy's  line  lapped  over  both  his  flanks, 
and  compelled  a  rapid  and  difficult  retreat  through  a  densely 
timbered  region,  behind  a  position  held  by  Me  In  tosh's  brig 
ade.  Later  in  the  day  Wilson's  entire  division  fell  back  to 
Tod's  Tavern. 

The  infantry  was  engaged  at  an  earlier  hour.  Before  nine 
o'clock,  Ewell  confronted  Sedgwick;  and  Hill,  from  a  shel 
tered  position  on  a  ridge,  directly  across  the  route  of  the 
Fifth  corps,  held  back  Warren.  After  feeling  in  vain  for  an 
opening,  Griffin  and  Wadsworth,  although  separated  by  im 
penetrable  thickets,  made  a  simultaneous  and  impetuous  ad 
vance,  determined  to  break  open  the  route.  Griffin  at  first 
carried  every  thing  before  him,  but  in  the  end  was  forced 
back.  Wadsworth's  division  was  met  by  a  heavy  attack  on 
its  left  flank,  and  gained  not  even  a  momentary  success,  al 
though  it  fought  with  desperate  valor.  Our  Seventh  and 
Nineteenth  were  here  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  The  Sev 
enth  charged  on  a  body  of  the  enemy  strongly  posted  in  a 
deep  ravine,  and  took  nearly  three  hundred  prisoners.  It 
pushed  on  a  half  mile,  but  was  suddenly  deserted  by  the 
troops  on  both  sides,  and  left  in  advance  with  both  flanks  ex 
posed.  It  retreated  rapidly,  fired  on  from  right  and  left  and 
rear,  while  falling  comrades  called  in  vain  for  help,  and,  after 
traversing  two  miles,  reached  breastworks  which  had  been 
piled  up  in  the  morning. 

Colonel  Grover  was  among  the  missing.  He  was  seen  to 
fall,  but  nothing  further  was  known  of  his  fate.  The  color 
bearer  of  the  Nineteenth  was  struck  in  the  side  by  a  minie 
ball  One  hand  dropped,  but  with  the  other  he  held  the 


FIGHTING  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  621 

staff  upright  until  corporal  Pedan  relieved  him  of  its  charge. 
A  ball  stretched  the  corporal  on  the  ground,  but  the  falling 
colors  were  caught  by  Colonel  Williams. 

Hill  threw  forward  a  strong  charging  column  to  gain  the 
Brock  road,  along  which  Hancock,  turned  from  his  southerly 
course,  was  now  marching  to  unite  with  Warren.  Wads- 
worth  struggled  desperately  to  hold  the  road.  In  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon,  loud  cheers  from  Hancock's  approaching 
van  warned  Hill  to  redouble  his  efforts,  while  they  encour 
aged  Wadsworth  to  maintain  his  ground.  Birney,  followed 
by  Barbour  and  Gibbon,  marched  swiftly  over  a  smooth 
though  narrow  road.  They  met,  struck,  and,  during  two 
hours,  stubbornly  fought.  The  Twentieth  with  Birney,  and 
the  Fourteenth  with  Gibbon,  were  hotly  engaged.  A  bat 
tery,  the  only  one  which  could,  on  account  of  the  density  of 
the  woods,  be  brought  into  play,  was  captured,  because  of 
its  loss  in  men  and  horses,  but  was  recaptured  by  detach 
ments  from  the  Fourteenth  Indiana  and  the  Eighth  Ohio. 
At  length  Hill  was  baffled,  and  Ewell  was  repulsed.  Grant 
ordered  a  general  advance;  but  night,  which  was  impenetra 
ble  in  the  depths  of  the  Wilderness,  prevented  the  movement. 

Both  Lee  and  Grant  were  reinforced  during  the  night,  the 
former  by  Longstreet,  the  latter  by  Burnside,  who  had 
inarched  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  miles  since  orders  for  the 
movement  were  received  on  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday. 
It  happened  that  the  old  Tennessee  antagonists  moved  on 
the  evening  of  Thursday  toward  the  same  part  of  the  ground, 
each  looking  anxiously  at  the  cloud  of  dust  which  announced 
the  other's  approach. 

The  troops  shook  off  sleep  Friday  morning,  and  ate  their 
breakfasts  long  before  the  sun  looked  through  the  interwoven 
boughs.  They  were  under  orders  to  advance  at  five,  and 
fight  whenever  they  should  encounter  the  enemy.  But 
again,  with  all  their  haste,  they  were  too  slow.  A  quarter 
before  five  the  enemy  fell  upon  Sedgwick,  who  not  only 
made  no  headway,  but  had  much  ado  to  hold  his  ground. 

Hancock  posted  his  left,  Gibbon's  division,  on  the  Brock 
road,  to  meet  a  hostile  flanking  movement,  and  remained 
unmolested  until  at  the  appointed  time  he  pushed  out.  He 


622  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

then  met  opposition,  but  he  fought  his  way  nearly  two  miles, 
when  his  progress  was  checked,  and  his  front  was  thrown 
into  confusion  by  a  charge  from  Longstreet,  Reinforced  by 
Burnside,  he  pushed  Longstreet  back.  Shortly  after,  the 
latter  was  mistaken  for  a  national  oilicer  by  some  of  his  own 
men,  and  was  seriously  wounded.  Lee,  then,  with  great 
effort,  bore  the  front  of  Hancock's  corps  back  to  its  line  of 
intrenchments  along  the  Brock  road.  He  made  strenuous 
attempts  to  push  in  between  Hancock  and  Warren.  Wads- 
worth,  on  Warren's  left  flank,  strove  hard,  but  vainly,  to  with 
stand  him.  Colonel  Williams  was  one  of  the  first  to  fall,  at 
six  o'clock,  shot  in  the  breast,  while,  all  unconsious  of  him 
self,  he  exhorted  the  men  not  to  mind  the  bursting  shells. 

Captain  Dudley,  who  took  command  of  the  Nineteenth, 
was  ordered  to  withdraw  it  to  the  rear  on  account  of  its 
losses.  The  division,  soon  after  discouraged  by  defeat  and 
disaster,  broke  into  a  hasty  retreat,  but  rallied  at  the  voice 
of  its  General,  and  made  one  more  desperate  dash.  Two 
horses  had  already  fallen  under  Wadsworth.  He  fell  with 
the  third,  and  his  noble  gray  head  lay  in  the  dust  when  the 
enemy  swept  over  the  ground,  and  again  drove  the  division 
back. 

A  short  lull  followed,  during  which  Burnside  advanced 
between  Hancock  and  Warren.  Hill's  and  Longstreet's 
corps  immediately  fell  with  united  and  concentrated  strength 
on  Burnside,  not  only  pushing  him  back,  but  tearing  his 
corps  in  two,  and  rushing  through  the  break  until  checked 
by  a  single  brigade,  Carroll's,  from  Hancock's  corps.  Never 
did  our  stanch  Fourteenth  and  its  worthy  coadjutors  more 
steadily  stand  to  their  duty,  and  never  had  they  better  suc 
cess.  The  Rebel  flood  rolled  back,  quailing  also  under  a 
deadly  fire  from  stout  breastworks  on  Hancock's  left.  But 
again  the  Rebel  right  advanced,  when  flames  which  had 
sprung  up  in  the  woods  several  hours  before,  spread  along 
the  breastworks  and  drove  back  the  defenders.  The  most 
forward  of  the  enemy  planted  their  standards  on  the  burning 
works.  The  battle  continued,  with  intervals  of  one  or  two 
hours  duration,  throughout  the  day, — the  one  army  bent  on 
finding  its  way  out  of  the  labyrinth,  the  other  equally  re- 


OUT  OF  THE  WILDERNESS.  (523 

solved  to  hold  fast  the  doors  of  escape.  Night  fell  on  a  dis 
puted  field,  and  friend  and  foe  slept. 

Early  Saturday  morning,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  only 
so  far  rested  as  to  be  conscious  of  its  weariness,  was  up  and 
prepared  to  go  on  with  the  fight;  but  guns,  which  had  beiMi 
posted  on  Sedgwiek's  right,  opened  without  calling  out  a  re 
ply.  Skirmishers  warily  advanced,  and  were  met  by  skirm 
ishers,  whose  line,  falling  slowly  back,  they  were  unable  to 
penetrate.  The  body  of  Lee's  army  was  evidently  not  so 
near  as  on  the  previous  evening.  At  length  it  was  discov 
ered  behind  intrenchments,  in  wait  for  an  attack,  which 
Grant  was  not.  persuaded  to  make,  as  his  only  and  urgent 
desire  was  to  get  out  of  the  Wilderness  and  on  to  Spottsyl- 
vania  Court  House,  fifteen  miles  south-cast  of  his  present 
position. 

Presuming  upon  nothing  but  success,  and  calculating  ex 
actly  as  if  he  had  beaten  Lee,  he  occupied  Fredericksburg 
with  a  small  force,  and  established  there  a  depot  for  his 
wounded,  and  a  basis  for  supplies.  He  pushed  his  cavalry 
out  over  the  Brock  road,  which  leads  directly  to  Spottsylva- 
nia  Court  House,  sent  his  trains  along  the  Orange  plank 
road  and  the  turnpike,  more  eastern  and  more  circuitous 
routes,  and  started  his  corps, — the  Fifth  and  Second  in  the 
rear  of  the  cavalry,  the  Sixth  and  Ninth  behind  the  wagons. 

It  was  nine  Saturday  night,  before  Warren,  who  had  the 
advance,  was  fairly  on  the  way.  His  progress  was  then  ex 
cessively  slow,  the  road  being  at  first  obstructed  by  cavalry, 
the  advance  of  which  was  engaged  with  Stuart's  cavalry, 
and  afterward  by  barricade  upon  barricade.  At  eight  o'clock 
Sunday  morning,  three  miles  from  Spottsylvania  Court 
House,  he  was  confronted  by  Longstreet's  corps,  which, 
having  marched  smoothly  on  a  road  parallel  to  his  own  ob 
structed  course,  was  now  in  position  on  a  wooded  ridge 
south  of  the  little  river  Ny.  The  troops  were  faint  with  fa 
tigue,  want  of  sleep  and  the  excessive  heat  of  the  day*' 
and  in  consequence  were  in  no  condition  for  an  unexpected 
encounter  with  a  force  which  they  had  thought  far  in  the 
rear.  The  advance  division,  Robinson's,  was  repulsed  in 
disorder ;  the  following,  Griffin's,  \yas  driven  back  in  equal 


624  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

confusion.  Crawford's  and  Cutler's  divisions  (Cutler  had 
succeeded  Wadsworth)  coming  up  later,  and  knowing  what 
was  before  them,  moved  forward  steadily,  and  drove  the 
enemy  out  of  the  woods,  and  out  of  his  first  and  second  line 
of  intrenchments.  They  assaulted  the  third  and  last  line 
unsuccessfully,  and  fell  back  until  reinforced  in  the  after 
noon,  when  they  captured  the  position,  inflicting  a  loss  of 
fifteen  hundred,  and  suffering  a  smaller,  though  important 
loss. 

Every  corps  was  more  or  less  engaged  during  the  day. 
Wilson's  cavalry  penetrated  to  the  Court  House,  but  as  it 
was  impossible  for  infantry  to  come  to  its  support,  it  was 
forced  to  relinquish  the  position  to  Hill  and  E well,  who  were 
close  at  hand. 

At  night,  the  Rebels  threw  up  along  the  Spottsylvania 
ridge  a  bulwark  of  defence,  which  they  strengthened  each 
day  of  the  following  week.  The  Union  troops,  without  or 
ders,  fell  to  intrenching  themselves  where  night  found  them. 
It  was  a  characteristic  of  the  campaign  that  wherever  the 
soldier  stopped  he  intrenched,  be  his  tools  what  they  might, 
spades  or  spoons. 

For  the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  point  where  the  Wil 
derness  terminates,  the  country  is  rolling  and  dotted  with 
bristling  copses  of  pine  and  cedar.  It  is  quite  open  round 
Spottsylvania  Court  House,  between  the  Ny  and  the  Po, 
which,  with  the  Ta  and  the  Mat,  flow  southeast,  and  uniting, 
form  the  Matapony. 

Having  mastered  the  Ny,  Grant  was  now  close  on  the  Po, 
which,  from  an  easterly  course  near  its  head,  turns  south  two 
miles  \vest  of  the  Court  House. 

Monday  the  cavalry  corps  moved  out  on  a  raid  toward 
Richmond,  while  the  infantry  corps  assumed  position  in  Lee's 
front  in  the  following  order,  from  right  to  left:  Hancock, 
Warren,  Sedgwick  and  Burnside.  Early  in  the  day  the  army 
met  with  a  loss  which  was  said  to  be  equal  to  that  of  a  di 
vision.  Sedgwick  was  killed  by  a  sharpshooter's  bullet. 
Toward  evening  Hancock,  deluded  by  the  hope  of  capturing 
a  wagon-train  which  he  saw  leisurely  winding  its  way  toward 
Spottsylvania  Court  House,  moved  down  the  high  ground  on 


FIGHTING  AT  SPOTTSYLVANIA.  625 

which  he  had  position,  and  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties, 
crossed  the  Po.  Night  prevented  an  attack  on  the  train, 
which  moved  on  out  of  reach.  He  encamped  on  the  south 
ern  bank,  hoping  to  advance  in  the  morning.  Tuesday,  the 
tenth,  was  a  sanguinary  and  desperate  day.  The  line  of 
battle  was  six  miles,  close  to  the  front  of  the  enemy,  who, 
amply  fortified,  occupied  abrupt  hills  and  dense  woods.  Bat 
teries  covered  the  Union  right  flank  and  left  centre,  and  for 
the  first  time  in  the  campaign  came  into  full  and  destructive 
play.  Warren  confronted  Hill,  who  held  the  enemy's  centre, 
the  most  formidable  point  on  his  line.  It  was  crowned  by 
earth-works  and  clothed  in  thickets  of  low  cedars,  whose 
fierce,  bayonet-like  boughs  made  artificial  abatis  unnecessary. 
The  possession  of  this  point  would  sever  Lee's  army,  and 
open  a  direct  passage  to  the  coveted  Court  House.  Grant 
therefore  withdrew  Gibbon  and  Birney  from  Hancock,  the 
enemy  hotly  assailing  Birney's  rear  meanwhile,  and  joined 
them  to  Warren's  force.  Shortly  before  noon  two  of  Gib 
bon's  brigades,  Webb's  and  Carroll's,  essaying  to  mount 
Laurel  Hill,  suffered  severe  loss,  and  gained  no  advantage. 
At  three  the  attempt  was  renewed  in  larger  force,  the  divis 
ions  of  Crawford  and  Cutler  endeavoring  to  gain  room  to 
form  lines  of  battle  far  forward  for  a  still  more  general  attack. 
This  preliminary  assault  was  also  a  bloody  failure.  Never 
theless  a  general  assault  was  made  at  five,  Hancock  and 
Warren  bearing  up  hard  against  the  embattled  centre,  and 
the  whole  line  raging  in  the  fight.  Through  dust,  and  din, 
and  smoke,  charge  followed  charge.  The  Fourteenth  Indi 
ana  was  in  the  very  centre  and  blaze  of  the  battle,  and  there 
lost  its  beloved  commander.'  The  good  General  Rice  also 
gave  up  his  life.  At  one  or  two  points  the  men  entered  the 
breastworks,  but  they  were  driven  out  and  driven  back  with 
constantly  decreasing  numbers  until,  wiser  than  their  officers, 
who  still  cruelly  urged  them  on  to  the  slaughter,  they  showed 
an  unconquerable  reluctance. 

The  Sixth  corps  gained  the  first  line  of  intrench inents  with 
nine  hundred  prisoners  and  several  guns,  but  was  not  able  to 
hold  its  ground,  nor  to  withdraw  the  captured  guns. 
40 


626  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Burnside's  corps  made  a  successful  advance  in  the  face  of 
a  destructive  fire,  to  a  point  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
Court  House,  but  was  ordered  to  retire.  Hancock,  left  with 
one  division  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Po,  was  forced  to  with 
draw,  and  literally  through  fire  and  flood,  as  the  woods  be 
tween  him  and  the  river  were  burning.  A  gun  was  lost  in 
a  swamp,  and  many  wounded  perished  in  the  flames,  but 
courage  and  skill  succeeded  in  effecting  a  tolerably  success 
ful  retreat. 

Wednesday,  May  11,  Grant  despatched  the  following  bul 
letin  to  the  war  department: 

"HEADQUARTERS  IN  THE  FIELD,   ) 
"May  11,  1864— 8  A.  M.        \ 

"  We  have  now  ended  the  sixth  day  of  very  heavy  fighting. 
The  result,  to  this  time,  is  much  in  our  favor. 

"Our  losses  have  been  heavy,  as  well  as  those  of  the  enemy. 
I  think  the  loss  of  the  enemy  must  be  greater. 

"  We  have  taken  over  five  thousand  prisoners  by  battle, 
whilst  he  has  taken  from  us  but  few,  except  stragglers. 

"I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer. 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General, 
"  Commanding  the  Armies  of  the  United  States." 

The  sanguine  character  of  the  bulletin,  as  reported  to  But 
ler,  had  an  unfortunate  influence  on  that  officer's  movements, 
which  were  now  in  full  progress  on  the  south  of  Richmond. 

Skirmishing  was  hot  on  the  eleventh  of  May,  reconnoitring 
was  active,  artillery  played  into  the  Rebel  woods  at  intervals 
to  annoy  diggers  and  builders,  but  no  assault  was  made.  In 
the  afternoon  a  grateful  thunder-storm,  the  first  of  the  cam 
paign,  laid  the  dust  and  allayed  the  heat. 

During  the  night,  Hancock,  under  cover  of  storm  and  dark 
ness,  marched  across  to  the  right  of  Burnside  and  took  up  a 
position  which  was  not  quite  twelve  hundred  yards  from  the 
Rebel  centre.  At  half  past  four  in  the  morning,  his  divisions, 
Barlow  and  Birney,  Gibbon  and  Mott,  guided  by  the  com 
pass  through  pathless  woods,  moved  swiftly  and  cautiously 
toward  the  muzzles  of  the  hostile  guns.  They  tramped 
through  thickets,  swept  over  pickets,  tore  up  abatis,  and,  rush- 


FIGHTING  AT  SPOTTSYLVANIA.  627 

ing  up  the  hill,  leaped  with  a  thundering  cheer  into  the 
trenches.  The  banner  of  the  Twentieth,  beautiful  still, 
though  torn  with  shot  and  shell,  was  the  first  set  up  on  the 
enemy's  ramparts.  With  bayonets  and  clubbed  muskets, 
the  storming  troops  bore  down  a  desperate  resistance,  and, 
capturing  more  than  three  thousand  men, — nearly  a  whole 
division  of  E well's  corps,  with  thirty  flags  and  thirty  guns, — 
they  passed  on  to  the  second  line  of  rifle  pits.  The  surprised 
Rebels  rallied  with  desperate  speed  and  fought  with  desper 
ate  resolution.  The  struggle  extended  along  the  line,  the 
entire  Union  force,  under  a  terrific  cannonade,  assaulting  at 
every  point  Warren  at  length  desisted  and  sent  Cutler's 
and  Griffin's  divisions  to  reinforce  Hancock,  on  whom  Lee, 
in  gigantic  efforts  to  regain  his  captured  works,  inflicted  his 
heaviest  blows.  Here  was  the  head  and  front  of  battle. 
Five  times  Lee  assaulted  Hancock.  Five  times  Hancock 
repulsed  Lee.  Bayonets  were  interlocked.  The  fighting  was 
hand  to  hand.  The  dead  lay  side  by  side,  or  heaped  up, 
friend  and  foe  together,  and  often  fearfully  mutilated.  Cap 
tain  Thomas,  of  the  Twentieth,  died  pierced  by  eleven  bul 
lets.  The  very  trees  were  worn  away  and  cut  in  two  by 
musket  balls.  Rain  poured  down  unnoticed.  Water  could 
not  quench  the  fury.  Toward  midnight  the  Rebel  general 
slowly  withdrew  his  exhausted  and  mangled  forces  and  took 
up  an  interior  but  not  less  formidable  position.  Friday  the 
armies  breathed,  buried  their  dead,  attended  to  their  wounded, 
skirmished  and  reconnoitred. 

During  the  thirteenth,  Meade  arranged  to  effect  a  second 
surprise  by  a  joint  attack  of  Burnside  and  Warren  at  four  in 
the  morning,  this  time  by  an  assault  upon  the  enemy's  right 
flank,  which  was  near  the  Fredericksburg  turnpike. 

At  nine  o'clock,  Warren  left  his  position  on  the  right  to 
march  all  night  through  tiresome  mud  and  pitch  darkness. 
He  waded  the  Ny,  and  at  length  lost  his  way.  Fires  which 
were  kindled  along  the  route  failed  to  be  of  service  after  mid 
night,  on  account  of  a  fog  which  was  absolutely  impervious 
to  light,  At  daybreak  twelve  hundred  men  reached  the  de 
signated  position,  whilst  the  residue  still  struggled  along  the 
dubious  line  of  march,  or  lay  lost  in  sleep  wherever  they  had 


62$  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

sunk  down  in  exhaustion.  Birney  and  Tyler  drove  back  the 
skirmishers,  carried  the  first  and  second  line  of  rifle  pits  in 
the  midst  of  a  sharp  and  deadly  fire,  and  reached  impenetra 
ble  abatis,  behind  which,  in  secure  ambush,  rested  riflemen 
and  artillery.  Here  was  no  choice.  Destruction  or  retreat 
was  the  alternative.  Of  course  the  latter  was  chosen,  and 
before  noon  the  advanced  troops  were  withdrawn. 

At  length  the  Spottsylvania  hills  were  crimsoned  with 
sufficient  blood.  More  than  forty  thousand  of  the  men  who 
entered  the  Wilderness  with  dusty,  tired  feet  were  gone, — 
wrapped  in  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking,  or  stretched  on 
beds  of  pain,  or  crowded  in  prison  pens.  The  number  of 
wounded  was  prodigious.  A  new  base  having  been  opened 
at  Aquia  creek,  they  were  sent  there  in  ambulances  and  army 
wagons,  which  moved  day  and  night  over  rough  and  painful 
roads.  Moseby's  guerillas  scoured  the  ground  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  rob  and  murder  both  the  occupants  of  ambulan 
ces  and  the  multitudes  of  crippled  soldiers,  who  dragged  them 
selves  in  the  same  direction.  The  transports,  waiting  for  the 
wounded,  were  moved  to  a  horseshoe-shaped  wharf,  on  one 
side  of  which  the  ambulances  filed  down.  Discharging  their 
burdens  they  moved  to  the  other  side  of  the  wharf  and  re 
ceived  "fighting  rations "  for  the  troops  in  the  field.  The 
tedious  process  increased  the  suffering.  One  day  a  line  of 
vehicles  stretched  in  an  inextricable  jam  from  the  wharf  to 
Fredericksburg,  nearly  ten  miles. 

The  four  Indiana  infantry  regiments,  small  at  the  begin 
ning,  were  now  but  skeletons.  Except  the  Twentieth,  which 
twice  already  in  its  career  had  lost  a  Colonel  in  battle,  they 
were  all  bereft  of  their  leaders.  Colonel  Grover  was  either 
killed  or  captured.  Colonel  Coons,  who  had  hitherto  seemed 
to  bear  a  charmed  life,  was  killed  on  the  twelfth,  leading  his 
men  in  the  assault  on  the  fortifications  of  Spottsylvania. 
Colonel  Williams  fell  in  the  Wilderness,  and  there  he  was 
buried  amid  the  tears  of  men  he  had  led  on  the  momentous 
fields  of  Bull  Run,  Chantilly,  South  Mountain,  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville  and  Gettysburg,  and  in  as 
many  smaller  engagements. 

He  left  a  wife,  six  little  children  and  an  aged  mother.     The 


WRITING  HOME.  629 

before  the  battle  he  wrote  to  his  wife:  "Whether  we 
shall  be  permitted  to  meet  again  in  this  world  or  not,  my 
earnest  prayer  is  that  you  may  live  long  and  happily,  and 
that  we  may  at  last  meet  in  our  Father's  home,  where  there 
is  no  war  to  separate  his  children.  May  God  bless  you,  and 
mother,  and  our  little  children." 

The  Nineteenth  lost  one-third  of  its  strength  in  the  first 
and  second  day  of  fighting, — seventeen  killed,  seventy-five 
wounded,  and  fifteen  captured  The  Seventh  and  Twenti 
eth  each  lost  more  than  two  hundred.  Captain  Clayton,  of 
the  Seventh,  was  killed  in  the  Wilderness,  and  Captain  Jam 
ison,  of  the  same  regiment,  was  killed  at  Spottsylvania. 
Captain  Gordon  and  Lieutenant  Bartholomew,  of  the  Twen 
tieth,  were  mortally  wounded;  and  Captains  Quigley  and 
Thomas  were  killed  the  same  day  at  Spottsylvania.  Lieu 
tenant  Caldwell,  of  the  Fourteenth,  was  killed  in  the  Wilder 
ness.  Captain  Simons,  of  the  same  regiment,  was  mortally 
wounded  at  Spottsylvania. 

During  the  few  and  short  pauses  of  march  and  battle, 
thousands  of  letters  were  written  to  the  never-forgotten  homes. 
On  the  paper  smoothed  out  upon  his  knee,  the  bright,  and 
loving,  and  untiring  spirit  of  the  soldier  unconsciously  indited 
lessons  still  full  of  instruction,  though  the  fingers  which  wrote 
them  have  long  been  dust: 

"  BIVOUAC  NEAR  MINE  RUN, 
"EVENING,  May  4. 

"  We  left  camp  near  Culpepper  last  night  at  twelve  o'clock, 
and  marched  swiftly  and  steadily  along  until  two  o'clock  this 
afternoon,  fourteen  hours  of  hard  marching.  We  were  so 
exhausted  that  we  all  went  to  sleep  at  the  halt,  and  I  have 
just  woke  up  to  find  nothing  but  a  dull  glow  in  the  west,  in 
place  of  a  hot  sun,  the  valley  full  of  white  mist,  and  the  plain 
tive  evening  music  of  a  neighboring  marsh,  a  full  chorus. 
We  expect  every  hour  to  go  into  action.  It  will  be  desper 
ate.  God  grant  it  may  be  successful." 

11  May  10.  It  looks  dark.  We  have  been  fighting  seven 
days  now.  God  grant  we  may  win.  If  I  am  killed,  do  get 
my  body  and  bury  it  decently." 


630  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"May  13.  Still  alive,  but  the  fatigue  and  fighting  have 
been  terrific.  We  have  been  under  fire  ever  since  the  fifth. 
The  regiment  lost  eighty-three  yesterday,  only  one  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  left." 

"  NEAR  SPOTTSYLVANIA  COURT  HOUSE,  ) 
"May  19,  8  o'clock.  \ 

"Still  unhurt,  and  in  good  spirits.  We  were  under  an 
awful  artillery  fire  yesterday,  but  behind  good  works,  and 
well  protected.  The  dirt  showered  over  us,  though,  plenti 
fully,  as  the  shot  would  plump  into  the  breastwork.  Both 
sides  have  been  very  quiet  to-day,  so  far.  The  picket  lines 
this  morning  are  only  a  few  yards  apart.  We  can  distinctly 
see  all  their  movements.  The  first  mail  we  have  received 
since  the  first  of  May  came  last  evening.  While  others  were 
jolly  over  long,  loving  letters  from  home,  I  had  to  content 
myself  with  a  pipe  and  memories.  Out  of  three  hundred  and 
forty-five  men  we  left  Alexandria  with,  the  first  of  the  month, 
we  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  left,  and  six  officers  less  than 
we  started  with. 

"Well,  good-bye.  God  grant  the  right  may  win,  and  that 
we  may  see  each  other  again. 

"JAMES   PRATT." 

"  ON  THE  BATTLE  FIELD,  ) 

"  SPOTTSYLVANIA,  May  13.  ) 

"For  the  first  time  since  leaving  Culpepper  I  have  time 
and  a  chance  to  write.  We  have  passed  through  the  most 
severe  battles  that  were  ever  fought.  I  will  not  attempt  to 
give  you  an  account  of  all  our  sufferings.  This  is  the  tenth 
day  of  the  fight,  and  there  has  not  been  a  day  that  our  regi 
ment  has  not  been  under  fire.  Our  loss  is  terrible.  Our 
company  has  lost  thirty  men  killed,  wounded  and  missing. 
I  tell  you  it  was  hard  to  see  my  comrades  falling  round  me. 
We  went  into  the  field  with  fifty  guns  in  the  company,  and 
now  we  have  about  seventeen.  The  fight  is  still  going  on. 
Loss  in  our  company  occurred  the  first  and  second  days'  fight. 
Boys  are  very  much  worn  out.  Scarcely  able  to  get  along. 
Enemy  strongly  intrenched  wherever  we  find  them. 

"  SAM.  LIST." 


RAID  TOWARD  RICHMOND.  631 

The  cavalry  under  Sheridan,  when,  May  9,  it  left  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  proceeded  rapidly  toward  Fredericksburg. 
It  turned  south  near  that  place,  and  proceeding  by  the  Tele 
graph  road  across  the  Matta  river,  and  thence  by  the  Negro 
Foot  road,  bivouacked  at  night  on  the  North  Anna  river, 
near  Beaver  Dam.  Some  skirmishing  took  place  during  the 
day  between  a  force  of  Rebel  cavalry  and  the  rear  guard 
without  interrupting  the  march.  At  five  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  the  tenth  the  enemy  began  shelling  the  camps  of 
Wilson's  division,  and  followed  with  a  cavalry  attack,  which 
was  easily  repulsed.  At  eight  the  rear  crossed  the  North 
Anna,  and  following  the  route  of  march  pursued  by  the  col 
umn,  crossed  the  South  Anna  river  at  Ground  Squirrel  bridge 
late  in  the  day,  and  bivouacked  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
river.  The  enemy  again  shelled  the  camps  on  the  morning 
of  the  fifteenth,  and  when  the  column  resumed  the  march, 
heavily  pressed  the  rear.  In  the  afternoon  General  Ouster's 
and  Colonel  Chapman's  brigades,  which  were  in  advance, 
became  warmly  engaged  with  a  heavy  force  of  Rebel  cavalry, 
commanded  by  Stuart,  near  "  Yellow  Tavern."  Daring  the 
engagement  a  regiment  of  Michigan  cavalry,  under  Custer 
in  person,  and  the  First  Vermont  cavalry,  under  Chapman 
in  person,  charged  and  captured  a  section  of  Rebel  artillery, 
compelling  the  supports  to  seek  safety  in  rapid  flight.  "  Jeb. 
Stuart"  was  mortally  wounded,  and  his  command  was  routed 
with  severe  loss  in  killed  and  wounded. 

At  dark  Sheridan's  troops  were  massed  at  the  junction  of 
the  road  from  Ground  Squirrel  bridge  with  the  Brook  turn 
pike,  about  five  miles  from  Richmond.  But  the  enemy  did 
not  again  appear,  and  the  command  resumed  the  march 
shortly  before  midnight,  Chapman  in  advance,  under  orders 
to  proceed  to  Fair  Oaks'  Station,  if  practicable,  passing  be 
tween  Richmond  and  the  Chickahominy.  Moving  by  a  cross 
road  from  the  Brook  turnpike  to  the  Meadow  bridge  road, 
and  thence  by  a  devious  farm  road  running  along  the  outer 
fortifications  of  Richmond,  which  were  not  then  occupied, 
Wilson's  division  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Median icsville 

O 

turnpike.     Here  it  was  halted  and  massed  in  an  open  field. 
It  was  impossible  to  gain  a  guide  from  that  point  to  Fair 


632  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Oaks.  On  the  march  to  the  Mechanicsburg'  pike  a  Rebel 
cavalry  outpost  had  discovered  the  column,  and  firing  a  shot, 
had  lied  rapidly  toward  the  city,  giving  the  alarm.  Shortly 
after  Chapman's  brigade  had  massed,  and  before  daylight,  it 
was  opened  on  by  artillery  posted  in  the  inner  line  of  fortifi 
cations,  and  distant  not  more  than  seven  hundred  yards. 
The  men,  through  remaining  mounted,  had  most  of  them 
fallen  asleep  in  their  saddles,  and  being  thus  suddenly  brought 
under  artillery  at  short  range,  were  thrown  into  confusion. 
The  command  was  reformed  almost  immediately,  and  being" 
withdrawn  a  short  distance  to  gain  a  good  position,  was 
formed  in  battle  array.  Morning  soon  dawned,  and  skirmish 
ing  began.  It  continued  until  the  middle  of  the  afternoon, 
when  Wilson's  division  handsomely  repulsed  a  sortie  made 
by  a  brigade  of  infantry  from  the  inner  line  of  the  Richmond 
fortifications.  No  effort  was  made  to  carry  the  fortifications. 
The  only  work  assigned  to  Wilson  being  to  hold  his  position, 
and  keep  the  Rebels  in  their  works  until  Merritt's  division 
should  force  a  crossing  of  the  Chickahominy  at  Meadow 
bridge,  which  was  held  by  a  large  Rebel  cavalry  force.  This 
was  accomplished  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  when  the 
troops  of  Sheridan  crossed  the  Chickahominy,  and  were  free 
from  the  trap  in  which  the  Rebels  had  hoped  to  hold  and 
capture  them.  .Chapman's  brigade,  being  ordered  to  Games' 
House,  reached  it  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  there  bivou 
acked.  Next  morning  a  squadron  of  the  Third  Indiana,  Cap 
tain  Moffet  commanding,  destroyed  New  Bridge.  On  the 
fourteenth  the  command  crossed  the  Chickahominy,  proceeded 
to  Malvern  Hill,  and  established  communication  with  Gen 
eral  Butler's  forces  at  Bermuda  Hundreds.  Moving  by  way 
of  Haxall's  Landing,  Baltimore  store,  White  .House  and 
Hanover  Court  House,  the  cavalry  rejoined  the  army  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  May,  seeing  its  wagon-train  for  the  first  time 
in  sixteen  days. 

Stealing  out  from  the  Spottsylvania  hills  on  the  night  of 
May  20,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  moved,  on  several  parallel 
roads,  in  a  south-easterly  direction,  toward  the  Richmond 
and  Fredericksburg  railroad.  The  weather  was  clear,  though 
warm,  and  the  soldiers  were  in  gay  spirits.  An.  attack  of 


CROSSING  OF  THE  NORTH  ANNA.  (333 

Hill's  corps  on  the  rear  as  it  was  on  the  point  of  starting,  was 
repulsed.  An  attack  on  the  advance  by  a  cavalry  force  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Mattapony,  was  also  repulsed.  The  march 
was  comparatively  undisturbed  until  on  the  third  day  the 
southern  army  was  found  arrayed  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
North  Anna.  "We  expected  you  yesterday,"  was  the  re 
sponse  of  southern  pickets  to  northern  pickets,  who  expressed 
surprise  on  again  seeing  before  them  the  enemy  they  had 
just  left  behind. 

Above  Lee's  position,  at  Jericho  ford,  where  the  river,  en 
closed  between  precipitous  banks,  rushes  swiftly  and  breast- 
deep  over  a  rocky  bed,  the  head  of  Warren's  column  waded 
the  stream,  and  after  forming  line  of  battle,  covered  the  build 
ing  of  a  pontoon  bridge,  and  the  crossing  of  the  residue  of 
the  Fifth  corps.  Half  of  the  troops  were  yet  barefoot,  al 
though  advanced  a  mile  from  the  river,  and  throwing  up  in- 
trenchments,  when  they  were  impetuously  assailed.  The 
assault,  decidedly  repulsed  by  the  centre,  was  renewed  with 
undiminished  fury  on  the  right,  where  Cutler's  division  was 
getting  into  position.  Disaster  at  first  threatened  Cutler,  but 
in  the  end  fell  on  the  Rebels,  of  whom  nearly  a  thousand 
were  captured.  Captain  Gageby,  of  the  Indiana  Seventh, 
was  killed  here. 

Meantime  Hancock,  who  formed  Grant's  extreme  left,  was 
four  miles  distant  from  Warren,  near  the  Chesterfield  bridge, 
a  mile  above  the  railroad  crossing.  Between  him  and  the 
bridge  was  a  bare,  ascending  plain,  several  hundred  yards  in 
width,  and  entirely  commanded  by  extensive  and  singularly 
strong  defences.  After  arranging  his  artillery,  Hancock 
directed  Birney's  division,  supported  by  Barlow  and  Gibbon, 
to  make  an  assault.  It  was  just  before  sunset.  The  troops 
sprang  to  their  task,  leaped  the  ditch,  climbed  the  parapet, 
and  planted  their  colors  on  the  works.  In  the  morning  they 
crossed  the  river,  and  carried  the  southern  defences,  which 
were  scarcely  less  strong  than  the  fortifications  at  the  head 
of  the  bridge.  The  Twentieth  alone  charged  and  captured  a 
Rebel  redoubt.  The  Sixth  corps,  at  the  same  time,  crossed 
on  Warren's  bridge. 


6*34  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  North  Anna,  however,  was  as  far  as  ever  from  being 
cleared.  The  two  wings  of  the  army  were  entirely  separated, 
as  every  effort  made  by  Burnside  to  throw  his  corps  across 
between  Warren  and  Hancock  was  unsuccessful.  Lee,  with 
his  line  concentrated,  with  both  flanks  drawn  back,  his  right 
protected  by  marshes,  his  left  covered  by  Little  river,  his  front 
on  the  North  Anna,  and  projecting  like  a  wedge  into  his  an 
tagonist's  front,  was  invulnerable.  Reconnoitring  and  skir 
mishing  only  developed  the  fact,  and  on  the  night  of  the 
twenty-sixth,  the  army,  by  corps,  took  up  the  line  of  march. 
Wilson's  cavalry,  which  had  returned  from  the  Richmond 
raid  only  the  previous  day,  crossed  the  North  Anna  at  Jeri 
cho  Mills,  and  made  demonstrations  on  the  right  in  order  to 
cover  the  withdrawal. 

Two  days  later  the  army  halted  and  concentrated  south  of 
the  Pamunky,  where  again  Lee's  untiring  veterans  barred 
the  way.  In  a  short  fight  between  cavalry  reconnoitring  par 
ties,  the  Rebel  troopers  were  worsted. 

Sunday,  the  twenty-ninth,  was  occupied  in  general  rccon- 
noisances,  which  disclosed  that  the  enemy's  line  formed  a 
concave  toward  ours,  his  centre  covering  Atley's  station  on 
the  railroad,  his  left  stretching  in  the  direction  of  Hanover 
Court  House,  and  his  right  resting  near  Bethesda  church,  a 
solitary  old  house  on  the  Mechanicsville  turnpike. 

A  brigade  from  Crawford's  reserves,  while  slowly  approach 
ing  Bethesda  church,  was  struck  on  its  flank  and  obliged  to 
retreat  until  it  was  reinforced  by  the  rest  of  the  reserves  and 
a  brigade  from  Warren's  corps.  Then  at  the  usual  price  of 
costly  blood,  the  left  was  established  on  the  Mechanicsville 
turnpike.  Grant  now  made  constant  demonstrations  along 
the  whole  hostile  front,  as  if  seeking  an  opening  for  assault, 
but  meantime  he  shifted  his  army,  corps  by  corps,  across  the 
rear  toward  the  Chickahominy,  hoping  to  force  a  passage 
near  Cold  Harbor,  which  Sheridan  had  seized  and  which  was 
the  focus  of  a  number  of  roads  leading  both  to  Richmond 
and  the  White  House. 

During  the  movement,  patrols  from  the  Third  Indiana,  sent 
to  the  front,  were  attacked  by  a  brigade  of  Rebel  cavalry. 
Mclntosh's  brigade  coming  to  their  assistance,  they  drove 


FIRST  ASSAULT  AT  COLD  HARBOR. 

the  Eebels  through  Hanover  Court  House.  Chapman's  brig 
ade  destroyed  two  important  railroad  bridges  over  the  South 
Anna,  and  Birney's  division,  also  on  the  right,  the  whole  of 
Hancock's  corps  moving  forward,  rushed  at  and  carried  the 
enemy's  outer  line  of  intrenchments  on  the  southerly  side  of 
Tolopotomoy  creek. 

The  Sixth  corps  reached  Cold  Harbor,  Wednesday  the 
first  of  June.  It  was  joined  the  same  day  by  W.  F.  Smith, 
from  Butler's  army,  with  ten  thousand  men,  who  had  been 
brought  by  steamboats  to  the  White  House,  and  in  extremely 
warm  weather  had  been  marched  from  that  point  over  dusty, 
roundabout  roads,  and  on  railroad  ties,  until  they  were  well 
nigh  exhausted.  A  detachment  from  our  Thirteenth  was 
immediately  thrown  forward  on  the  picket  line,  where  at 
least  one  man  fell  asleep  from  the  sheer  impossibility  of 
keeping  awake.  He  was  soon  roused.  General  Devens,  al 
though  he  was  so  ill  that  he  was  compelled  to  rest  frequently 
on  a  chair  which  a  man  carried  for  him,  and  when  he  rode 
had  to  be  lifted  on  his  horse,  was  examining  the  front,  and 
now  ordered  the  detachment  to  a  more  advanced  position. 
From  the  new  post,  to  which  they  ran  through  a  shower  of 
balls,  the  pickets  saw  the  whole  force  prepared  for  assault, 
and  moving  up, — a  regiment  near  at  hand,  preceded  by  avant 
couriers,  two  dogs  yelping  and  springing  toward  the  hostile 
guns.  "Fools!"  cried  an  Indianian,  with  an  oath,  "They 
act  as  if  it  was  fun!"  In  a  moment  the  pickets  were  ab 
sorbed  and  carried  forward. 

Under  severe  fire  from  a  sheltered  enemy, — the  very  force 
which  General  Wright  had  faced  at  the  other  end  of  the 
line, — the  assailants  crossed  an  open  ploughed  space,  nearly 
a  mile  in  width,  and  stormed  the  outer  rifle  pits,  capturing 
six  hundred  men.  At  the  second  line  they  were  held  in 
check,  but  they  held  fast  the  ground  they  had  gained  and  biv 
ouacked  at  night  close  to  the  enemy.  Their  loss  was  two 
thousand.  The  brigade  of  wjiich  the  Thirteenth  was  a  part, 
lost  its  commander  and  more  men  than  any  other  brigade. 
The  regiment  was  led  by  Captain  Chauncey.  Thursday  and 
Thursday  night,  under  heavy  firing  and  continued  skirmish 
ing,  Wright  and  Smith  held  their  ground;  Hancock  marched 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

to  the  left  of  Wright,  Warren  stretched  his  left  to  Smith's 
right,  and  Burnside  massed  his  corps  on  the  right  and  rear  of 
Warren,  Burnside  and  Warren  lost  heavily. 

Friday  was  the  great  battle  of  Cold  Harbor.  The  day 
opened  at  half  past  four,  when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  six 
miles  in  length  from  wing  to  wing,  marched  in  fire  and  smoke, 
through  woodland,  swamp  and  field,  up  the  heights  and  into 
the  woods  where  lay  the  Confederate  army  behind  intrench- 
ments  no  human  power  could  storm.  In  twenty  minutes  the 
gallant  host  was  tossed  back,  either  to  its  original  line,  or  to 
points  but  a  short  distance  in  advance,  leaving  ten  thousand 
men  stretched  in  death  or  in  pain  on  the  abandoned  ground. 

No  second  assault  was  made;  but  all  daylong,  cannon 
ading,  skirmishing  and  sharpshooting  continued.  On  either 
side,  the  head  which  looked  over  the  intrenchments,  looked 
its  last.  Wilson's  cavalry,  on  our  right,  near  Salem  Church, 
met  Hampton's  cavalry  in  a  severe  and  equal  struggle. 
Chapman's  brigade  fought  Gordon's  brigade,  which  was  be 
hind  breastworks  thrown  up  by  infantry,  and  in  spite  of  the 
advantage  which  shelter  gave  the  enemy,  gained  the  position. 
Both  commands  fought  dismounted.  Our  total  loss  at  and 
around  Cold  Harbor  was  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three. 

Sharp-shooting  and  skirmishing  during  the  following  days 
and  nights  were  exceedingly  lively.  Night  assaults  on  the 
part  of  the  Rebels,  who  were  tempted  by  the  moments'  run 
from  line  to  line,  were  not  infrequent,  but  they  were  almost 
invariably  unsuccessful.  The  army  continued  its  flank 
movement,  manoeuvring  and  marching  cautiously  in  bri 
gades,  and  by  Wednesday  rested  its  left  on  the  Chickahom- 
iny,  near  Sumner's  and  Bottom's  bridges. 

Grant  traversed  with  hasty  and  bloody  steps  the  ground 
on  which  M'Clellan,  two  years  before,  so  long  found  a  fever 
ish  repose.  Not  a  fifth  of  the  men  who,  in  the  peninsula 
campaign,  saw  from  Fair  Oak^the  spires  of  Richmond,  were 
now  in  the  ranks.  Expiration  of  terms  of  enlistment  robbed 
the  army  of  most  of  its  remaining  veterans.  Our  Fourteenth 
fought  its  last  battle  at  Cold  Harbor.  General  Hancock, 
in  parting,  said  that  the  members  of  the  Fourteenth  "had 


ORDERS  FOR  THE  FOURTEENTH.  $37 

done  their  whole  duty,  and  that  they  went  away  with  their 
banner  crowned  with  honor,  and  their  names  and  fame  ever 
lasting."  General  Gibbon  and  General  Smith  addressed  to 
the  regiment  the  following  notes: 

"HEADQUARTERS  SECOND  DIVISION,  SECOND  CORPS, 

June  6,  1864. 

"CAPTAIN:  —  In  transmitting  to  you  the  order  for  the  dis 
charge  of  your  regiment  from  the  expiration  of  term  of  serv 
ice,  I  take  great  pride  and  pleasure  in  testifying  my  high  ap 
preciation  of  its  valor  and  efficiency,  especially  in  the  battles 
of  this  campaign.  You  can  now  return  to  your  homes  with 
the  proud  consciousness  of  duty,  well  and  faithfully  per 
formed,  up  to  the  very  end  of  your  term  of  service. 

"Respectfully,  JOHN  GIBBON, 

Brigadier  General  commanding  Division. 

Captain  DONALDSON,  commanding  Fourteenth  Regiment 
Indiana  Volunteers." 

4i  HEADQUARTERS  THIRD  BRIGADE,  J 

SECOND  DIVISION  SECOND  CORPS,      J 

June  16,  1864.          ) 

"The  Colonel  commanding  expresses  to  the  Fourteenth 
Indiana  Volunteers,  whose  term  of  service  has  expired,  and 
who  are  about  to  leave  for  their  homes,  his  high  appreciation 
of  their  gallant  services,  and  he  tenders  to  the  officers  and 
men  his  thanks  for  the  hearty  cooperation  and  assistance 
given  him  by  them  since  he  has  had  the  honor  to  command 
the  brigade.  The  Fourteenth  Indiana  has  won  an  enviable 
name,  and  one  that  will  go  down  to  posterity.  In  after 
years,  when  peace  shall  once  more  prevail,  you  may  well  be 
proud  to  say,  "  I  belonged  to  the  Fourteenth  Indiana  Volun 
teers."  Although  you  are  about  to  leave  us,  you  will  not  be 
forgotten.  The  Colonel  commanding  and  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  regiments  of  this  brigade,  wish  you  all  a  happy 
future. 

"By  order  of  THOMAS  A.  SMITH, 

Colonel  commanding  Brigade. 

JOHN  G.  REED,  Captain  and  Assistant  Adjutant  General" 


638  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-four  veterans  and  recruits  re 
mained  behind  in  the  trenches.  They  could  not  restrain  a 
pang  as  they  saw  their  old  comrades  entering  into  rest,  while 
they  were  still  to  dig,  and  march,  and  watch,  and  fight,  and 
very  likely  after  all,  to  die  and  lie  unburied.  More  than  one 
stout  soldier  wiped  away  a  furtive  tear. 

June  7,  the  homeward-bound,  one  hundred  and  thirty-six 
in  number,  (there  were  one  thousand  and  forty-five  in  the 
Fourteenth  when  it  left  home  three  years  before,)  went 
down  the  York  river,  while  the  martial  band  on  the  hurricane 
deck  played  "Get  out  of  the  Wilderness."  The  remnant 
was  afterward  consolidated  with  the  Twentieth. 

The  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  though  disastrous,  threw  no 
permanent,  and  scarcely  a  temporary  check  in  the  way  of 
the  army.  The  rails  from  the  Chickahominy  to  the  White 
House  were  taken  up  and  shipped  to  the  James.  Smith's 
corps  \vas  returned  to  Butler.  At  dark,  on  Sunday  the 
twelfth  of  June,  Chapman's  brigade  moved  to  Long  Bridge, 
to  effect  a  crossing  of  the  Chickahominy  at  that  point.  The 
bridge  was  entirely  destroyed;  the  stream  is  not  fordable, 
and  is  bordered  with  heavily  timbered  swamps;  but,  with 
the  exertion  of  skill  and  strength,  a  body  of  dismounted 
cavalry  made  the  crossing. 

A  pontoon  bridge  was  laid,  and  the  brigade  crossed.  It 
was  followed  by  the  remainder  of  Wilson's  division,  which 
then  took  the  road  to  White  Oak  Swamp,  skirmishing  with 
the  Rebel  cavalry  at  the  swamp  crossing.  At  Riddle's  shop, 
Chapman  attacked,  and  after  a  stubborn  resistance  put  to 
flight,  a  South  Carolina  brigade  which  guarded  the  road. 
Later  in  the  day,  the  enemy  returned  in  large  force  and  put 
Chapman  to  flight. 

While  the  cavalry  covered  its  movement,  the  main  army 
crossed  the  Chickahominy  and  marched  toward  the  James. 

Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  the  army  was  transferred  to  the 
south  side  of  the  James,  on  a  pontoon  bridge,  which,  though 
more  than  two  thousand  feet  long,  and  laid  above  thirteen 
fathoms  of  water,  was  the  work  of  but  twelve  hours.  The 
troops  marched  without  delay  toward  Petersburg,  to  cooper 
ate  with  General  Butler. 


THE  TENTH  OF  MAY.  (539 


While  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  \\<**  Crossing  the  Rapi- 
dan  and  entering  the  Wilderness,  the  Army  of  the  James  left 
Fortress  Monroe,  moved  up  York  river  and  made  a  feint  of 
approaching  Richmond  on  McClellan's  old  route,  then  re 
turned,  ascended  the  James  and  secured  Bermuda  Hundreds, 
the  peninsula  between  the  James  and  the  Appomattox.  It 
consisted  of  forty  thousand  men,  and  was  under  the  com 
mand  of  General  Butler,  who  had  been  joined  by  Smith's 
and  Gilmore's  forces  from  South  Carolina  and  Florida.  But 
ler  lost  no  time  in  sending  troops  toward  the  Richmond  and 
Petersburg  railroad,  with  the  intention  of  severing  the  Con 
federate  capital's  main  southern  line  of  communication,  and 
of  following  up  the  blow  by  the  capture  of  Petersburg,  the 
grand  'southern  outpost  in  the  defences  of  Richmond.  May 
7,  General  Smith  with  his  own  corps  and  a  part  of  Gilmore's, 
including  our  Thirteenth,  reached  the  railroad  and  the  enemy, 
and  engaged  in  skirmishing,  which  culminated  on  the  tenth. 
The  Thirteenth,  in  two  detachments,  one  under  Colonel 
Dobbs,  resting  on  the  railroad,  the  other  under  Major  Burton, 
on  Smith's  right  flank,  was  prominently  engaged.  It  cap 
tured  thirty-seven  men,  and  Burton's  detachment,  in  a  hand 
to  hand  conflict,  recaptured  two  pieces  of  artillery.  Smith's 
troops  pressed  southward  as  far  as  Swift  creek,  three  miles 
from  Petersburg,  and  destroyed  several  miles  of  railroad. 
The  engagement,  though  not  a  battle,  was  one  of  the  sharp 
est  fights  in  which  the  Thirteenth  was  ever  engaged.  Out  of 
less  than  three  hundred  men,  it  lost  one  hundred  and  three. 
Sixteen  who  were  captured,  died  in  Andersonville  prison. 
Among  those  who  fell  on  the  field  was  Lieutenant  Alfred 
Dawdy,  a  youth  who  was  joyfully  looking  forward  to  a 
speedy  return  home.  "My  wounds  are  mortal,"  he  said, 
gave  to  a  comrade  his  watch  and  other  keepsakes  for  his 
friends,  and  quietly  breathed  his  last.  The  woods  caught 
fire  and  consumed  his  body.  Lieutenant  Van  Antwerp  also 
was  mortally  wounded. 

The  Thirteenth  was  at  this  time  fitted  out  with  new  arms, 
which  had  been  obtained  more  ingeniously  than  honestly. 
During  the  feint  in  the  direction  of  the  Peninsula,  the  Ninth 
Maine,  at  Gloucester  Point,  was  provided  with  arms  of  the 


640  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

admired  Spencer  rifle  pattern,  while  the  Thirteenth,  which 
was  in  the  same  boat,  was  not  relieved  of  its  old  guns; 
nevertheless,  at  Bermuda  Hundreds,  each  man  of  the  latter 
regiment  landed  with  a  Spencer  rifle  in  his  hand,  while  the 
other,  divided  between  indignation  and  admiration  for  the 
soldierly  skill  writh  which  it  had  been  defrauded,  shouldered 
the  abandoned  firelocks  and  followed. 

Contact  with  the  enemy  disclosed  the  arrival  of  Beaure- 
gard's  advance  from  South  Carolina,  but  the  Rebels  were 
still  inferior  in  numbers,  and  Butler  moved  on  until  recalled 
by  a  warning  from  Washington  of  the  approach  of  Lee,  who 
was  described  as  driven  before  Grant  and  flying  to  the  de 
fences  of  Richmond.  Withdrawing  to  his  peninsula,  Butler 
was  followed  up  by  Beauregard.  Advancing  again,  not  to 
ward  the  railroad,  but  in  a  northerly  direction,  he  pushed 
Beauregard  beyond  Proctor's  creek.  The  latter  then  took  up 
the  offensive,  and  in  a  series  of  assaults  gained  the  advantage. 
Butler,  however,  was  not  slow  in  retorting. 

A  member  of  the  Thirteenth,  writing  at  midnight,  May  20, 
thus  describes  the  movements  of  the  regiment: 

"  There  has  not  been  a  single  day  since  we  landed  that  we 
have  not  been  either  fighting  or  throwing  up  earthworks. 
We  slept  in  our  breastworks  on  our  arms  last  night.  The 
Rebels  chased  our  pickets  three  times  in  force  in  the  night, 
and  every  time  we  rallied,  expecting  them  to  charge  the 
breastworks.  The  day  before,  we  skirmished  all  day,  and  the 
night  before  that  we  stood  picket  all  night,  with  orders  not  to 
close  our  eyes.  To-day  we  have  been  fighting  hard  all  day. 
In  the  morning,  our  regiment  of  two  hundred  men  was  or 
dered  to  charge  bayonets  on  a  line  of  breastworks,  from 
which,  not  two  hours  before,  eight  hundred  of  our  men  had 
been  driven.  We  charged,  with  fixed  bayonets,  at  the  double 
quick,  nearly  half  a  mile,  under  a  raking  fire  of  a  whole  brig 
ade  of  the  enemy.  I  looked  over  the  ground  this  evening, 
and  it  is  fairly  strewn  with  the  dead." 

In  the  end  Beauregard  drew  a  line  of  works  across  the 
peninsula  in  front  of  Butler,  and  the  latter  complained  that 
he  was  "bottled  up."  He  was  not  bottled  tight,  as  the  last 
of  May  he  sent  Smith's  corps  and  a  part  of  Gilmore's  corps, 


WALLACE'S  DEPARTMENT  INVADED.  (341 

by  the  unobstructed  river,  to  reinforce  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

The  movement  toward  Richmond  from  the  north-west,  be 
gun  by  Sigel,  occupied  a  much  shorter  period  than  the  ad 
vance  of  Meade  from  the  north,  and  of  Butler  from  the  south 
east.  In  consequence  of  a  disastrous  defeat  sustained  in  the 
Shenandoah  valley  early  in  the  history  of  the  expedition, 
Sigel  was  susperseded  by  Hunter,  who  marched  on  victori 
ously  as  far  as  Lynchburg,  but  there  was  obliged  to  acknowl 
edge  himself  outdone.  He  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  halt 
by  a  great  access  to  the  force  which  had,  during  several  days, 
fled  before  him.  He  was  a  brave  man,  but  he  was  nearly 
out  of  food,  and  he  forthwith  determined  to  retreat.  Deter 
red,  however,  from  retracing  his  steps  in  the  Shenandoah  by 
the  passes  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  which  were  open  gates  to  the 
enemy,  he  proceeded  along  the  southern  and  western  boun 
dary  lines  of  West  Virginia,  a  rugged  and  circuitous  route 
which  entailed  extreme  hardship,  and  which,  during  an  event 
ful  time,  held  him  as  far  and  as  entirely  from  service  as  the 
capture  or  destruction  of  his  army  would  have  done. 

Opportunity  to  make  the  customary  summer  raid,  rendered 
unusually  desirable  by  Grant's  relentless  progress,  was  thus 
unexpectedly  afforded  to  the  enemy.  Lee  promptly  rein 
forced  Early,  who  was  in  command  in  Lynchburg,  and  Early 
as  promptly  marched  over  the  mountains,  and  down  the  un 
obstructed  valley.  The  country  north  of  the  Potomac  was 
ill-prepared  to  resist  an  invader,  having  been  swept  of  troops 
in  order  to  fill  up  the  constantly  occurring  vacancies  in 
Meade's  army.  General  Lew.  Wallace,  in  command  of  the 
Middle  Department,  the  headquarters  of  which  were  in  Balti 
more,  (regarded  as  an  outpost  of  the  Capital,)  could  summon 
to  the  field  but  a  small  force,  consisting  of  hundred  days'  men, 
who,  of  course,  had  never  been  under  fire,  foot  artillerists  and 
invalids. 

The  Government,  exceedingly  alarmed  for  the  safety  of 
Washington,  but  aware  that  Lee's  main  object  was  to  remove 
Grant  from  the  vicinity  of  Richmond,  applied,  with  reluct 
ance,  to  the  Lieutenant  General  for  assistance.  Grant  at 
41 


642  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

once  directed  the  Nineteenth  corps,  which  had  just  reached 
Hampton  Roads  from  the  Gulf  region,  and  the  Sixth  corps, 
now  in  front  of  Petersburg,  to  proceed  to  the  Capital.  Mo 
mentous  hours,  however,  must  intervene  before  these  veteran 
reinforcements  could  be  thrown  in  the  enemy's  front.  The 
whereabouts  of  Hunter  was  unknown;  the  condition  of  Sigel, 
who  had  been  posted  in  the  mouth  of  the  valley,  was  only 
surmised;  the  strength  of  the  invaders  and  the  direction  of 
their  march  were  inscrutable.  City  and  country,  from  Wash 
ington  to  Pittsburg,  bristled  with  fears. 

July  5,  rumors  reached  Wallace  in  Baltimore  that  Rebel 
cavalry  was  in  Middletown  valley,  and  moving  eastward. 
Immediate  necessity  to  confirm  or  disprove,  also  to  cover  the 
routes  to  Washington  and  Baltimore,  and  to  hold  the  enemy, 
until  the  arrival  at  the  Capital  of  the  reinforcements,  was  ab 
solute.  On  the  western  verge  of  what,  at  the  time,  was 
Wallace's  department,  flows  the  Monocacy,  a  fordable  but 
difficult  stream,  with  a  high  and  broken  eastern  border,  a  low 
and  open  western  bank.  To  the  Monocacy  Wallace  looked 
for  such  help  as  position  gives.  Here,  with  his  little  force  on 
the  eastern  bank,  covering  a  space  of  two  and  one-half  miles, 
within  which  the  Baltimore  and  the  Washington  high-roads, 
and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  cross  the  stream,  re 
spectively  on  stone,  wooden  and  iron  bridges,  he  would  hold 
the  enemy  in  check.  If  flanked  on  his  right  he  could,  by 
rapid  marching,  retreat  along  the  Washington  road;  if  flanked 
on  his  left,  the  Baltimore  road  was  open  to  him.  Accord 
ingly,  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth,  General  Wallace  concen 
trated  his  available  troops  on  the  river,  making  a  force  of 
.scant  two  thousand  five  hundred  men  of  all  arms.  At  day 
break  of  the  seventh  he  sent  his  cavalry,  four  hundred  horse 
men  in  all,  reconnoitring  over  the  Catoctin  mountains.  They 
drove  Rebel  scouts  from  the  pass,  and  gained  Middletown, 
but  were  driven  back  by  a  thousand  Rebel  horsemen.  Rein 
forced  at  Frederick  by  six  hundred  infantry,  which  Wal 
lace  sent  forward  from  the  river,  three  miles  distant,  they  re 
pulsed  their  pursuers.  During  the  night  Wallace  forwarded 
the  whole  of  his  original  force,  and  ordering  the  veterans, 
who  were  now  arriving,  to  remain  on  the  river,  he  followed 


BATTLE  ON  THE  MONOCACY.  $43 

to  Frederick.  The  contradictory  character  of  rumors,  as 
signing  to  the  enemy  any  number  from  one  thousand  to 
thirty  thousand,  determined  him,  by  a  personal  reconnois- 
sance,  to  brush  aside  the  curtain  which  seemed  to  overhang 
the  mountains.  But  a  telegram  from  Sigel,  stating  that  a 
column  which  had  pursued  the  latter  and  besieged  him  on 
Maryland  Heights  had  retired,  and  was  marching  toward 
Boonsboro,  induced  him  to  relinquish  the  intention  of  pro 
ceeding  to  the  mountains,  and  the  events  of  the  day  con 
vinced  him  that  the  road  to  Washington  and  consequently 
his  lines  of  retreat  were  seriously  threatened.  Accordingly  he 
withdrew  during  the  night  to  his  original  line  on  the  Monoc- 
acy,  determined  to  fight  there  the  necessary  battle.  He  di 
vided  his  forces,  now  augmented  to  somewhat  more  than 
three  thousand  by  the  arrival  of  Ricketts  with  a  portion  of 
the  advanced  division  of  the  Sixth  corps,  between  Tyler  and 
Ricketts.  He  formed  his  left  wing,  Ricketts'  command,  in 
two  lines  across  the  Washington  road,  in  rear  of  the  wooden 
bridge,  the  western  end  of  which  was  protected  by  a  block 
house  and  skirmishers.  Subdividing  the  forces  which  con 
stituted  his  right,  under  Tyler,  he  placed  one  portion  on  the 
railroad,  one  on  the  Baltimore  road  at  the  stone  bridge,  and 
one  at  the  ford,  half  way  between  the  railroad  bridge  and  the 
stone  bridge.  He  posted  his  cavalry  at  fords  a  mile  or  two 
below  Ricketts.  His  only  battery,  composed  of  six  small 
guns,  he  divided  equally  between  his  right  and  left. 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  ninth,  the  Rebels,  with  sixteen 
Napoleon  guns,  marched  out  of  Frederick.  They  passed 
through  the  fields  just  out  of  range  of  Wallace's  guns, 
and  without  attempting  to  drive  in  his  skirmishers,  sepa 
rated  into  two  bodies,  of  which  the  smaller  moved  toward 
the  stone  bridge,  the  larger  to  the  fords  guarded  by  the  cav 
alry.  The  latter  forced  a  passage,  and  in  a  strong  line, 
which  far  overlapped  the  utmost  stretch  of  Wallace's  left 
wing,  marched  rapidly  toward  its  flank. 

To  meet  the  emergency,  Ricketts'  front  was  changed  to 
the  left,  his  right  on  the  river;  his  artillery  force  was  aug 
mented  by  the  guns  from  the  right;  the  skirmishers  were 
drawn  in,  every  available  man  was  put  into  his  single  line; 


644  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  the  bridge  and  the  block-house  were  set  on  fire.  The 
first  charge  of  the  enemy  was  shortly  repulsed,  a  second 
charge  was  also  repulsed,  but  only  after  a  long  and  fierce 
struggle.  Wallace  regarded  a  third  assault  with  apprehen 
sion,  nevertheless  he  held  his  ground  in  the  hope  that  the 
Rebels  would  not  recover  sufficiently  to  advance  before  the 
arrival  of  the  remainder  of  Ricketts'  division,  which  was 
promised  at  one  o'clock.  The  enemy,  as  he  anticipated, 
held  off,  but  the  reinforcements  held  off'  too.  One  o'clock — 
two — three  passed,  four  was  approaching,  and  with  it  the 
enemy  in  two  strong  lines.  Wallace  reluctantly  withdrew, 
giving  orders  to  the  troops  at  the  stone  bridge  to  maintain 
the  point  at  every  cost  until  the  last  man  of  Ricketts'  force 
had  reached  the  Baltimore  turnpike.  At  five  the  last  man 
reached  the  turnpike,  and  at  the  same  time  the  last  of  Tyler's 
force  yielded  the  bridge,  Tyler  with  his  staff  escaping  only 
by  dashing  into  the  woods  on  his  right, 

The  reinforcements  so  anxiously  expected  on  the  field, 
joined  Wallace  at  New  Market,  whence  they  covered  the 
retreat,  twelve  miles. 

The  loss  in  the  battle  of  the  Monocacy  was  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  including  many  stragglers  who 
afterward  returned  to  the  lines.  Wallace  had  no  ambu 
lances,  and  depended  on  railroad  trains  for  the  removal  of 
his  wounded.  Unfortunately,  in  consequence  of  the  delin 
quency  of  an  official,  the  trains  were  not  at  hand,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  leave  the  sufferers  on  the  field. 

The  Rebel  loss  was  heavy,  but  is  unknown,  as  it  was  in 
correctly  reported.  Early  continued  his  march,  and  on  the 
twelfth  made  his  appearance  before  Washington.  The  bat 
tle  had  served  its  purpose  in  giving  the  city  time  to  prepare 
for  his  reception,  and,  not  venturing  an  attack,  he  withdrew. 
He  ensconsced  himself  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  whence  he 
rushed  out  at  different  periods,  in  devastating  raids.  It  was 
in  one  of  his  forays  that  the  harmless  town  of  Chambcrsburg 
was  burned. 


FOR  THOU  ART  FREEDOM'S  NOW;  AND  FAME'S.          64-5 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

JAMES  PEPPER  PRATT. 

"  Ho  is  dead,  the  beautiful  youth, 
The  heart  of  honor,  the  tongue  of  truth, 
He,  the  life  and  light  of  us  all, 
Whose  voice  was  blithe  as  a  bugle-call, 
Whom  all  eyes  followed  with  one  consent, 
The  cheer  of  whose  laugh  and  whose  pleasant  word 
Hushed  all  murmurs  of  discontent." 

— Longfellow. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  May  29, 1864, 
near  Bethesda  church,  while  the  left  of  the  army  of  the  Poto 
mac  was  fighting  to  obtain  position  on  the  Media nicsville 
road,  fell  Lieutenant  Pratt,  shot  through  the  heart  by  a  bul 
let.  So  sharply  was  cut  tWe  thread  of  his  life.  A  few  col 
lege  effusions,  a  few  letters,  a  brief  record  of  duties  performed 
and  the  memory  of  his  presence  are  all  that  remain  of  one 
so  instinct  with  spirit,  so  resolute  and  strong,  that  honor,  and 
room  for  happy  achievement  seemed  of  right  his. 

James  Pratt  was  born  in  Logansport,  October  9,  1841. 
His  boyhood  was  playful,  dutiful  and  loving.  It  was  the 
soil  of  which  heroism  was  the  native  growth.  He  was  two 
years  in  "Wabash  college  and  two  years  in  Yale,  where  he 
graduated  in  the  summer  of  '61. 

From  his  early  years  his  reading  was  comprehensive  and 
was  well  directed.  Consequently  his  taste  was  fine,  and  his 
opinion  of  literary  men  and  works  was  fair  and  discriminat 
ing.  In  the  Yale  magazine  for  February,  1861,  is  an  article 
from  his  pen,  entitled,  "Between  the  Cradle  and  the  Coffin," 
and  having  reference  to  Goethe.  It  modestly  disclaims  any 
attempt  at  criticism,  yet  shows  appreciation  of  that  magni 
ficent  and  bewildering  character, — an  appreciation  which  is 
singular  in  a  youth  of  nineteen.  "A  mind  like  ours,"  says  the 


646  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA, 

young  thinker,  "strove  to  know  the  mystery,  whose  great, 
shadowy  arms  embrace  all.  It  was  ignorance  in  combat  with 
Omniscience;  Impotence  in  contest  with  Omnipotence.  A 
weak,  withering  leaf  would  stay  the  mighty,  rushing  wind, 
and  ask  its  height  and  breadth,  or  whence  it  came  and 
whither  it  went." 

There  is  not  space  here  for  extracts,  though  a  father  might 
well  be  content  that  his  "son's  literary  promise  should  rest 
upon  the  noble  thoughts  in  this  composition." 

Young  Pratt  commenced  the  study  of  law,  but  after  less 
than  two  months  in  his  father's  office,  he  put  away  his  books 
and  entered  the  army,  enlisting  for  three  years  in  the  Nine 
teenth  Regiment  of  Regulars.  He  served  in  all,  two  years 
and  nearly  eight  months, — four  months  as  private  in  Indian 
apolis,  nine  months  as  recruiting  officer  in  New  York,  four 
months  at  Fort  Independence,  Boston,  and  fourteen  months 
in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  His  healthful  spirit  found 
amusement  and  interest  in  a  private's  life,  but  was  impatietit 
of  the  duties  of  the  recruiting  service;  and  he  obeyed  with 
alacrity  a  summons  to  the  field,  received  in  March,  1803. 
From  this  time  to  the  end,  with  one  little  exception  of  a 
visit  to  his  home,  he  knew  only  the  camp,  the  march,  the 
picket  line  and  the  battle-field, — an  arduous  life,  but  larger 
than  they  ever  know  who  live  in  inglorious  ease.  It  forced 
the  nature,  which  had  hithertoo  been  but  promise,  into  fruit, 
without  robbing  it  of  bloom.  The  young  Lieutenant  be 
came  the  daring  soldier  and  the  considerate  officer,  but  he 
remained  the  affectionate  child,  pleased  with  his  father  s 
praise  and  fondly  dwelling  on  the  thought  of  home;  he 
plodded  patiently  through  petty  duties,  yet  he  set  the  breezes 
and  the  waters  of  Virginia  and  the  clash  of  battle  to  the  poet's 
thoughts.  Many  stolid  years  were  not  worth  this  keen  and 
vivid  life  of  little  more  than  one  year. 

Pratt  went  to  the  field  in  command  of  Company  C,  Sec 
ond  battalion,  Eleventh  infantry,  Meade's  corps,  and  remained 
in  command  of  his  company.  April  28,  before  the  battle  of 
Chancellorsville,  he  writes  to  his  father:  "If  this  should,  in 
the  fortune  of  war,  be  rny  last  letter,  let  the  way  my  career 
ended  be  an  excuse  for  my  many  shortcomings.'' 


HIS  LAST  DAYS.  647 

Not  long  after  the  battle  he  writes:  "I  have  to  thank  you 
earnestly  for  the  unusually  kind  tone  of  your  late  letters,  and 
for  your  commendation,  which,  coming  from  your  pen,  I  value 
as  it  reads."  Certainly  commendation  was  seldom  more 
deserved. 

He  writes  to  his  sister:  "I  have  been  so  long  from  my 
real  home  that  I  sometimes  forget  it  as  such,  and  get  to 
thinking  of  the  pleasant  boyhood  days  spent  there — all  the 
cheerful  and  sad  memories  connected  with  its  cozy  sitting 
room,  and  especially  the  corner  on  the  right  of  the  fire-place, 
with  its  work-stand,  and  little  black  rocking-chair  with  a 
funny  crunch — and  the  times  I  have  knelt  before  the  same 
little  chair  and  its  sainted  occupant,  and  said  prayers  that 
must  have  been  heard  for  the  sake  of  the  altar, — as  the  pleas 
ant  picture  of  some  author,  and  not  as  my  experience.  This 
life,  somehow,  so  tends  to  render  everything  past  as  far 
removed." 

In  the  long  march  to  Gettysburg,  through  oppressive  heat 
and  suffocating  dust,  and  part  of  the  time  with  bare  and 
blistered  feet,  he  carried  himself  so  cheerfully  that  he  was 
the  pride  and  delight  of  his  company.  The  smile  in  his  gray 
eye  lighted  up  not  only  his  own  sunburnt  face;  it  was  re 
flected  in  the  countenances  of  his  men.  On  the  field  he 
drew  pencil  lines  round  "The  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade" 
in  a  little  volume  of  Tennyson,  which  he  carried  in  his  pocket, 
marking  especially: 

"Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die." 

What  it  means  "to  do  and  die"  perhaps  no  man  knows 
but  him  who  learns  it  in  the  agony  of  conflict.  On  the 
margin  of  the  same  poem  he  wrote : 

"  FIELD  OF  GETTYSBURG, 

July  3,  1863. 

"  Second  brigade  of  Regulars,  nine  hundred  and  fifty  strong, 
charged  the  enemy  July  2,  1863,  and  came  back  three  hun 
dred  and  nineteen  strong.  My  company,  four  officers  and 
fifty-seven  men,  came  back  from  the  charge  with  twenty-two 
men  and  one  officer — myself." 


648  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

After  crossing  the  Potomac  on  the  return  march  toward 
the  Rappahannock,  he  wrote  to  his  father:  "Just  as  we 
were  leaving  the  Berlin  camp  yesterday,  I  received  your  let 
ters.  The  mud  was  forgotten,  and  the  swooping  rain,  while 
I  read  them. 

"I  enjoy  campaigning  life  as  much  as  ever.  Of  course 
there  are  gloomy  times, — after  the  battle,  and  marching  in  a 
broiling  sun,  sometimes  with  a  perpetual  diarrhoea,  making 
every  step  a  pain,  but  the  excitement  and  romance  of  the 
thing,  the  pleasurable  feeling  that  you  are  thought  of,  and  as 
a  history-maker  are  of  some  importance  in  the  eyes  of  your 
friends  and  your  country,  are  more  than  compensations.  To 
be  nerved  and  cheered  in  trying  times  by  words  of  commen 
dation  and  incentive,  as  I  am  by  you,  I  assure  you,  is  the 
best  tonic  for  low  spirits  and  blistered  feet. 

"  I  am  sitting  by  the  roadside  with  the  regiment,  waiting 
for  the  trains  to  pass.  Do  you  remember  the  picture  of  c  Vir 
ginia  in  1863,'  in  Harper's  Weekly,  lately?  It  must  have 
been  conceived  on  this  very  spot.  The  woods  and  moun 
tains  are  noble,  and  the  distant  scenery  is  magnificent.  War 
cannot  affect  it.  But  close  by  is  a  solitary  chimney  and  a 
heap  of  stones,  the  only  remnants  of  a  home.  The  fences 
are  torn  down,  out-houses  burnt,  and  soaring  in  the  air  is  a 
crew  of  buzzards,  rendering  the  whole  scene  mournfully 
desolate." 

During  the  winter,  while  guarding  with  his  regiment  the 
Orange  and  Alexandria  railroad,  Pratt  was  promoted  to  the 
adjutancy. 

In  May,  1864,  on  his  last  march,  he  snatched  every  oppor 
tunity  to  assure  his  father,  his  sister  and  little  brother  of  his 
safety.  His  last  words  were  written  May  24,  after  crossing 
the  North  Anna,  "  Good  bye,  and  God  bless  you  all."  In 
the  face  of  death  the  spul  swells  and  yearns  toward  the  liv 
ing  beloved  with  a  mighty  power  and  longing. 

Long  before  the  sun  had  set  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  May, 
his  sun  had  gone  down.  He  was  carried  back  four  miles, 
and,  wrapped  in  his  blanket,  was  buried  under  a  lonely  locust 
tree.  There  he  lay  unmoved  by  the  thunders  of  Cold  Har 
bor.  There  he  lay  two  months  later,  when  fifty  of  his  class- 


GOING  HOME.  f,49 

mates  held  at  Yale  the  triennial  meeting  of  the  class  of  '61, 
and  remembered  the  absent  in  foreign  lands,  in  distant 

O  ' 

States,  sailing  on  the  sea,  in  camps,  in  trenches,  in  hospitals, 
in  prisons,  and  in  silent  graves.  The  last  regular  toast  of  the 
evening:  "  The  Memory  of  our  Dead,"  \vas  drunk  in  silence. 
Their  dead  had  all  fallen  in  the  war.  The  last  was  Pratt. 
*•  We  see  him,"  said  one  responding  to  the  toast,  "on  the  af 
ternoon  of  that  fateful  twenty-ninth  of  May,  for  one  supreme, 
shining  moment, — a  gallant  figure, — full  of  the  calm  valor  of 
conscious  heroism; — his  eyes  flashing,  his  face  inspired  with 
a  fierce  glory  caught  from  the  storm  of  battle, — and  the  next 
he  has  fallen,  dead,  but  triumphant." 

The  class  marched  over  to  the  college  library,  there  formed 
about  an  ivy  it  had  planted  three  years  before,  and  sang  a 
song  he  had  written  for  Presentation  day.  It  begins: 

"  Sadly  we  say  good-bye,  mother ! 

Sadly  and  gladly,  too ; 
With  a  laugh  and  with  a  sigh,  mother, 
We  say  farewell  to  you." 

In  November,  1865,  his  remains  were  taken  from  their 
Virginia  resting-place.  "Home  we  took  him,"  writes  Cap 
tain  Wright,  an  officer  of  the  same  regiment,  and  a  native 
also  of  the  same  town,  "first  to  his  soldier's  home — his  regi 
ment, — to  those  men  who  had  seen  his  heart,  brave  and  true, 
by  the  blare  of  a  thousand  cannon,  and  had  known  his  fine, 
genial  nature  by  the  light  of  a  hundred  camp-fires.  All  day 
long,  as  we  traveled  back  through  woods,  and  hills,  and  val 
leys,  the  thought  came  of  the  long  hours  in  winter  quarters, 
where  his  bright  humor  never  failed  us — of  dreary  marches 
through  Virginia — of  nights  we  have  slept  under  the  drench 
ing  rain — of  days  of  hunger — days  of  battle,  when  his  cour 
age  never  faltered. 

"  On  reaching  the  regiment,  every  honor  was  shown  him 
that  a  soldier's  love  and  pride  could  dictate.  The  next  after 
noon  the  coffin,  wrapped  in  the  old  flag,  was  placed  on  a 
caisson,  drawn  by  six  white  horses,  preceded  by  the  escort 
and  band.  With  muflled  drum  the  march  into  Richmond 
was  made  with  all  that  was  left  of  poor  Pratt.  Often  the 
anticipation  of  this  march  had  fired  his  soul,  yet  he  must  die 


650  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

with  the  campaign  unfinished,  the  cause  unwon!  The  tri 
umph  and  glory  fall  cold  and  unheeded  on  his  coffin. 

"  We  left  him  at  sunset  on  the  way  to  our  old  quiet  home, 
where,  with  our  brave  young  friend,  (Captain  Palmer  Dunn,) 
he  will  sleep  undisturbed  near  those  they  loved  so  well." 

On  the  twelfth  he  was  buried  in  Logansport,  beside  the 
noble  and  tender  mother,  who  had  lain  in  her  grave  two 
years,  unconscious  of  her  son's  heroic  career.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Post  praised  his  brave  and  beautiful  character,  awarding  him 
the  meed  of  an  illustrious  life,  though  his  days  were  few,  and 
his  end  was  in  the  wild,  dark  turmoil  of  bloody  strife. 

A  beautiful  military  monument,  with  suitable  devices  and 
inscriptions  of  the  battles  in  which  he  participated,  has  been 
erected  over  his  grave. 


BETWEEN  THE  LINES. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  CAPTURE  AND  ESCAPE  OF  LIEUTENANT  DAVIS,  WITH  SOME 
ACCOUNT  OF  HUNTER'S  RETREAT  INTO  WEST  VIRGINIA. 

While,  on  the  sixth  of  May,  the  Wilderness  was  full  of 
struggling  combatants,  the  Indiana  Seventh  was  retreating 
before  a  closely  pursuing  force,  and  its  wounded  were  crying 
not  to  be  deserted,  Lieutenant  Davis,  of  Company  F,  heard 
his  own  name  uttered  in  a  tone  of  entreaty.  Looking  round, 
he  saw  Charles  Shephard  on  the  ground,  his  left,  thigh  broken. 
He  ran  to  the  wounded  man,  lifted  him  on  a  gum  blanket, 
and  with  three  others,  who  came  to  his  assistance,  endeavored 
to  carry  the  burden  to  a  place  of  safety.  But  a  few  steps  had 
been  taken  when  Davis  was  struck  in  the  fleshy  part  of  the 
right  thigh  by  a  musket  ball.  In  an  instant  he  was  on  the 
ground,  the  three  other  bearers  were  gone,  and  the  Rebel  line 
was  passing  over  him.  He  grew  blind  with  loss  of  blood, 
but  exerted  himself  to  check  the  flow  by  tying  his  handker 
chief  tight  round  the  wound.  The  enemy  swept  back  over 
him,  and  he  lay  three  hours  between  the  opposing  lines,  un 
der  a  heavy  musketry  fire.  A  bullet  struck  his  left  thigh,  a 
spent  ball  struck  his  hip,  and  a  ball  passed  through  his  haver 
sack  within  an  inch  of  his  face,  but  he  was  not  sufficiently 
frightened  nor  hurt  to  lose  consciousness.  He  made  one  at 
tempt  to  crawl  to  the  Union  line,  but  both  legs  were  numb, 
and  he  was  so  weak  that  he  could  drag  himself  not  more  than 
ten  feet. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  Union  troops  being  out  of  sight,  and 
three  Rebel  lines  having  swept  over,  for  a  time  the  fallen  had 
possession  of  the  field.  Suddenly,  to  the  horror  of  the  living, 
fire  was  seen  creeping  over  the  ground,  fed  by  dry  leaves, 
which  were  thick.  All  who  could  move  tried  to  get  beyond 
the  plank  road,  which  the  fire  could  not  cross.  Some  were 


(552  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

overtaken  by  the  (lames  when  they  had  crawled  but  a  few 
feet,  and  some  when  they  had  almost  reached  the  road.  The 
ground,  which  had  been  strown  with  dead  and  wounded,  was, 
in  a  few  hours,  blackened  and  ashy,  with  no  distinguishable 
figure  .upon  it.  The  young  Lieutenant,  on  the  safe  side  of 
the  road,  witnessed  the  horrible  spectacle,  alike  unable  to 
shut  it  out,  or  to  give  assistance. 

A  band  of  plunderers  searched  the  wounded  and  stripped 
the  dead  who  escaped  the  fire.  Later  a  detail  of  Rebel  sol 
diers  bestowed  humane  attentions  where  they  were  needed, 
although  some  of  these  visitants  were  a  little  troublesome  in 

o 

their  anxiety  for  trophies,  one  carrying  off  Davis'  hat  to  "re 
member  him  by." 

On  the  seventh  Davis  and  Shephard  were  taken  two  miles 
to  a  field  hospital  in  the  woods.  They  were  laid  on  blankets 
on  the  ground,  and  left  without  shelter.  On  the  twelfth  it 
rained  nearly  all  night,  and  the  next  day  Shephard  died.  He 
had  borne  his  sufferings,  which  were  increased  by  a  second 
wound,  received  after  the  battle,  with  great  patience,  thinking 
he  would  recover,  until  the  day  before  he  died;  but  he  was 
resigned  to  death. 

The  first  of  June  Davis,  with  nineteen  others,  was  taken 
to  a  convalescent  hospital,  a  mile  from  Lynchburg.  On  the 
ninth,  alarmed  by  a  report  that,  on  account  of  the  approach 
of  General  Hunter,  they  were  to  be  sent  to  Amcricus,  Geor 
gia,  where  prisoners  died  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred  a  day, 
Davis  and  Sergeant  Griffin,  of  a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  de 
termined  to  escape.  Davis  was  scarcely  able  to  walk,  even 
with  the  assistance  of  crutches,  and  Griffin  was  also  very 
lame  from  a  wound  in  his  left  hip.  It  was  not  likely  that 
two  such  candidates  for  liberty  would  meet  with  success,  but 
the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift. 

Davis  may  tell  the  remainder  of  the  story: 

"June  10.  Philander  Chick,  a  prisoner  from  Maine,  will 
help  us  get  out.  He  is  wounded  in  the  liver,  and  whatever 
he  drinks  is  afterwards  caught  in  a  sponge  as  it  runs  from  his 
wound.  Chick  is  to  occupy  the  attention  of  one  of  the 
guards  in  the  early  part  of  the  night,  thus  giving  us  our 
chance.  I  put  my  rations  and  other  things  in  my  haversack, 


TWO  LAME  MEN  BUN  AWAY.  553 

put  on  my  socks  and  boots,  and  folded  my  blanket,  dressed 
my  wounds,  tied  a  bandage  round  my  body,  then  fastened 
strips  to  that  and  to  the  bandage  on  my  wound,  to  keep  them 
from  working  down. 

"Eleventh.  At  half  past  ten  last  night,  Chick  took  the 
guard  away  from  the  front  of  the  tent,  and  Griffin  and  I 
walked  out.  We  met  with  no  difficulty.  At  daybreak  we 
came  to  an  opening  near  the  railroad,  and  were  obliged  to 
hide  ourselves  in  a  ravine  until  dark. 

"  Tivclfth.  Started  at  dark  last  night,  but  were  not  able 
to  cross  the  railroad  unobserved  until  eleven.  At  five  we 
kindled  a  fire  in  a  deep  hollow,  in  a  dense  wood,  and  made 
some  tea  from  a  little  I  had  kept  since  I  was  captured,  and 
ate  all  the  food  we  had  brought  with  us. 

"  Griffin  has  a  quart  cup,  but  we  have  no  knife.  For  sup 
per  we  steeped  the  tea  leaves  of  this  morning's  tea,  and  after 
we  started  found  some  strawberries. 

"Thirteenth.  We  traveled  nearly  two  miles  on  a  public 
road  last  night,  without  meeting  any  one.  Near  a  farm 
house  I  tried  to  milk  some  cows,  but  they  kicked  furiously. 
We  made  some  tea  for  breakfast,  although  we  had  no  bread. 

"  We  climbed  a  hill  by  hard  work  and  asked  at  a  house  for 
something  to  eat.  A  woman  who  opened  the  door  surveyed 
us  from  head  to  foot, — then  asked  what  company  we  be 
longed  to.  I  replied,  "  General  Grant's."  She  stared  at  us, 
then  drew  back  as  if  intending  to  shut  the  door,  but  stopped 
to  ask  what  we  were  doing  there.  We  told  her  all  the  truth, 
and  again  asked  for  something  to  eat.  She  said,  "  You  know 
that  I  ought  not  to  let  you  have  anything,  but  my  son  was  a 
prisoner  in  the  North,  and  was  well  treated  by  soldiers  and 
citizens,  so  I'll  do  the  best  I  can  for  you."  Our  meal  was 
soon  ready.  We  asked  the  old  lady  to  bake  us  some  bread 
for  the  next  day,  but  she  refused  on  account  of  the  price  of 
flour,  which  she  said  was  five  hundred  dollars  a  barrel.  She 
had  no  coffee  nor  sugar,  and  only  a  few  pounds  of  salt.  She 
had  not  seen  green  tea  for  two  years.  She  allowed  us  to 
take  five  biscuits  and  some  milk.  W"e  paid  two  Confederate 
dollars. 

"  We  walked  on  in  the  woods  until  noon,  when  we  hid  in 


054  TnE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

a  laurel  thicket  Crows  came  into  the  trees  near  us  and 
cawed  so  noisily  that  we  were  afraid  they  would  betay  us. 
Yesterday  and  the  day  before  they  did  the  same  thing.  It  is 
the  habit  of  the  crow  to  make  a  great  noise  over  any  strange 
object  near  his  nest. 

"At  sundown  we  started,  but  we  came  to  a  public  road 
which  we  did  not  dare  to  cross  until  dark.  Meantime  we 
visited  an  onion  patch  and  took  several  dozen  onions. 

"Fourteenth.  Were  up  at  four  looking  for  a  way  out  of 
the  laurel  At  sun  up  we  emerged  and  found  ourselves  again 
at  a  farm  house  with  a  public  road  at  the  farther  side.  Three 
days  and  four  nights  were  now  gone  and  only  fourteen  miles 
passed  over.  We  crossed  over  ridges  and  hollows  which  be 
came  higher  and  deeper  until  the  hills  were  mountains.  From 
a  slave,  at  work  in  a  field,  we  learned  that  all  able-bodied 
men  had  been  conscripted.  After  passing  over  a  mountain, 
we  came  to  a  hill-side  farm,  which  consisted  of  two  fields  of 
grain,  a  small  meadow,  and  a  thrifty  young  apple  orchard, 
with  a  neat  log  cabin  and  small  out-buildings  near.  The 
whole  was  enclosed  by  lofty  mountains,  through  which  there 
was  but  one  outlet,  and  formed  a  beautiful  picture.  Seeing 
no  men  about,  we  resolved  to  ask  for  dinner.  The  woman 
who  met  us  at  the  door  seemed  frightened,  and  was  very 
pale.  She  at  first  said  she  had  nothing  for  us,  but  after  we 
told  her  who  we  were,  she  offered  to  bake  us  some  bread  and 
set  us  some  dinner.  We  rested  in  the  house  while  she  went 
into  the  kitchen.  The  puncheon  floor  and  clapboard  loft, 
white- washed  walls,  home-made  furniture,  and  gun  rack  over 
the  door,  reminded  me  of  descriptions  I  had  read  of  a  moun 
taineer's  cabin.  Everything  was  neat.  While  we  were  eat 
ing,  Mrs.  Glass,  our  hostess,  told  us  that  her  husband  was 
loyal,  that  he  had  kept  out  of  the  army  until  two  weeks 
before,  when  he  was  taken  away  by  a  squad  of  soldiers  to 
£uard  bridges.  She  said  there  were  only  a  few  white  men 
in  the  country,  but  enough  to  make  it  dangerous  for  escaped 
prisoners.  She  looked  forward  anxiously  to  the  time  when 
the  blue  coats  would  occupy  Bedford  county.  She  would 
stay  at  home  and  give  what  information  she  could.  She 
hoped  Lincoln's  proclamation  would  free  every  slave  in  the 


A  LOYAL  VIRGINIAN.  (555 

South,  that  he  would  be  re-elected  and  that  Southern  lead 
ers  would  be  treated  as  traitors  should  be.  She  did  not 
know  what  would  become  of  her  growing  crops,  nor  did  she 
know  where  the  next  pound  of  flour  and  the  next  side  of 
bacon  were 'to  come  from,  nor  how  her  five  little  children  and 
herself  were  to  be  clothed,  but  she  insisted  on  our  taking 
with  us  all  that  was  left  on  the  table,  with  six  loaves  of 
bread  which  she  baked  for  us  while  we  were  there.  She  re 
fused  to  take  pay,  saying  that  her  husband  had  told  her  never 
to  turn  off  a  Union  soldier,  nor  charge  him  for  what  he  ate, 
and  that  she  was  glad  to  be  able  to  do  something  for  her 
country.  As  we  had  no  knife,  she  gave  us  one  from  her 
table.  Feeling  that  we  were  taking  from  the  truly  loyal, 
who  would  themselves  soon  be  in  need,  we  left  seven  dollars 
on  the  table. 

"  Our  route  is  rugged  and  circuitous,  on  account  of  laurel 
thickets  which  are  impassable. 

'-'Fifteenth.  We  woke  at  four  and  started  on  our  journey, 
rejoicing  that  the  world  went  as  well  with  us  as  it  did.  We 
are  not  at  all  disheartened,  although  our  wounds  are  very 
sore,  my  ankles  are  both  sprained,  one  hand  is  blistered,  and 
we  are  weak  and  obliged  to  rest  often. 

"At  ten  we  came  to  a  large  opening,  with  several  houses 
in  view;  we  could  find  no  way  to  flank  them  and  were  obliged 
to  cross  the  fields,  and  pursue  the  open  road  for  a  half  mile 
before  we  could  reach  a  wood.  A  citizen  met  us  and  ques 
tioned  us  so  closely  that  our  fears  were  excited;  and  when  we 
saw  him  a  short  time  afterward  in  company  with  another 
man,  and  each  carrying  a  gun,  we  crept  into  some  thick  ivy 
bushes,  and  cutting  some  of  them  out  of  the  way,  spread  a 
blanket  and  lay  down  to  await  events.  Several  men  armed 
with  rifles  passed  near  us  repeatedly,  noticing  and  talking 
over  our  tracks,  and  at  last  one  pushed  the  bushes  aside  and 
looked  in.  I  saw^ every  feature  of  his  face,  and  might  have 
told  the  color  of  his  eye.  I  stopped  breathing,  and  had  it; 
been  possible,  would  have  stopped  my  heart,  lest  he  should 
hear  its  thump,  thump.  But  he  turned  and  went  away  as  if 
he  did  not  see  us. 


656  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"Sixteenth.  We  still  wandered  on  our  weary  way,  climb 
ing  up,  up,  up  hills  that  seemed  to  have  no  top,  then  going 
down,  down,  down  hills  that  seemed  to  have  no  bottom,  all 
the  time  clinging  to  bushes  and  rocks  to  keep  from  falling  a 
hundred  feet  or  more.  Sometimes  we  slipped  to  the  hips 
among  loose  stones.  Griffin  has  sprained  both  wrists  falling. 

"At  last  we  came  to  a  house  in  a  hollow,  the  first  we  had 
seen  since  yesterday  evening.  It  looked  poverty-stricken, 
and  the  occupants  said  they  had  not  a  dust  of  meal  or  flour, 
had  no  meat  and  would  starve  soon.  Further  down  the  val 
ley,  an  old  man,  hoeing  corn,  recognized  us  as  Yankees, 
smiled  and  said  that  he  always  told  the  old  woman  the  Yan 
kees  would  come  some  day.  Dropping  his  hoe  when  he 
heard  our  story,  he  invited  us  into  his  house  and  said  he  had 
but  little,  but  we  should  have  a  part  of  that.  He  called  his 
daughter,  who  was  also  at  work  in  the  field,  to  come  and  see 
the  Yankees  and  get  them  some  dinner.  His  house  was  a 
very  old  log  cabin,  with  a  fire-place  about  eight  feet  wide. 
The  old  woman  was  'up  in  the  loft/  but  came  down.  The 
old  people  believed  that  the  Yankees  were  coming  with  their 
families  to  settle  and  i  Yankeeize'  (civilize)  Virginia.  Think 
ing  that  if  'ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise,'  I  did  not 
tell  them  that  a  Yankee  would  not  live  in  such  a  place. 

"Eighteenth.  Started  at  half  past  four,  walked  nearly  five 
miles,  trying  at  every  house  to  get  breakfast,  and  got  only 
two  small  biscuits  and  one  small  piece  of  corn  bread.  Stop 
ped  at  several  houses  for  dinner  before  we  found  one  where 
there  was  anything,  and  here  there  was  only  a  chicken  which 
a  woman  had  killed  for  her  children.  She  insisted  that  we 
should  take  it  all.  We  ate  some,  but  we  could  not  think  of 
taking  the  last  bite  from  her  innocent  ones.  She  is  strong 
Union,  and  considers  slavery  the  cause  of  the  war.  We  gave 
her  a  five  dollar  greenback. 

"  Near  the  village  of  New  London,  we  were  halted  by  a 
man  in  gray,  who,  with  a  musket  pointed  at  us,  ordered  us 
to  surrender.  Having  no  arms,  we  did  as  we  were  bid,  and 
our  captor  led  us  into  an  old  shop,  where,  taking  out  a  heavy 
revolver,  he  ordered  us  to  deliver  our  money  and  the  other 
valuables  we  possessed.  We  again  did  as  ordered.  Leaving 


HUNTER'S  RETREAT.  657 

seven  cents  (Southerners  are  above  using  cents)  in  my  purse, 
he  handed  it  to  rne  again,  keeping  a  five  dollar  bill,  which 
was  ail  I  had. 

"In  the  evening,  we  met  Hunter's  pontoon  train,  and  were 
taken  up  by  an  ambulance.  The  army  is  retreating,  and  we 
hear  heavy  firing. 

"Nineteenth.  Went  early  this  morning  to  General  Sulli 
van,  now  commanding  the  First  division  of  the  Army  of  the 
Shenandoah.  He  welcomed  us,  gave  me  an  order  for  trans 
portation  in  the  division  train,  also  an  order  for  two  days' 
rations  for  each  of  us.  The  army  is  short  of  ammunition  and 
rations.  Growing  crops  serve  for  pasture,  cavalry  scour  and 
forage  through  the  country,  several  miles  on  each  side  of  the 
road. 

'•  Twenty-first.  At  daybreak  we  reached  Salem,  sixty  miles 
from  Lynchburg.  There  must  be  nearly  a  thousand  negroes 
following,  male  and  female,  old  and  young,  all  aiming  to  get 
their  liberty.  Will  earn  it  by  hardship  and  starvation,  but 
let  them,  it's  their  choice.  A  great  many  refugees  follow  the 
army. 

"A  dash  was  made  this  morning  by  about  two  hundred 
Rebels,  on  our  train.  The  carriages  of  six  pieces  of  artillery 
were  destroyed,  and  the  horses  captured.  We  crossed  Fort 
Lewis  and  Catawba  Mountains,  on  the  road  to  New  Castle. 
The  first  was  blockaded  by  fallen  timber.  The  wagons  are 
heavily  laden  with  sick,  wounded  and  worn-out.  All  who 
could  had  to  walk  up  the  mountain.  The  team  drawing  the 
omnibus  gave  out  before  reaching  the  top  of  the  Catawba 
mountain.  I  received  permission  to  ride  in  an  ammunition 
wagon.  We  went  into  camp  on  Catawba  creek.  There 
again  dressed  my  wounds,  which  are  no  better  than  when  I 
left  Lynchburg. 

"Twenty-second.  The  train  and  head  of  column  started 
out  early  this  morning  in  a  north-west  direction,  found  the 
road  blockaded  by  falling  timber.  We  came  back  to  a  road 
leading  north;  it  is  so  stony  I  cannot  ride  with  any  ease.  I 
walked  about  five  miles  up  North  Mountain,  from  the  top 
of  which  the  road  follows  down  Gap  branch,  a  small,  rapid 
42 


658  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

and  crooked  stream,  to  Craig's  creek,  which  it  crosses  three 
times,  thence  over  Craig  Mountains  to  New  Castle,  where 
we  arrived  at  eight  in  the  evening.  The  valley,  at  the 
widest  place,  is  not  five  miles  wide.  I  am  with  some  of  the 
boys  of  the  First  West  Virginia  regiment,  with  which  we 
were  brigaded  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  1862.  They 
treat  me  like  a  brother,  sharing  their  scanty  rations  with  me. 

"  Twenty-fifth.  Our  rations  are  about  gone.  I  had  trou 
ble  to  find  among  all  my  friends  enough  for  my  breakfast 
and  dinner.  Since  leaving  Lynchburg,  the  army  has  had  no 
rations,  except  what  was  gathered  from  the  country.  Since 
leaving  Salem,  there  has  been  nothing  in  the  country,  and 
about  four  hundred  horses  and  mules  have  been  shot.  Two 
hundred  horses  and  mules  were  left  by  the  train  on  Middle 
Mountain,  to  be  shot  by  the  vanguard,  and  twenty-five  wa 
gons  to  be  burned. 

"Men,  from  fatigue  and  hunger,  begin  to  drop  out  of 
ranks,  and  lie  down  at  the  side  of  the  road.  If  not  taken 
and  put  into  wagons,  they  would  die  there.  Many  are  with 
out  shoes,  and  stain  the  sharp  stones  and  the  roads  over 
which  they  drag  themselves,  with  their  blood.  I  sometimes 
think  it  is  a  little  doubtful  about  getting  out  of  the  moun 
tains.  Left  White  Sulphur  Springs  this  afternoon,  and 
moved  on. 

"  Twenty-sixth.  We  went  into  park  at  two,  and  slept  till 
sunrise.  For  breakfast,  had  coffee  and  bread,  not  enough  to 
keep  soul  and  body  together  long,  but  more  than  thousands 
have  who  are  walking.  There  is  no  grass  for  the  mules. 

"Twenty-seventh.  Started  at  daylight,  and  crossed  Big 
Sewell  Mountain.  My  wounds  are  improving,  so  that  I 
now  walk  up  all  the  mountain  slopes.  The  mules  and 
horses  are  so  poor  they  can  scarcely  get  along  at  all.  Men 
have  nothing  to  eat.  Some  gnaw  birch  bark  as  they  walk 
along,  some  make  mush  of  wheat-bran  while  resting,  some 
boil  wheat.  Three  men  are  said  to  have  died  of  hunger 
yesterday;  their  last  words  were  a  cry  for  bread.  I  think 
hundreds  creep  in  the  bushes  and  perish  from  fatigue  and 
hunger.  The  wagons  are  all  loaded  with  played-out,  sick 
and  wounded. 


HUNTER'S  RETREAT.  659 

"At  seven  in  the  morning  the  supply  train  came  in  from 
Loop  creek,  on  the  Kanawha,  guarded  by  details  from  the 
One  Hundred  and  Sixty-Seventh  Regiment  Ohio  National 
Guards.  There  is  not  a  full  day's  ration  for  the  men,  who 
seem  desperate.  Some  threaten  to  rally  on  the  commissary, 
but  are  kept  back  by  the  guards,  who  give  all  their  bread  to 
the  starved  ones,  and  go  away  hungry.  At  dusk,  the  cav 
alry  passed  to  the  front;  nearly  half  are  dismounted,  and  the 
horses  of  the  others  are  skeletons. 

"  Twenty-eighth.  The  train  pulled  out  at  five.  The  roads 
are  very  muddy,  but  more  level.  At  ten  in  the  morning 
parked  for  an  hour.  We  passed  Sullivan's  division  at  noon, 
in  camp  near  a  supply  train.  We  supposed  we  would  stop 
soon  and  get  some  rations,  but  we  did  not.  At  two  in  the 
afternoon  we  came  to  some  crackers  in  a  field,  guarded  by 
one  man.  The  men  went  out  and  broke  open  the  boxes, 
and  took  what  they  wanted.  A  whole  box  was  brought  to 
the  wagon  in  which  I  was  riding.  We  filled  haversacks 
and  pockets,  and  set  it  out  for  others.  I  ate  crackers  until  I 
had  cholera  morbus.  We  passed  Lover's  Leap  and  Hawk's 
Nest,  both  nearly  a  thousand  feet  perpendicularly  above  the 
river. 

"Twenty-ninth.  .We  ferried  over  the  Gauley,  and  went 
into  camp.  I  went  in  a  wagon  to  Loop  Creek  Landing, 
to  Hunter's  headquarters. 

"  Thirtieth.  Took  break-fast  with  the  staff.  Hunter  is  sick 
in  an  ambulance.  The  roads  are  good,  and  we  went  fifteen 
miles  to  Camp  Pratt. 

"July  1.  The  train  started  last  night  at  dark.  At  Charles 
ton  I  obtained  an  order  for  transportation  to  hospital  in  In 
dianapolis,  for  treatment.  I  arrived  at  Gallipolis  in  the 
evening. 

"Second.  Left  Gallipolis  last  night,  in  an  ambulance,  for 
Portland,  where  I  took  railroad  for  Cincinnati.  My  cloth 
ing  is  so  soiled  and  threadbare,  not  having  had  a  change 
since  the  first  of  May,  that  I  am  ashamed  to  be  seen.  The 
passengers  took  dinner  at  Chillicothe.  Having  but  seven 
cents,  I  did  not  get  out.  A  gentleman  who  left  his  carpet 
bag  in  my  care  brought  me  my  dinner.  Yesterday  on  the 


600  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

boat  a  wounded  Captain  of  Ohio  cavalry  paid  for  my  dinner 
and  supper.  Thus,  since  leaving  Lynchburg,  June  19,  I 
have  met  a  friend  at  every  time  of  need. 

Third.  Arrived  in  Indianapolis  and  stayed  all  day  in 
Soldiers'  Home.  I  am  so  poorly  dressed  that  I  am  ashamed 
to  be  seen  on  the  streets. 

"Fourth.  I  reported  at  the  City  Hospital,  and  received 
permission  to  go  home — where  I  arrived  at  dusk.  I  was  not 
expected.  After  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  they  supposed 
me  killed,  until  they  received  my  letter  of  May  19.  Had  I 
been  at  home,  or  inside  the  Federal  lines,  money  would  not 
/lave  tempted  me  to  walk  five  miles.  Nothing  could  have 
induced  me  but  the  intolerable  thieves  and  fear  of  death 
from  starvation  and  mistreatment. 

"  WILLIAM  DAVIS, 
Second  Lieutenant,  Company  F,  Seventh  Regiment." 


GRANT  AND  LEE  SOUTH  OP  THE  JAMES.  (561 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

BEFORE  PETERSBURG. 

On  General  Smith's  return  to  Bermuda  Hundreds  from 
the  Chickahominy,  he  was  hurried  against  Petersburg,  toward 
which  the  van  of  Lee's  army  was  already  marching.  Peters 
burg,  twenty-two  miles  south  of  Richmond,  was  a  railroad 
centre,  commanding  all  the  lines  of  supply  for  an  army  cov 
ering  the  Capita],  nevertheless  it  was  defended  by  but  a  mea 
gre  force  in  the  forenoon  of  June  15,  when  Smith  approached, 
and  though  he  deferred  assault  until  near  sundown,  was  still 
so  ill-manned  as  to  be  unable  to  hold  its  main  north-east  de 
fences,  with  which  it  lost  three  hundred  prisoners  and  sixteen 
guns.  Smith  was  reinforced  by  Hancock,  but  he  contented 
himself  with  relieving  his  own  troops  by  posting  Birney's 
division  in  the  captured  trenches.  Before  morning,  by  the 
arrival  of  Lee's  advance,  the  fall  of  Petersburg,  but  now  so 
imminent,  was  indefinitely  postponed. 

During  the  sixteenth  the  hosts  of  both  Lee  and  Grant  came 
up,  and  once  more  made  ready  for  a  death  grapple.  It  was 
the  fifth  time  since  the  advance  from  Culpepper  that  Lee's 
army  had  thrown  itself  across  the  path  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  Four  times  it  had  been  dislodged,  not  once  con 
quered,  and  in  this  new  position  of  unequalled  strength  it 
was  as  haughty  and  defiant  as  ever.  A  battle-night  followed, 
beginning  at  dusk  and  ending  at  dawn.  It  was  a  death 
grapple  to  many  hundred  men,  but  the  two  armies  outlived 
it.  Birney  and  Burn  side  stormed  the  out- works  in  their 
front,  but  other  commanders  made  no  progress.  On  the 
night  of  the  seventeenth  the  enemy  retook  from  Burnside  all 
his  hard-won  gains.  On  the  morning  of  the  eighteenth 
Grant's  army  moved  forward  to  a  general  assault,  but  find 
ing  that  the  enemy  had  withdrawn  to  a  new  and  stronger 


662  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

line,  it  delayed  until  afternoon,  when  it  was  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss. 

The  wounded  were  taken  to  City  Point,  where  the  Chris 
tian  and  Sanitary  Commissions,  and  the  State  Military 
Agencies  had  just  selected  a  location  for  the  post  hospital. 
Not  a  single  article  of  sanitary  stores  had  been  unloaded 
when,  at  sundown,  seven  hundred  wounded  were  lifted  out 
of  ambulances  and  laid  on  the  ground;  yet  by  eleven  o'clock 
the  boats  were  unloaded,  tents  were  up,  beds  were  in  the 
tents,  and  the  wounded  were  laid  on  the  beds.  Mrs.  New, 
who  had  followed  her  husband,  the  surgeon  of  the  Seventh, 
from  the  beginning,  always  finding  employment  for  her  ready 
and  skillful  hands  in  the  hospitals,  was  now  at  City  Point. 
She  went  to  her  tent,  about  eleven,  to  change  her  dress,  as 
she  had  lifted  the  wounded  until  it  was  covered  with  blood. 
A  German  woman,  one  of  Miss  Dix's  nurses,  followed  her 
to  say  that  a  wounded  man  in  a  distant  tent  had  addressed 
her  as  Mrs.  New,  and  had  been  disappointed  on  discovering 
his  mistake.  Mrs.  New  set  out  at  once  to  visit  the  man. 
He  was  in  a  tent  with  twenty,  and  was  one  of  seven,  who 
had  each  lost  a  leg.  His  face  was  so  white  and  his  voice 
was  so  weak  that  she  scarcely  recognized  him  as  Gillett 
Stevenson,  of  the  Seventh.  He  had  lost  a  great  quantity 
of  blood  both  before  and  during  the  amputation,  (cases  re 
quiring  immediate  amputation  were  usually  attended  to  on 
the  field,  and  his  was  one  of  that  class,)  but  he  had  kept  up 
his  courage  until  he  was  within  two  miles  of  City  Point. 
He  then  grew  so  weak  that  he  thought  he  must  die.  "  I  cer 
tainly  shall  die,"  he  added,  "if  you  can't  get  me  something 
to  eat."  "  My  poor  friend,"  said  Mrs.  New,  "  I  don't  believe 
I  have  a  crumb."  She  found,  however,  two  slices  of  bread 
and  a  pickle,  and  two  bottles  of  wine,  and  with  this  small 
store  she  refreshed  Mr.  Stevenson  and  his  six  fellow  sufferers. 

It  was  not  long  before  caldrons  were  put  up  all  over  the 
ground,  and  fires  were  kindled.  The  most  exhausted  received 
soup  before  light,  and  by  morning  an  ample  breakfast  was 
ready  for  all.  The  next  day  the  city  of  tents  was  put  in  or 
der,  the  space  being  enlarged,  streets  laid  out  and  bowers 
made ;  the  rough  wheat-field  was  made  smooth  and  hard,  and 


ATTEMPTS  TO  TURN  THE  ENEMY'S  RIGHT. 

was  swept  as  clean  as  a  floor.  The  magic  of  love  never  per 
formed  such  wonders  as  in  the  rear  of  our  advancing  army. 
Every  luxury  which  could  be  desired  was  provided.  The 
nurses  and  surgeons,  and  the  commissions  and  State  agen 
cies  were  indefatigable.  As  far  as  was  within  human  power 
their  labors  were  commensurate  with  the  requirements  of  the 
summer. 

The  Thirteenth  Indiana,  having  fought  until  the  last  day 
of  its  term  of  service,  turned  its  face  homeward  on  the  nine 
teenth,  leaving  behind  a  battalion  of  three  companies  of  vet 
erans  and  volunteers,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Zent, 
who,  from  the  soldier,  distinguished  in  West  Virginia  for 
shrewdness  and  daring  as  a  scout,  had  become  an  officer  of 
unusual  ability. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 
ended  their  terms  of  service.  Three  hundred  of  the  Nine 
teenth  remained.  The  battalions  of  the  Fourteenth  and 
Twentieth  were  consolidated.  By  the  middle  of  summer 
not  a  thousand  Indianians  remained  in  the  army. 

Hope  of  storming  the  front  of  Petersburg  was  for  a  long 
time  relinquished,  and  the  Fifth  and  Ninth  corps  intrenched 
themselves  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  Rebel  fortifica 
tions,  while  the  Second  and  Sixth  corps  undertook  to  turn 
the  enemy's  right,  and  to  sever  his  southern  railroad  commu 
nications.  They  moved  slowly  and  disconnectedly,  in  dust 
and  heat,  through  a  difficult  country,  and  directly  under  the 
eye  of  General  A.  P.  Hill,  who,  at  an  unfortunate  moment, 
outflanked  the  Second  corps,  forcing  Mott's,  (formerly  Bir- 
ney's,)  division  to  retreat  with  loss,  and  capturing  several 
whole  regiments  of  Gibbon's  division.  The  Weldori  rail- 

o 

road,  however,  was  reached  on  the  twenty-third  of  June,  and 
operations  for  its  destruction  were  commenced.  They  were 
only  commenced.  Hill  again  made  a  successful  attack,  and 
established  his  force  strongly  on  the  disputed  road. 

A  cavalry  expedition,  which  started  out  at  the  same  time. 
June  22,  went  further  and  fared  worse.  It  was  under  the 
command  of  Wilson,  and  consisted  of  Wilson's  and  Kautz's 
divisions.  Marching  by  way  of  Ream's  Station  and  Din- 
widdie  Court  House,  the  advance  met  with  no  opposition, 


664  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

while  the  rear,  Chapman's  brigade,  was  compelled  to  take  up 
one  position  after  another  along  the  route  of  march,  in  order 
to  repel  the  enemy,  who  kept  up  a  close  pursuit  from  Ream's 
Station  until  night.  The  command  resumed  the  march  an 
hour  before  light  the  next  day,  proceeding  westward.  Kautz's 
division,  in  advance,  moving  rapidly,  Wilson's  division  tear 
ing  up  the  south  side  railroad  track.  About  one  in  the  after 
noon,  near  Nottoway  Court  House,  Chapman  was  attacked 
by  W.  H.  F.  Lee's  division  of  cavalry,  part  of  which  had  pur 
sued  him  the  day  before.  A  severe  action  followed,  main 
tained  chiefly  by  dismounted  men,  on  account  of  the  wooded 
character  of  the  country.  Lee  was  bent  on  dislodging 
Chapman  from  the  railroad,  and  continued  the  struggle  un 
til  night,  but  he  failed,  and  was  crippled  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  gave  little  trouble  afterward.  Chapman's  brigade 
remained  in  line  of  battle  all  night.  The  next  day  it  followed 
the  route  of  march  to  the  Danville  railroad,  where  the  two 
divisions  formed  a  junction.  Proceeding  southward,  the  com 
mand  destroyed  the  track  and  bridges  as  far  as  Keysville, 
where  at  night  it  bivouacked. 

On  the  twenty-fifth,  still  destroying  the  track,  the  force 
proceeded  to  Staunton  river,  the  bridge  over  which  Kautz 
endeavored  to  destroy,  while  Chapman,  in  the  rear,  engaged 
Lee's  cavalry,  which  was  again  in  pursuit.  The  bridge  was 
well  defended,  and  Kautz  was  unsuccessful.  At  two  the 
next  morning  the  raiding  column  began  its  return  march. 
The  weather  continued  dry  and  extremely  hot,  the  roads  were 
dusty,  and  the  long  marches,  which  it  was  necessary  to  make 
day  by  day,  were  exhausting  to  men  and  horses.  Late  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-eighth  the  force  found  the  enemy, 
Hampton's  cavalry  division  and  about  a  thousand  infantry, 
across  the  line  of  march,  strongly  posted,  and  covered  by  a 
dense  forest.  Wilson  endeavored  to  push  his  way  through, 
lighting  until  long  after  dark,  but  though  not  driven  back,  he 
was  unable  to  advance.  The  engagement  took  place  about 
two  miles  from  the  crossing  of  the  Weldon  railroad  over 
Stony  creek,  and  in  woods  which  compelled  the  men  to 
dismount. 


CHAPMAN  TRIES  TO  HOLD  THE  ENEMY.  6(35 

Before  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-ninth,  Gen 
eral  Wilson  decided  to  cross  over  to  the  'old  stage  road'  with 
his  command,  thus  flanking  on  the  west,  or  right,  the  position 
held  by  the  enemy  on  Stony  creek,  and  endeavor  to  force  a 
crossing  of  the  Weldon  railroad  at  Ream's  Station.  Chap 
man  was  ordered  to  move  a  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  the  po 
sition  held  during  the  night,  and  to  stand  until  notified  that 
the  rest  of  the  command  was  under  way.  He  took  up  the 
new  line, and  hastily  constructed  rude  breastworks  of  logs  and 
rails.  The  line  of  battle  was  formed  dismounted.  Just  at 
daylight  the  enemy  made  a  heavy  attack  in  front,  and  on 
both  flanks,  and  penetrating  between  the  men  and  the  led- 
horses,  compelled  an  abandonment  of  the  line.  The  brigade 
fell  back  hastily  and  in  disorder,  and  gained  the  horses  with 
no  little  difficulty.  Of  quite  a  number  who  failed  to  reach 
their  horses,  some  were  captured,  and  some  worked  their 
way  on  foot  into  the  lines  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  after 
being  out  several  days,  and  undergoing  severe  fatigue  and 
privations.  About  three  hundred,  together  with  Colonel 
Chapman,  being  cut  off  from  the  road  by  which  the  main 
body  of  the  column  had  moved,  were  compelled  to  make  a 
detour  of  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and  did  not  succeed  in  rejoin 
ing  the  column  until  they  were  near  Ream's  Station,  where 
they  found  it  engaged  with  a  division  of  Rebel  infantry  and 
two  divisions  of  cavalry,  and  in  a  very  critical  position. 
Only  immediate  retreat  could  prevent  the  capture  of  the  en 
tire  force.  Accordingly  the  wagons  were  burned,  the  ambu 
lances  containing  the  wounded  were  abandoned,  and  though 
an  attempt  was  made  to  cany  it  off,  the  artillery,  too,  was 
finally  left  behind.  Kautz's  division  struck  off  into  a  thick 
forest  and  made  its  way  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  with 
out  much  difficulty. 

Wilson's  division  held  to  the  road,  and  marching  all  night, 
recrossed  the  Nottoway  river  at  the  Double  Bridges,  and 
passed  the  Weldon  railroad  soon  after  daylight  on  the  thir 
tieth.  It  forded  the  Nottoway  about  noon  and  halted  on  the 
north  bank  several  hours.  At  six  in  the  evening,  it  resumed 
the  inarch,  and  at  midnight  reached  the  Blackwater.  The 
bridge  was  destroyed,  as  were  all  the  bridges  on  the  route, 


666  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  the  river  was  not  fordable.  The  troops  constructed  a 
bridge,  and  the  entire  command  crossed  to  the  north  side  soon 
after  sunrise  on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  July.  Hastening 
on,  it  reached  Cabin  point,  where,  being  at  last  out  of  dan 
ger,  it  encamped.  The  force  was  exhausted  by  the  march, 
and  had  suffered  severely  in  the  engagement  of  the  twenty- 
ninth,  but  the  raid  had  effected  good  results,  as  it  had  seri 
ously  damaged  the  railroads  by  which  Lee's  army  received 
its  supplies. 

In  two  weeks  which  had  now  elapsed,  the  only  permanent 
advantage  acquired  by  the  army  was  an  extension  of  the  line 
on  both  flanks.  Hancock  had  position  on  the  left,  not  more 
than  three  miles  east  of  the  Weldon  railroad,  and  Brigadier 
General  Foster,  with  a  brigade  of  the  Fourth  corps,  which 
was  now  under  command  of  General  Birney,  held  an  in 
trenched  camp  on  the  extreme  right,  at  Deep  Bottom,  only 
ten  miles  from  Richmond,  and  very  near  its  defences  at  Hew 
lett's.  A  pontoon  bridge  connected  Deep  Bottom  with  But 
ler's  stronghold  at  Bermuda  Hundreds.  Earthworks  on  this 
long  line  were  constructed  and  armed,  with  the  interruption 
of  frequent  skirmishing  and  several  assaults  from  the  enemy. 

Efforts  to  push  up  the  intrenchment  lines  closer  to  Peters 
burg,  to  connect  and  strengthen  the  works,  and  to  erect  new 
works,  with  picket  duty,  employed  the  troops  day  and  night 
Whenever  working  parties  went  out,  especially  at  night, 
they  were  fired  on,  and  a  brisk  exchange  of  shots,  or,  if  bat 
teries  covered  the  fatigue  parties,  a  general  cannonade  sprang 
up.  Butler's  and  Burnside's  corps,  which  were  on  the  right 
and  right  centre,  seemed  to  be  especially  obnoxious  to  the 
enemy's  attacks.  The  summer  was  exceedingly  dry  and  in 
tensely  hot;  the  earth  was  parched  and  the  sky  was  brazen. 

Happily  the  Sanitary  Commission  came  to  the  relief  of 
the  sufferers,  as  they  may  well  be  called,  in  the  trenches, 
placing  tomatoes,  cucumbers,  onions  and  other  anti-scorbu 
tics,  as  well  as  clean  clothes,  directly  in  their  hands. 

July  19,  the  first  thorough  rain  since  the  encampment  at 
Spottsylvania,  fell.  It  began  early  in  the  morning  and  con 
tinued  into  the  night. 


«*  C° 


^o    So     [F(0)g)TTE[Ri 

BB'EV  MAT.  GEN. 


BURNSIDE'S  MINE.  667 

Preparatory  to  a  grand  assault,  which  was  to  occur  on  the 
thirtieth  of  July,  Hancock,  with  the  Second  corps,  marched 
rapidly  to  the  extreme  right,  crossed  the  James  at  Deep  Bot 
tom,  and,  reinforced  by  Foster,  carried  the  Rebel  outpost, 
capturing  four  guns  and  endeavored  to  approach  Chapin's 
bluff  opposite  Fort  Darling.  Unsuccessful  in  the  last  effort. 
he  assumed  and  held  a  defensive  attitude  until  Lee  had 
drawn  more  than  half  his  army  to  the  north  of  the  James, 
when  he  secretly  withdrew  to  the  lines  of  Petersburg. 

A  fort,  projecting  from  the  enemy's  front  toward  Burn- 
side's  position,  had  been  undermined,  and  was  to  be  blown 
up,  both  as  the  signal  and  the  opening  for  the  assault.  At 
the  set  time,  before  day  had  yet  dawned,  a  storming  column 
consisting  of  the  Ninth  corps,  supported  by  the  Eighteenth, 
with  the  Second  in  reserve  on  its  right,  and  the  Fifth  on  its 
left,  closely  massed,  awaited  the  signal,  of  the  nature  of 
which  the  men  were,  of  course,  ignorant.  Suddenly  the 
fort,  with  its  sleeping  garrison  of  three  hundred  men,  rose 
trembling  two  hundred  feet  in  the  air,  and  hanging  a  few 
seconds,  fell  back  in  fragments  into  a  yawning  chasm,  while 
a  sullen  cloud  of  smoke  floated  off.  Artillery  opened  all 
along  the  front  on  the  paralyzed  enemy.  Burnside's  ad 
vanced  division,  with  orders  to  press  through  the  breach  and 
up  Cemetery  Hill,  a  commanding  crest  in  its  rear,  hesitated, 
and  began  its  march  in  a  tame  and  spiritless  manner.  En 
tering  the  huge  crater,  it  stopped,  horror-struck  and  be 
numbed,  among  the  dead  and  the  buried  alive.  Portions  of 
two  other  divisions  also  became  confused  and  entangled  in 
the  mine,  or  escaped  from  it  only  to  seek  shelter  behind  the 
breastworks,  which  the  enemy  on  the  right  and  left  had 
abandoned. 

The  Twenty-Eighth  colored  regiment,  which  was  in 
Thomas'  brigade  of  Ferrero's  division,  here  made  itself  "the 
theme  of  honor's  tongue." 

About  ten  o'clock  the  previous  night,  Colonel  Russell  re 
ceived  an  order  to  move  his  regiment  toward  the  front,  and 
prepare  for  an  attack  at  break  of  day.  He  marched  at  once 
quietly  and  under  cover  of  darkness.  About  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  after  the  explosion,  and  while  the  earth 


668  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

quaked  under  the  roar  of  two  hundred  cannon,  the  regiment 
moved  to  the  covered  way,  a  broad  ditch  or  cut  six  or  eight 
feet  deep,  and  a  mile  long.  Passing  Burnside,  the  black 
men  heard  him  exclaim,  "Who  says  that  negroes  won't 
fight!"  Passing  Ferrero,  they  saw  him  clasp  his  hands,  and 
pray  God  to  bless  them.  They  entered  the  covered  way 
and  moved  through  it  slowly.  Perhaps  if  they  had  now 
gone  faster,  they  would  have  come  back  in  less  haste,  but 
they  moved  according  to  orders,  or  the  want  of  orders,  for 
somewhere  in  their  transmission  orders  seemed  to  meet  with 
a  check.  At  the  moment  they  emerged  from  the  passage, 
and  saw,  suddenly  and  fully  revealed,  the  terrible  service  re 
quired  of  them,  there  came  floating  from  a  distant  band  the 
plaintive  notes,  as  clear  as  words  formed  upon  lips,  "  Who 
will  care  for  mother  now!"  Musicians  never  made  a  greater 
blunder.  But  they  corrected  it  instantly,  pouring  out  a  val 
orous,  inspiring  strain.  If  their  blood  ran  cold  and  their 
hearts  fainted  within  them,  the  men  were  far  from  betraying 
their  weakness.  With  their  officers  on  foot  beside  them, 
they  marched  to  the  demolished  fort,  streamed  into  the  cra 
ter,  and  halted  for  orders.  Under  them  and  around  them 
were  mangled  men, — legs,  arms,  heads  protruding  from  the 
broken  earth, — while  upon  them  stormed  a  concentrated  fire 
of  musketry  and  artillery.  There  they  crouched.  No  orders 
came.  It  was  scarcely  possible  for  a  staff  officer  to  reach 
them.  Minute  by  minute,  fifteen  minutes  passed,  when  a 
messenger,  racing  through  fire,  came  with  the  command  to 
storm  Cemetery  Hill,  a  mile  in  the  front.  It  was  too  late. 
Not  even  Colonel  Russell,  in  whose  face  and  manner  was 
not  a  trace  of  agitation,  could  form  line  of  battle.  After 
five  or  ten  minutes  spent  in  the  attempt,  the  whole  force, — 
white  and  black,  men  and  officers,  generals  not  the  slowest, 
moved  toward  the  rear.  Russell  walked  deliberately,  with 
his  hat  in  his  hand,  and  a  burning  spot  on  the  top  of  his 
bald  head,  where  a  bullet  had  struck.  The  flag  of  the 

*  O 

Twenty-Eighth,  the  only  flag  which  had  been  borne  into 
the  crater  was  gone,  and  with  it  its  two  bearers,  one  killed, 
the  right  arm  of  the  other  shot  off.  A  hole  through  Secrest's 
hat,  and  the  battered  sheath  out  of  which  his  sword,  unno- 


OPINION  OF  THE  CONGRESSIONAL  COMMITTEE. 

ticed  by  him,  had  leaped,  told  how  narrow  was  his  escape. 
Captain  Hackheiser,  a  noble  soldier,  was  dead,  shot  through 
the  heart.  Three  other  officers  were  killed.  Seven  out  of 
eleven  officers  were  gone,  and  nearly  half  the  men. 

While  the  troops  were  still  in  the  mine,  a  portion  of  the 
Eighteenth  corps  endeavored  to  gain  the  breach,  but  it  was 
baffled;  Hancock  and  Warren  also  advanced,  but  were  re 
called  before  sufficient  time  had  elapsed  to  effect  an  extrica 
tion  from  the  death  hole. 

The  Thirteenth  was  engaged,  fought  with  its  usual  spirit, 
and  lost  heavily.  Major  Zent,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the 
very  last  man  of  his  corps  to  leave  the  field,  saw  Clifton, 
"the  bravest  man  in  the  regiment,"  kneeling  on  one  knee  on 
the  slope  of  a  breastwork,  and  firing  within.  He  ordered 
him  to  retire,  but  Clifton  found  himself  compelled  to  enter 
the  enemy's  lines,  whence  he  made  his  next  march  to  a 
Southern  prison. 

Our  loss,  in  killed,  wounded  and  captured,  was  four  thou 
sand  four  hundred,  of  whom,  all  but  five  hundred  and  fifty 
belonged  to  Burnside's  corps.  The  dead  and  wounded 
lay  festering  on  the  plain  thirty-six  hours,  before  the  enemy 
would  allow  them  to  be  removed.  About  two  thousand  five 
hundred  bodies  were  buried  in  the  crater.  The  immense 
excavation  is  now  nearly  closed  to  the  surface,  and  in  the 
summer  time  is  gay  with  melon  vines  and  peach  trees. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Russell's  deportment,  at  the  head  of 
the  Twenty-Eighth  Colored,  made  him  a  Colonel.  Young 
Secrest,  though  more  fiery,  was  not  less  gallant. 

The  failure  of  the  Petersburgh  mine  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that,  at  the  last  moment,  Burnside's  plans  were  rear 
ranged  by  General  Meade.  The  Committee  on  the  Conduct 
of  the  War,  after  an  investigation,  affirmed:  "The  cause 
of  the  disastrous  result  of  the  assault  of  the  thirtieth  of  July, 
is  mainly  attributable  to  the  fact  that  the  plans  and  sugges 
tions  of  the  general  who  had  devoted  his  attention  for  so 
long  a  time  to  the  subject,  who  had  carried  out  to  successful 
completion  the  project  of  mining  the  enemy's  works,  and 
who  had  carefully  selected  and  drilled  his  troops  for  the  pur 
pose  of  securing  whatever  advantages  might  be  attainable 


670  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

from  the  explosion  of  the  mine,  should  be  so  entirely  disre 
garded  by  a  general  who  had  evinced  no  faith  in  the  success 
ful  prosecution  of  that  work,  had  aided  it  by  no  countenance 
or  open  approval,  and  had  assumed  the  entire  direction  and 
control  only  when  it  was  completed,  and  the  time  had  come 
for  reaping  any  advantage  that  might  be  derived  from  it." 

After  the  mine  affair  the  number  of  patients  in  the  post 
hospital  rose  to  twenty  thousand.  An  order  was  given  to 
send  to  the  field,  within  thirty  days,  all  who  were  able  to 
bear  muskets,  and  to  send  to  northern  hospitals  all  others. 
A  second  order  shortened  the  intermission  to  three  days. 
These  orders,  however,  were  remanded,  and  things  went  on 
in  their  usual  way. 

The  second  week  in  August  active  operations  were  re 
sumed,  by  Hancock  on  the  right,  against  the  Rebel  force 
facing  Deep  Bottom,  and  by  Warren  on  the  left,  to  gain  the 

Weldon  railroad.     The  former  was  a  direct  threat  against 

o 

Richmond,  the  latter  against  one  of  that  city's  chief  routes 
of  supply.  Hancock  removed  his  force  on  transports  to 
Deep  Bottom,  but  as  the  tide  was  running  out  he  suffered 
such  delay  in  effecting  a  landing  that  Lee,  as  usual,  was  fore 
warned  and  forearmed.  The  only  advantage  of  importance 
was  gained  in  the  beginning  of  the  movement,  on  the  even 
ing  of  Sunday,  the  fourteenth,  when  Foster's  brigade  charged 
the  enemy's  outer  works,  which  were  about  a  mile  from  the 
pontoon  bridge,  carried  them  after  a  sharp  engagement,  and 
captured  a  number  of  prisoners  and  four  howitzers.  Han 
cock  sent  a  transport  fleet  from  City  Point  to  Deep  Bottom 
and  back,  to  give  the  impression  that  his  troops  were  return 
ing  to  the  south  of  the  James,  thus  to  induce  Lee  to  come 
out  of  his  works  and  make  an  attack.  The  old  fox  was  too 
wary.  He  kept  himself  well  under  cover,  and  came  out  only 
after  he  had  seen  Hancock  recross  the  James  with  the  loss  of 
five  thousand  men. 

Warren  met  with  better  fortune.  The  Rebel  troops  being 
withdrawn,  he  gained  the  Weldon  road  without  opposition. 
Repeated  efforts  were  made  to  wrest  it  from  him,  and  to  drive 
him  out  of  his  intrenchments  near  Yellow  House.  August 
21,  after  being  operated  on  for  an  hour  by  thirty  Rebel  guns, 


FIGHT  AT  REAM'S  STATION. 

he  was  assaulted  in  front  and  threatened  in  Hank;  but  he 
routed  both  columns  of  attack.  The  affair  had  the  zest  of  nov 
elty,  as  some  of  his  regiments — the  Nineteenth  Indiana  for  one, 
though  they  had  stormed  many  a  fortification,  had  never  be 
fore  received  an  assault.  The  Nineteenth,  numbering  now 
scarcely  more  than  a  hundred  men,  did  not  lose  a  single 
man.  When  the  conflict  was  over  it  picked  up  on  its  imme 
diate  front  some  eighty  muskets,  and  found  the  ground 
strewed  with  Rebel  dead  and  wounded. 

Hancock  did  not  return  to  his  old  camp,  but  marched  to 
the  rear  and  left  of  Warren,  and  struck  the  railroad  at  Ream's 
Station.  His  troops  were  excessively  fatigued,  but  were 
called  into  immediate  action.  They  repulsed  the  enemy  in 
three  assaults,  but  were  thrown  into  confusion  by  an  artillery 
fire,  which  took  them  in  reverse,  and  were  broken  through  by 
a  fourth  impetuous  storming  column.  Night  enabled  them 
to  retreat,  and  favored  also  the  withdrawal  of  the  enemy. 

More  than  a  month  now  followed  of  such  troubled  rest  as 
vigilant  soldiers  snatch  in  the  face  of  a  vigilant  enemy. 
They  lay  in  strained  positions,  in  dangerous  trenches,  stood 
on  ceaseless  picket  duty,  or  worked  in  never-ending  fatigue 
parties. 

"BEFORE  PETERSBURG, 
"July  11,  1864. 

"I  suppose  you  wonder  at  our  waiting  so  long  before  this 
place.  I  don't  know  why  it  is  unless  on  account  of  the  heat 
I  never  knew  what  heat  was  before.  I  believe  it  would  kill 
the  army  off  to  march  or  fight. 

"The  last  march  we  made  from  Bermuda,  although  we 
made  it  at  night,  almost  killed  me.  I  could  never  have 
borne  it  in  the  day  time.  Even  a  slight  wound  in  such 
weather  as  this  would  result  fatally. 

"As  to  my  officers,  I  am  very  well  contented  with  them. 
I  am  sorry  that  Captain  Daniels  was  not  willing  to  stay. 
Our  commanding  officer,  the  former  Adjutant  of  the  regi 
ment,  is  as  brave  as  he  can  be.  He  don't  know  what  fear  is. 
This  is  what  we  need.  Besides  this  he  does  not  drink,  which, 
next  to  courage,  is  what  is  most  desired  in  an  officer.  You 
can  imagine  how  a  soldier  feels  going  into  a  fight  believing 


672  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

that  his  Colonel  would  desert  him  when  most  needed,  and 
knowing  him  to  be  so  full  of  whisky  as  to  be  unable  to  com 
mand  himself,  not  to  speak  of  a  regiment.  I  believe  Zent  is 
a  member  of  the  church. 

"  Saturday  night  I  was  detailed,  with  two  others,  to  go  out 
in  the  advance  "Gopher  holes,"  which  Captain  Zent  had 
managed  to  dig  unknown  to  the  Rebels,  within  twenty  yards 
of  a  very  strong  fort  of  theirs,  and  in  such  a  way  that  they 
would  rake  their  lines.  We  could  only  get  into  them  after 
dark,  and  then  by  crawling  through  an  open  oat-field.  Dur 
ing  the  night  the  boys  imagined  they  could  see  the  Rebels 
crawling  up  on  us  through  the  oats,  so  we  sent  off  for  three 
more  men,  who  staid  with  us  till  daybreak.  The  men  on 
both  sides  then  had  a  confab,  and  one  of  the  Johnnies,  a  big, 
red-whiskered  fellow,  proposed,  as  it  was  Sunday,  that  there 
should  be  no  firing  on  the  lines.  To  this  we  willingly 
acceded,  and  so  passed  a  quiet  day. 

"  Since  this  campaign  began  we  have  not  been  beyond  the 
reach  of  Rebel  bullets  twenty-four  hours,  except  on  our  jour 
ney  to  and  from  Cold  Harbor.  So  every  time  the  regiment 
stops  with  the  expectation  of  staying  twenty-four  hours,  we 
go  at  once  to  work  fortifying.  I  have  got  so  used  to  this  I 
believe  if  ever  I  get  home  I  will  run  a  line  of  breastworks 
around  the  yard.  My  messmate  and  I  have  built  us  a  splen 
did  bomb-proof. 

"  Night  before  last  I,  with  twenty  others  of  the  regiment, 
armed  with  our  seven  shooters,  were  sent  out  in  our  advanced 
lines  to  guard  a  sap  which  our  men  were  running  in  rather 
dangerous  proximity  to  Rebel  lines.  We  were  not  to  do 
any  picket  duty,  but  merely  lie  on  our  arms,  ready  to  repel 
an  attack,  if  the  Johnnies  should  endeavor  to  charge.  Climb 
ing  up  on  the  bank  in  the  rear  of  the  breastworks,  with  my 
gun  under  my  head  as  a  pillow,  I  fixed  myself  and  slept  as 
soundly  as  if  at  home  in  a  feather  bed.  Once  in  awhile,  how 
ever,  when  they  would  commence  shelling  livelier  than  com 
mon,  I  would  wake  up,  scramble  down  into  the  pits,  and 
cover  till  they  were  tired,  and  then  back  and  sleep  again. 
Toward  morning  it  grew  bitter  cold,  so  cold  that  I  could  not 
sleep,  so  I  concluded  to  pass  the  time  in  conversing  with  the 


NEIGHBORLY  PICKETS.  673 

Johnnies.  I  began,  "Oh  Johnny!  wake  up!"  "  Yes,  we're 
awake,"  was  called  out  in  return.  One  of  the  boys  told  them 
that  Ewell  was  in  Baltimore.  "Don't  believe  it,"  replied 
Johnny.  "  What's  you  uns  fightin'  we  uns  for, Yank?"  shouted 
one  to  me,  after  we  had  been  talking  awhile.  "  Sixteen  dol 
lars  a  month,"  I  replied.  "We  used  to  get  thirteen,  but  we 
get  sixteen  now.  What  do  you  get?"  "Eighteen  dollars 
I  believe;  I  ain't  certain."  I  suppose  it  had  been  so  long 
since  the  poor  fellow  had  been  paid  that  he  had  forgotten 
what  was  coming  to  him. 

"After  talking  awhile  we  agreed  to  cease  firing  along  the 
line  so  as  to  hear  better.  Finally,  just  about  daybreak,  one 
of  them  proposed  to  exchange  papers.  I  told  him  we  had 
none,  but  would  exchange  anything  else,  asking  him  if  he 
would  give  corn  dodgers  for  hard  tack.  *  Yes,'  he  said,  '  Come 
on;'  I  had  no  haversack,  but  took  one  from  a  Pennsylvania 
boy  who  was  afraid  to  go.  Their  lines  were  about  ten  feet- 
back  in  the  woods  and  ours  out  in  the  oats  field.  It  was  just 
light  enough  to  see  a  little  bit.  I  got  on  top  of  the  works  in 
plain  view  of  the  Rebels,  but  of  course  could  see  nothing  of 
my  man. 

"Halloo,  Johnny,"  says  I,  *  where  are  you?5  thinking  he 
was  trying  to  play  off  on  me,  *  Here  I  am,'  he  replied,  'come 
on.'  I  started  ahead,  reassured  by  his  voice,  but  went  nearly 
fifteen  feet  before  I  saw  him  coming  out  at  the  edge  of  the 
woods.  I  met  him  about  two-thirds  of  the  way,  and  as  it 
grew  lighter  I  could  see  their  works  lined  with  men.  I  ex 
changed  hard  tack  for  corn  bread,  and  had  quite  a  long  talk 
with  him.  Asked  him  when  the  war  would  be  over.  He 
said  when  we  were  willing  to  go  home  and  let  them  alone. 
I  could  see,  though,  that  he  wasn't  very  anxious  for  the  war 
to  continue.  In  the  haversack  was  a  tin  cup  and  plate 
which  he  wanted.  Went  down  into  his  pockets  and  said  he 
would  give  me  any  thing  for  them.  I  told  him  they  didn't 
belong  to  me,  or  he  might  have  them,  but  I  wish  now  I  had 
given  them  to  him  and  told  the  owner  if  he  wanted  his  cup, 
to  go  and  get  it.  Almost  all  the  Rebels  that  I  have  seen  are 
a  stout,  healthy  set  of  fellows,  more  so  than  our  own  men. 
43 


674  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

They  are  clever,  honest-looking,  and  fight  like  the  'Old 
Harry/  There  is  no  discount  on  Southern  pluck  as  far  as  I 
have  seen.  After  I  had  gone  back,  and  they  saw  it  wasn't 
dangerous,  they  fairly  crowded  out  on  both  sides,  till  the 
meadow  swarmed  with  them.  If  our  officers  had  not  inter 
fered,  the  whole  lines  would  have  been  out  in  a  few  minutes." 

Across  the  Jerusalem  plank  road  the  enemy's  line  was 
strongly  intrenched  in  a  commanding  position  which  con 
fronted  Fort  Sedgwick,  or  Fort  Hell,  as  it  had  been  nick 
named,  and  was  so  near  Mott's  division  of  Hancock's  corps, 
that  the  pickets  could  talk  across  without  difficulty.  On  the 
morning  of  the  tenth,  General  DeTrobriand  cautiously  led 
his  brigade,  which  consisted  of  the  Twentieth  Indiana, 
Ninety-Ninth  Pennsylvania  and  the  Second  United  States 
sharpshooters,  toward  the  point,  and  with  very  little  firing 
carried  it,  inflicting  a  loss  of  from  one  hundred  to  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  men,  and  suffering  a  loss  about  half  as  great. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Meikel  was  killed  after  the  main  affair 
was  over.  The  enemy  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  regain  the 
position,  then  settled  down  in  a  new  line  and  began  a  vin 
dictive  picket  firing,  which  he  kept  up  night  and  day.  Col 
onel  Meikel  was  quite  a  young  man,  but  he  was  a  veteran  in 
military  service,  having  been  in  the  Twentieth  since  the  be 
ginning  of  that  regiment's  career.  He  was  the  third  of  its 
commanders  who  had  died  upon  the  field.  He  was  a  mod 
est,  upright,  pious  man. 

The  last  of  September  the  storm  of  battle  commenced 
again  by  the  advance  of  Butler  on  the  right  and  of  Warren 
on  the  left.  Warren  pushed  westward,  and  carrying  two  or 
three  small  works,  threw  up  intrenchrnents  which  reached  to 
his  former  position.  Butler  crossed  the  James  in  the  night, 
the  next  day  made  a  rapid  and  skirmishing  advance,  and  as 
saulted  Fort  Harrison  and  the  long  line  of  intrenchments  be 
low  Chapin's  farm,  including  the  Heights  of  New  Market. 
After  gallant  and  sanguinary  charges,  the  Eighteenth  corps 
carried  the  Fort  and  the  Sixth  gained  the  Heights,  bringing 
the  line  within  six  or  seven  miles  of  Richmond.  The  enemy 
made  unavailing  efforts  to  recapture  Fort  Harrison.  Butler's 
next  attempt  was  on  Fort  Gilmore,  but  it  was  a  failure,  as 


ADVANCE  TO  HATCHER'S  RUN.  (575 

\vas  also  an  assault  on  some  new  works.     Lame  bodies  of 

O 

troops  had  hurried  over  from  Petersburg,  and  the  enemy  was 
now  invulnerable  at  every  point. 

Again  a  pause  occurred.  It  was  broken  after  two  weeks 
by  an  advance  on  the  left  toward  Hatcher's  Run  and  the 
Eoydton  plank  road,  and  by  demonstrations  in  force  on  the 
extreme  right  against  the  Richmond  defences  on  the  Charles 
city  and  the  Williamsburg  roads.  The  one  was  made  merely 
to  attract  and  hold  the  enemy's  attention  during  the  prose 
cution  of  the  other,  in  which  the  entire  army,  excepting  only 
men  enough  to  hold  the  works,  was  engaged.  The  army 
marched  out  before  dawn  of  October  27,  with  three  days'  ra 
tions,  no  means  to  bring  back  wounded  and  unusual  precau 
tions  as  to  silence  and  concealment.  The  position  of  the 
corps  on  their  march  may  be  compared  to  a  wheel,  the 
Ninth  corps  being  the  hub,  the  Second  corps  and  the  cavalry 
the  tire.  Hancock  was  to  march  swiftly  and  far  out  to  the 
left  toward  the  Lynchburg  railroad,  while  his  coadjutors  were 
to  hold  the  enemy's  front  and  flank,  intrenched  on  the  east 
bank  of  Hatcher's  Run,  whose  course  is  southeasterly.  The 
whole  line  was  then  to  swing  forward  across  the  works  which 
had  so  long  held  it  off,  and  form  new  intrenchments  close 
to  Petersburg. 

Dense  and  dark  woods,  fallen  trees,  corn  fields  and  cotton 
fields,  swamps,  perplexing  roads,  of  which  inaccurate  maps 
gave  no  satisfactory  intelligence,  and  pickets,  who,  however, 
were  easily  driven  in,  were  the  principal  obstacles  encoun 
tered  in  the  forenoon,  and  until  four  in  the  afternoon.  At 
that  time,  and  while  Hancock  was  endeavoring  to  connect 
with  Warren's  left,  which,  though  not  distant,  was  out  of 
sight  and  out  of  reach,  beyond  a  maze  of  thickets  and  woods, 
a  volley  of  musketry  announced  the  approach  of  the  enemy. 
It  was  followed  by  an  unexpected  charge  on  Hancock's  front 
and  on  his  flank  and  rear,  which  were  guarded  by  Gregg's 
cavalry.  A  confused  battle  followed  in  which  a  singular  dis 
parity  of  spirit  was  shown.  Hancock's  right  brigade,  which 
received  the  first-blow,  was  scattered.  DeTrobriand's  brig 
ade  next  in  line,  stood  its  ground,  and  with  Egan's  division 


076  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

drove  the  enemy  from  the  field.  The  next  day,  Hancock 
withdrew,  abandoning  his  dead  and  wounded. 

The  active  operations  of  1864  ended  with  the  withdrawal 
from  Hatcher's  Run.  Since  the  advance  in  May,  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  had  lost  one  hundred  thousand  men. 

Nearly  everybody  who  reads  of  the  war,  follows  in  thought 
through  the  tangled,  crimson  web,  the  thread  of  some  individ 
ual  life.  To  names  and  dates  and  numbers  cling  associa 
tions  which  never  will  and  never  can  be  told.  There  are  no 
more  letters  from  James  Fisher,  Frank  Good  and  Samuel 
List.  Their  thread  of  life  was  snapped.  Their  weary  feet 
had  found  rest.  They  all  died  of  wounds;  List,  July  2, 
Fisher,  July  3,  at  Washington,  expressing  trust  in  the  Savior 
who  had  hitherto  led  them,  and  Good,  on  the  sixteenth  of 
July,  at  Alexandria.  Lieutenant  Williams,  also  of  the  Sev 
enth,  was  killed  the  nineteenth  of  June.  Lieutenant  Holmes 
was  killed  in  the  assault  of  June  18.  He  was  within  sixty 
yards  of  the  Rebel  works,  when  a  shell  tore  his  heart  from  his 
body.  His  company,  of  which  he  was  in  command,  did  not 
hear  of  his  death  until  after  midnight.  "His  body  shall  not 
be  left  lying  on  the  ground,"  exclaimed  private  Trout.  "Af 
ter  the  battle  of  Port  Republic  he  swam  the  Shenandoah 
twice  and  saved  me  from  capture,  perhaps  death  in  prison. 
I  for  one  will  try  to  get  his  body."  Sergeant  Hardin  an 
swered  for  another.  The  two  started  out,  but  finding  the 
enemy  in  force  at  the  point,  they  deferred  the  attempt.  The 
next  night,  while  both  armies  slept  on  their  arms,  Trout  and 
Hardin  set  out  a  second  time  on  their  dangerous  adventure. 
The  skirmishers  allowed  them  to  pass.  Creeping  within 
fifteen  feet  of  the  Rebel  pickets,  they  found  the  remains. 
They  then  crept  back  on  their  hands  and  knees,  dragging  the 
lifeless  body  with  them.  At  the  skirmish  line  they  made  a 
litter  of  their  muskets  and  a  tent  cloth,  and  on  it  carried  their 
burden  with  more  ease.  The  next  day,  young  Holmes  was 
buried  with  the  honors  of  war,  and  a  board  bearing  his  name 
was  put  up  at  the  head  of  his  grave. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  August,  Trout,  with  four  others,  was 
captured  on  picket.  His  term  of  service  was  within  eighteen 
days  of  its  expiration,  and  the  thought  of  imprisonment  was 


SENT  TO  NEW  YORK.  (577 

intolerable.  Accordingly,  Trout,  with  one  of  his  comrades, 
Norton,  while  the  company  was  passing  through  a  swamp, 
slipped  from  the  line.  They  hid  in  the  water,  while  the  rest 
marched  on  to  serve  seven  months  in  Belle  Isle  and  Salis 
bury.  When  it  was  dark  they  crept  out  stealthily,  and  found 
their  way  in  safety  to  the  regiment. 

Lieutenant  M'Cray,  of  the  Thirteenth,  was  killed  on  the 
sixteenth  of  August.  Captain  Bell,  of  the  Twentieth,  was 
killed  the  ninth  of  July. 

Although  no  important  movements  were  undertaken  be 
fore  the  close  of  the  year,  the  army  was  kept  actively  and 
often  severely  engaged,  "still  thumping  at  the  gates  of  Pe 
tersburg."  In  November  a  force  was  sent  to  New  York  to 
restrain  the  riotous  rabble  of  that  city.  During  the  journey 
northward  the  Thirteenth  was  not  in  the  same  boat  with  its 
rations,  a  separation  which  the  regiment  felt  and  resented. 
Fortunately  for  the  officer  who  commits  blunders,  the  private 
is  never  able  to  discover  him.  On  the  return,  the  Thirteenth 
was  included  in  seven  hundred  and  fifty  passengers  of  one 
small  vessel.  "  Maybe  I  wasn't  sick,"  says  a  hardy  young 
ster,  who  had  endured  everything  else,  "but  at  the  time  I 
thought  I  was." 


678  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE  IMPRISONMENT  OF  JOHN    C.   RANSDALL,   OF   COMPANY   F, 
SEVENTH  INDIANA  VOLUNTEERS. 

"If  any  person  had  told  me,  before  I  experienced  it,  that 
men  could  live  on  what  we  had  to  do  with,  and  wear  the 
clothes  and  lie  in  the  mud  and  water  as  we  did,  I  certainly 
would  have  thought  that  he  was  insane. 

O 

"I,  with  over  three  thousand  others,  was  taken  prisoner 
on  the  eighteenth  of  August,  1864,  near  Yellow  House,  on 
the  Weldon  railroad,  about  four  miles  from  Petersburg. 

"We  spent  the  first  night  in  Petersburg,  some  of  us  in 
jail  and  some  in  a  muddy  pen.  The  next  morning  we  were 
taken  to  another  pen  in  squads  of  six  or  eight,  and  searched 
by  the  Provost  Marshal  of  Petersburg.  The  next  day  we 
went  to  Libby  prison,  where  we  were  stripped  to  the  hide 
and  searched  again.  By  this  time  we  had  been  robbed  of 
nearly  everything.  At  sundown,  Sunday,  August  21,  we 
were  taken  over  to  Belle  Isle  .to  pass  the  night  out  of 
doors,  without  bed  or  shelter.  We  lay  on  the  naked  ground 
and  spread  our  blouses  over  us,  to  keep  a  little  of  the  dew 
off.  In  the  daytime  we  were  there  on  the  bare  sand  without 
shade  from  the  scorching  sun,  at  night  without  shelter  to 
hide  us  from  the  storm.  The  days  were  hot,  the  nights  were 
chilly.  We  lay  there  in  this  way  three  weeks;  we  then  got 
some  condemned  tents  that  were  no  better  than  none  when 
it  rained,  but  they  afforded  shelter  from  the  sun  and  dew. 

"  We  had  nothing  to  carry  water  in,  and  were  obliged  to 
go  to  the  river  any  time  we  wanted  a  drink.  They  had  a 
narrow  lane  from  the  prison  to  the  river  for  us  to  go  after 
water,  from  sundown  to  sun-up.  Not  more  than  eight  or 
ten  men  were  allowed  to  go  to  the  river  at  once — and  so  few 
going  at  a  time,  out  of  six  thousand,  there  would  soon  get  a 


RATIONS  IN  SALISBURY  PRISON.  679 

large  crowd  at  the  mouth  of  the  lane,  and  some  one  would 
get  crowded  too  near  the  dead  line  and  be  shot.  There 
was  some  one  killed  this  way  nearly  every  night. 

"On  the  fifth  of  October,  five  hundred  were  marched  over 
to  Manchester.  I  was  along.  After  three  days  travel  on 
freight  cars,  we  arrived  at  Salisbury,  which  was  a  dismal 
looking  place.  It  \vas  a  field  of  about  seven  acres,  with  a 
stockade  of  two-inch  plank  about  twelve  feet  high,  with  a 
double  row  of  posts  all  around.  Eight  feet  inside  the  stock 
ade  was  the  dead  line.  This  was  a  ditch  six  feet  wide  and 
six  feet  deep.  On  the  outside  of  the  stockade,  three  feet 
from  the  top,  was  a  platform  all  around,  for  the  guard  to 
stand  on. 

"  The  first  three  weeks  we  got  one  pint  of  flour  or  meal, 
two  table-spoonsful  of  molasses,  or  one  sixth  of  a  pound  of 
fresh  beef,  without  salt,  and  half  pint  of  rice  soup,  to  the 
man,  for  a  day's  rations.  After  we  had  been  there  a  week 
or  ten  days,  they  baked  our  flour  for  us,  and  gave  us  the 
amount  in  bread.  A  Lieutenant  Colonel  had  command  of 
us  the  first  three  weeks,  and  I  guess  gave  us  all  that  the 
government  gave  him  for  us.  The  rest  of  the  time,  Major 
Gee  had  command  of  us.  When  he  pretended  to  give  us 
wheat  bread,  it  was  the  dust  and  dirt  swept  off  the  mill  floor, 
ground  up  with  sugar  cane  seed,  and  not  bolted — but  most 
of  the  time  we  got  com  bread.  I  suppose  that  the  meal  had 
been  ground  on  a  corn  crusher — the  same  as  we  grind  cow 
feed,  for  it  was  shuck,  corn  and  cob  all  together.  Our  meat 
came  only  about  three  or  four  times  a  month,  and  molasses 
the  same.  The  meat  was  only  the  heads,  hearts,  feet,  lights, 
livers  and  paunches  of  cattle.  The  eye-ball  of  a  cow  was  a 
big  ration  of  meat;  and  when  we  drew  molasses,  we  only 
got  two  table-spoonsful. 

"Rats  and  mice  were  plenty,  and  eight  or  ten  cats  and 
three  dogs  ran  around  the  cook  house  and  hospital  when  we 
went  there.  They  were  all  killed  and  eaten.  Every  old 
bone  and  piece  of  leather  in  camp  was  burnt  and  eaten. 
Water  was  very  scarce;  we  had  not  more  than  half  enough 
to  drink  all  fall  and  the  fore  part  of  the  winter.  We  rarely 
washed  our  hands  and  faces,  and  never  once  washed  our 


(>80  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

clothes.  We  got  no  tents  until  the  first  of  November;  then 
it  was  a  Sibley  tent,  and  only  one  for  a  hundred  men.  Not 
half  of  the  prisoners  could  get  in.  They  had  to  make  go 
pher  holes.  They  would  dig  down  two  or  three  feet  in  the 
ground,  and  then  dig  back,  far  enough  to  lie  straight,  and 
wide  enough  to  accommodate  three  or  four  men  to  a  hole, — 
nothing  under  or  over  them.  Our  wood  was  what  two  or 
three  men  could  carry — for  one  hundred  men  to  last  twenty- 
four  hours.  This  would  not  make  more  than  one  good  fire. 
With  this  wood  and  the  poor  clothes  we  had  to  wear,  we 
could  not  help  suffering  a  great  deal. 

"I  have  been  on  hard-fought  battle  fields,  such  as  Bull  Run, 
Antietam,  Chancellorsville,  Gettysburg,  in  Grant's  campaign 
from  the  Rapidan  through  the  Wilderness,  and  on  to  Peters 
burg,  and  have  seen  men  torn  and  mangled,  groaning  and 
dying;  but  the  most  painful,  horrible  and  heart-rending  sight 
I  ever  saw  by  far,  was  in  that  dismal  hell — Salisbury  Prison — 
of  a  cold,  snowy  morning,  men  lying  on  the  naked  ground, 
in  the  mud,  water  and  snow,  with  nothing  in  the  world  to 
keep  them  warm,  but  worn-out  pants  and  shirts,  groaning, 
and  dying,  and  wishing  that  they  could  have  as  good  a  place 
to  lie  on  as  the  cattle  and  horses  had  at  home,  and  that  they 
could  have  to  eat  what  was  thrown  in  the  swill  tub! 

"  When  we  first  went  there,  the  men  that  died  were  put 
in  coffins,  and  taken  out,  and  received,  as  we  supposed,  a 
sort  of  human  burial;  but  the  coffins  that  were  brought  in 
and  taken  out,  looked  so  much  alike  that  it  soon  raised  sus 
picion.  So  Sergeant  Orion  Donnell,  of  company  G,  Seventh 
regiment,  marked  one  of  the  coffins  with  a  pencil — and  sure 
enough  the  same  coffin  came  back  every  time.  This  was 
soon  known  throughout  the  camp,  and  when  the  Rebels 
found  out  that  we  knew  it,  they  ceased  to  bring  a  coffin 
in.  They  took  the  dead  body  by  the  head  and  feet,  and 
threw  it  into  the  wagon — the  same  as  we  would  dead  hogs. 
They  took  them  out  a  mile  from  camp,  dug  a  trench,  and 
threw  all  the  men  in  it  that  they  could  haul  in  a  day.  At 
night,  they  would  throw  a  little  dirt  over  them.  The  aver 
age  number  of  deaths  a  day  was  forty-two.  We  were  there 
one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  days.  In  that  time,  out  of 


INHUMANITY  OF  THE  REBEL  GUARD. 

nine  thousand  eight  hundred  men,  five  thousand  seven  hun 
dred  and  eighty-eight  men  were  buried;  and  I  suppose  that 
at  least  one  thousand  men  died  on  their  way  home. 

"  la  November,  the  prisoners  saw  that  it  was  death  to  stay 
there — so  they  determined  to  break  out.  In  less  than  five 
minutes  after  the  attempt  was  made,  the  platform  on  which 
the  guard  stood  had  two  lines  of  battle  on  it, — the  guards 
armed  with  rnuskets,  and  the  citizens  armed  with  shot  guns 
and  squirrel  rifles,  were  firing  into  us.  They  had  also  two 
pieces  of  artillery  with  which  they  poured  the  canister  into 
us.  There  was  a  misunderstanding  among  the  prisoners  as 
to  the  time  the  break  was  to  be  made,  and  only  about  one- 
eighth  were  prepared  for  it — so  we  had  not  force  enough  to 
accomplish  anything.  About  a  hundred  of  our  men  were 
killed  and  wounded.  Every  man  that  had  a  wound  in  a 
limb,  even  if  it  was  ever  so  slight,  the  limb  was  taken  off. 

"  We  would  go  out  of  a  morning,  and  could  turn  our  eyes 
no  way  without  seeing  some  of  our  comrades  lying  in  the 
mud  and  water,  waiting  for  the  dead-wagon  to  come  out 
and  take  them  from  our  sight  to  their  last  resting  place. 

"We  were  not  allowed  to  go  out  of  our  tents  or  holes  at 
all  at  night.  As  soon  as  the  sun  was  down,  the  guards 
would  begin  to  halloo  at  us,  'Git  into  yer  hole,  da  you — 
Yank,'  and,  if  we  did  not  hide  ourselves  immediately,  they 
would  shoot  at  us. 

"One  of  the  coldest  nights,  some  more  prisoners  were 
brought  in.  They  had  been  robbed  of  everything,  and  had 
no  tents  or  gopher  holes  to  crawl  into,  so  they  gave  them 
wood  enough  to  build  a  very  good  fire.  They  had  just  got 
the  fire  built,  and  were  crowding  round,  when  the  guard  be 
gan  to  holla,  '  Git  into  yer  holes  da,  you  blue  devils!'  Those 
around  the  fire  did  not  suppose  that  they  were  hallooing  at 
them  to  leave  the  fire.  But  the  guards  soon  informed  them 
by  firing  a  musket  at  them.  They  then  told  the  guard  how- 
it  was,  that  they  were  nearly  frozen,  and  begged  to  be  let 
stay  by  the  fire  and  warm.  But  a  dozen  guns  were  instantly 
leveled  at  them,  and  the  order  given  to  scatter  out.  They 
had  to  leave  the  fire,  and  go  and  lie  around  some  old  build 
ings  that  were  in  the  prison  pen.  It  rained  and  froze  all 


682  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

night.  I  never  saw  a  heavier  sleet  than  fell  that  night. 
Some  of  the  strangers  chilled  to  death,  almost  all  froze  their 
feet,  and  some  so  badly  that  all  the  flesh  came  off. 

"At  this  time  we  were  guarded  by  the  Sixty-Eighth  North 
Carolina.  They  were  all  boys,  and  dearly  loved  to  shoot  a 
helpless  Yankee.  The  last  two  months  we  were  there  we 
were  guarded  by  North  Carolina  militia,  at  least  one-half 
of  them  Union  men.  While  they  guarded  us  we  could 
run  round  after  night,  and  there  was  never  a  word  said. 
We  remained  in  this  prison  until  the  twenty-second  of  Feb 
ruary. 

"  They  then  started  us  to  Greensborough,  fifty-two  miles 
distant,  with  an  escort  of  about  two  hundred  armed  Rebels. 

"Out  of  nine  thousand  eight  hundred  men  that,  during 
the  last  four  months,  went  into  Salisbury — well,  stout  and 
hearty,  I  think  there  were  not  more  than  three  thousand  able 
to  walk  out  of  prison,  and  they  were  nearly  naked,  black, 
dirty  and  starved — so  badly  starved  that  they  reeled  as  they 
walked.  They  marched  along  the  railroad,  and  as  they  gave 
out  they  were  put  on  top  of  freight  cars.  In  two  days  of  the 
hardest  marching  I  ever  did,  I  only  walked  nine  miles.  I 
then  got  on  the  train.  Of  the  three  thousand  that  left  Salis 
bury,  I  think  that  not  more  than  five  hundred  were  able  to 
march  the  fifty-two  miles.  Many  died  on  the  road,  for  it 
rained  day  and  night. 

"We  marched  to  Goldsborough,  and  at  midnight  took  the 
train  for  our  lines  near  Wilmington,  where  we  arrived  the 
twenty-eighth  of  February.  The  happiest  day  of  my  life  was 
that  twenty-eighth  of  February,  1865. 

"  These  are  my  experiences  in  prison.  There  is  not  a  word 
but  truth,  and  to  every  word  I  am  willing  to  swear.  But  as 
the  whole  truth  is  not  here,  for  pen  cannot  describe  nor  tongue 
tell  of  our  sufferings  while  in  prison,  I  feel  that  from  this  one 
can  get  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  sufferings  of  Union  prisoners 
of  war." 

When  Ransdall  reached  home  he  was  frightfully  emaciated. 
All  who  saw  him  supposed  him  to  be  dying,  yet  he  said  he 
had  "picked  up"  on  the  journey. 


FORCES  IN  THE  VALLEY.  683 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

IN  THE  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY. 

O  !  hero  i&  seen  a  Bight,  might  turn 

The  palest  check  to  ruddy  hue, 
And  cause  the  quailing  eye  to  burn 

With  patriotic  fire  anew. — James  B.  Black. 

Early's  destructive  activity  prevented  the  return  of  the 
troops  borrowed  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  neces 
sitated  their  removal  to  Harper's  Ferry.  Here  a  large  Union 
force  was  massed,  mostly  infantry,  but  with  the  intention  that 
it  should  do  cavalry  service,  and  was  put  under  the  command 
of  General  Sheridan.  It  was  composed  of  three  corps — the 
Eighth,  known  previously  as  the  Army  of  West  Virginia, 
under  General  Crook;  the  Sixth,  under  Wright;  the  Nine 
teenth,  or  rather  the  First  and  Second  divisions  of  the  Nine 
teenth,  under  Emory,  and  two  cavalry  divisions,  Torbert's 
and  Wilson's,  from  Meade's  army. 

The  Indiana  troops  in  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah  were 
the  Eleventh,  Eighth  and  Eighteenth  infantry,  the  detach 
ment  of  the  Third  cavalry,  about  ninety  men,  under  Captain 
Lee,  remaining  after  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  service, 
and  the  Seventeenth  battery.  The  detachment  was  detailed 
as  escort  to  General  Custer.  Chapman,  now  Brigadier 
General,  was  in  command  of  his  brigade.  Colonel  Macau- 
ley  was,  for  a  time,  also  in  command  of  a  brigade,  his  regi 
ment,  the  Eleventh,  forming  a  part  of  his  command. 

Major  Black,  in  detailing  the  fortunes  of  the  Eighteenth, 
makes  other  history  of  the  campaign  almost  unnecessary. 
Some  slight  alterations  have  been  made  in  his  narrative  for 
the  sake  of  brevity,  and  in  order  to  notice  the  Eleventh, 
Eighth  and  Third. 


684  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"  On  the  sixteenth  of  July  the  Eighteenth  bade  adieu  to  the 
soil  of  Indiana,  which  is  never  so  dear  to  a  man  as  when  he 
has  fought  for  it,  and  started  again  for  the  field.  On  the 
twenty-first  it  reported  to  Grant,  who  assigned  it  to  Butler's 
department.  It  served  in  -the  trenches  in  Foster's  division, 
nine  miles  from  Richmond,  until  the  last  of  the  month,  when 
it  retraced  its  way  to  Bermuda  Hundreds,  embarked  and  re 
turned  to  Washington.  It  was  a  quiet  summer  afternoon 
when  the  vessel  went  up  the  Potomac.  The  sun-browned 
veterans  stood  silent  and  reverent  on  the  deck,  and  gazed  at 
the  home  and  burial-place  of  Washington  till  the  windings 
of  the  river  hid  Mount  Vernon  from  view,  and  brought  out 
the  dome  of  the  Capitol.  The  regiment  encamped  two 
miles  north  of  Georgetown.  It  was  joined  on  the  twelfth  of 
August  by  the  Eighth,  arrived  from  Morganza  Bend.  The 
Eighth  and  Eighteenth,  with  the  Twenty-Fourth  and  the 
Twenty-Eighth  Iowa,  formed  a  provisional  brigade,  afterward 
called  the  Fourth,  of  the  Second  division  of  the  Nineteenth 
corps.  The  division  was  commanded  by  General  Grover, 
and  the  brigade  by  Colonel  Shunk,  of  the  Eighth.  The  di 
vision  remained  in  the  defences  of  Washington  two  weeks, 
the  latter  part  of  the  time  occupied  in  'slashing'  or  cutting 
away  the  growth  of  bushes  in  front  of  the  forts.  August  14, 
it  crossed  Chain  bridge,  and  marched  to  Snicker's  Gap.  The 
troops  had  scarcely  gone  into  camp  here,  after  a  long  day's 
march  under  a  scorching  sun,  when  they  were  ordered  to 
hasten  on  to  join  the  army  then  falling  back  through  Man 
chester  and  Berryville.  A  full  moon  lighted  them  through 
the  gap.  Wading  the  Shenandoah  river  at  midnight,  they 
pushed  on,  and  arrived  toward  morning  at  Berryville,  where 
they  cast  themselves,  hungry  and  tired,  upon  the  ground,  and 
slept.  Soon  after  daylight  they  were  armed  and  marched 
through  town  in  a  drenching  rain.  Taking  the  Charlestown 
road  a  short  distance  out,  they  joined  the  army  on  the  march. 
Here  they  first  saw  the  man  whom  they  afterward  learned  to 
love,  the  gallant  Phil.  Sheridan.  On  his  black  charger  at  the 
head  of  his  staff,  unheeding  the  pelting  rain,  he  looked,  as  he 
coursed  over  the  field,  like  one  born  for  the  din  of  battle,  and 
the  rush  of  charging  squadrons.  The  retiring  army  fell  back 


PRELIMINARY  MOVEMENTS.  685 

that  day  to  the  neighborhood  of  Charlcstown,  and  going  into 
line  on  the  west  and  south  of  that  place,  constructed  barri 
cades  and  intrenchments.  On  the  second  day  the  Rebels 
advanced  in  force  upon  the  right,  and  darkness  closed  a  spir 
ited  skirmish.  The  Federal  army  then  again  retired,  leaving 
Shunk's  brigade  and  the  cavalry  holding  the  Berryville  road 
till  midnight,  when  they,  too,  fell  back.  As  they  silently 
marched  through  the  deserted  streets  of  Charlestown,  passing 
the  dilapidated  Court  House  and  the  old  jail,  with  its  grim 
iron-barred  windows,  all  thought  of  old  John  Brown  and 
"His  soul  is  marching  on." 

Long  before  morning  they  arrived  at  Bolivar  Heights,  and 
lay  down  on  their  arms  on  the  summit  of  the  outer  range  of 
hills.  The  enemy  followed,  but  retired,  after  a  few  inconsid 
erable  skirmishes,  to  Bunker  Hill.  The  Union  forces  again 
moved  out  to  their  former  position,  west  of  Charlestown. 
Here  they  lay  for  several  days,  the  cavalry  of  the  opposing 
armies  having  daily  skirmishes. 

While  the  Eighteenth  was  at  this  place  Colonel  Washburn, 
who  had  been  nominated  for  Congress  in  the  Seventh  Dis 
trict  of  Indiana,  obtained  leave  of  absence,  and  went  home 
to  canvass  his  district.  The  command  devolved  on  Lieuten 
ant  Colonel  Charles.  On  the  third  of  September  the  army 
was  quickly  transferred  southward,  to  Berryville,  where  the 
advance  was  attacked  in  the  evening  by  a  considerable  force. 
A  spirited  engagement  was  continued  into  the  night.  Dur 
ing  the  entire  night,  which  was  dark  and  rainy,  and  all  the 
next  day,  our  men  were  engaged  constructing  defensive 
works  of  logs  and  earth.  This  sudden  movement  produced 
a  corresponding  advance  by  the  enemy  from  Bunker  Hill, 
and  early  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  his  skirmishers  made 
their  appearance.  Intimidated  by  the  defences,  they  did  not 
venture  an  attack,  but  the  next  day  withdrew  to  Winchester, 
whence  the  greater  portion  returned  to  Bunker  Hill.  Gen 
eral  Sheridan  extended  his  lines  to  the  right,  and  lay  here  for 
two  weeks,  with  his  left  resting  on  the  Berryville  and  Charles- 
town  turnpike.  The  position  excluded  the  enemy  from  his 
true  line  of  retreat,  south-east,  through  the  gaps  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  gave  Sheridan  opportunity  to  inflict  a  series  of 


686  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

quick  and  heavy  blows.  The  transportation  of  the  army  had 
been  reduced  at  Bolivar  Heights,  one  wagon  only  being  al 
lowed  to  each  regiment,  and  even  this  was  left  behind  when 
the  advance  was  made  from  that  encampment.  After  a  few 
days  at  Berry ville  the  regimental  wagons  came  up,  and  camp 
life  was  resumed,  nothing  occurring  save  an  occasional  en 
counter  between  reconnoitring  parties  of  cavalry  till  Sunday, 
the  eighteenth  of  September,  when  the  baggage  wagons  were 
sent  to  the  rear,  to  Harper's  Ferry,  not  to  be  seen  again  for  a 
month  and  a  half. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth  the  Sixth 
and  Nineteenth  corps,  preceded  by  cavalry,  marched  south 
ward  to  the  Berryville  and  Winchester  road,  and  pushed  for 
ward  toward  the  latter  place.  Soon  after  daylight  the  out 
post  of  the  enemy  was  reached  at  Opequan  creek,  and  driven 
in  confusion.  Crossing  the  creek  and  closely  pursuing,  our 
army  came  upon  the  Rebels  in  force  a  short  distance  .east  of 
the  town.  Line  of  battle  was  immediately  formed,  the  Sixth 
corps  on  the  left,  the  Nineteenth  on  the  right,  Grover's  divis 
ion  occupying  the  extreme  right.  There  was  little  prelimi 
nary  skirmishing,  as  it  was  important  to  attack  before  all  the 
forces  of  the  enemy  could  arrive  from  the  north,  and  while 
those  already  arrived  were  yet  taking  position.  The  First 
brigade,  of  Grover's  division,  forming  the  first  line  on  the 
right,  advanced  across  a  large  opening,  comprising  several 
fields,  and  entered  a  belt  of  woods.  The  rattle  of  musketry 
told  it  had  met  the  Rebels  there  in  force,  and  Shunk's  brig 
ade  was  ordered  up.  Quickly  but  steadily  and  silently  the 
long,  gleaming  blue  line  moved  forward  into  the  fields,  with 
ranks  well  dressed  on  war-worn  banners,  which  proudly 
showed  their  battle  scars  in  the  morning  sunlight.  The 
Eighteenth,  on  the  right  centre  of  the  brigade,  led  on  by  dash 
ing  Colonel  Charles  on  his  white  horse,  looked  every  man  a 
veteran.  Firm  steps  and  tightly  pressed  lips  told  of  deadly 
purpose,  yet,  with  the  provident  care  which  is  born  of  expe 
rience,  the  soldiers  carried  knapsacks  and  camp  kettles,  coffee 
pots  and  frying  pans,  into  the  rushing  charge  of  battle.  The 
second  line  in  the  face  of  a  terrific  shelling,  and  followed 
closely  by  a  third  line,  had  gotten  well  down  into  the  fields, 


BATTLE  OF  THE  OPEQUAN.  (3Q7 

when,  casting  away  cooking  utensils  and  griping  its  guns, 
the  Eighteenth,  with  a  loud  yell,  swept  forward  at  double- 
quick.  It  gained  the  middle  of  the  opening.  It  pressed 
toward  the  woods  and  rocks  which  sheltered  the  Rebels, 
and  from  which  poured  a  terrific  front  and  enfilading  fire. 
Oat  from  that  woods  came  a  dark  blue  line,  struffc^lina:  back 

oO  O 

slowly  at  first,  then  breaking,  and  flying  in  fragments  to  the 
rear.  The  Eighteenth,  opening  its  advancing  ranks,  let  the 
fugitives  pass.  Not  till  the  third  line  had  fallen  back,  and 
the  order  to  retreat  had  been  given  to  Shunk's  brigade,  and 
the  Eighteenth  had  been  left  alone  in  that  shower  of  death, 
did  those  veterans  turn  from  the  foe.  Three  times  they  ral 
lied  around  their  flags  before  they  repassed  the  field  and  re 
gained  the  woods  from  which  they  had  started.  Here  they 
found  a  single  regiment,  which  had  not  entered  the  field,  but 
none  of  the  fugitives;  yet  here  they  planted  their  colors,  and 
for  two  long  hours  held  the  enemy  back. 

There  is  in  almost  every  battle  a  crisis,  the  instant  recogni 
tion  of  which  marks  the  successful  general.  Fortune  for  a 
short  time  held  out  her  hand  to  Early,  but  the  shadowy  palm 
was  hidden  from  his  dull  sight.  A  broken  line  of  shattered 
regiments,  making  a  mere  show  of  resistance,  held  him  in 
check,  till  the  Eighth  corps,  which  had  been  kept  in  reserve 
on  the  extreme  right  and  rear,  came  up  to  decide  the  day. 
At  sight  of  the  tall,  sturdy  Western  Virginians,  advancing 
erect  and  fresh,  and  eager  for  the  fray,  the  tired  Hoosier  boys 
sent  up  a  shout  of  joy,  and  filing  through  their  opened  ranks 
went  to  join  their  brigade,  then  stationed  in  a  neighboring 
ravine,  guarding  against  a  flank  movement.  The  cavalry, 
having  closely  pursued  the  enemy  from  the  north,  was  now 
ready  on  the  right  and  charged  down  upon  the  Rebel  left  si 
multaneously  with  the  advance  of  the  line.  The  prolonged 
battle  cry  announced  the  success  of  the  movement,  and  hur 
rying  up  to  participate  in  the  final  onset,  Shunk's  brigade, 
with  that  exultant  pride  which  swells  the  heart  in  the  moment 
of  dear  bought  victory,  saw  the  enemy  flying  in  wild  disor 
der,  a  dozen  batteries  pouring  on  him  an  avenging  fire,  and 
galloping  squadrons,  with  flying  sabres,  charging  into  his 
midst.  Away  through  the  town  of  Winchester,  unheeding 


THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  reproaches  of  citizens,  whom  they  had  promised  to  de 
fend  from  the  Yankee  rowdies,  the  discomfited  Confeder 
ates  hurried.  Night  closed  the  eager  pursuit,  and  our  weary 
yet  exultant  army  lay  down  on  the  south  side  of  town  and 
slept  till  daylight. 

Among  the  killed  of  the  Eighteenth,  was  Captain  Silas  A. 
Wadsworth,  of  company  E,  who  fell  in  the  midst  of  the  fight 
sword  in  hand,  shot  through  the  head  by  a  rifle  ball.  Gen 
eral  Chapman  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Opequan  creek. 

With  the  dawn,  the  troops  of  Sheridan,  having  dispatched 
a  scanty  breakfast,  started  up  the  valley  in  the  pursuit.  Pass 
ing  the  villages  of  Kernstown,  Newton  and  Middleton,  they 
crossed  Cedar  creek  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
came  upon  the  enemy,  strongly  entrenched  at  Fisher's  Hill. 
Taking  position  and  posting  pickets  consumed  the  remain 
der  of  the  day  and  the  early  part  of  the  night.  The  Sixth 
corps  occupied  the  right,  the  Nineteenth  the  left,  Shunk's 
brigade  being  on  the  extreme  left,  while  the  Eighth  corps 
was  held  in  reserve.  At  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-first,  began  an  artillery  and  infantry  skirmish,  which 
lasted  all  day,  while  our  army  gradually  pressed  closer  to  the 
Rebel  lines,  constantly  moving  further  to  the  right  beyond  the 
town  of  Strasburg.  The  next  day,  in  like  manner,  was  spent 
in  driving  the  Rebels  within  their  works  and  closing  in  upon 
them  without  any  important  encounter,  till  late  in  the  after 
noon,  when  the  Eighth  corps,  which,  with  great  difficulty, 
had  climbed  the  mountain  in  the  night,  while  the  Sixth  and 
Nineteenth  engaged  the  enemy  in  front,  fell  like  an  avalanche 
on  the  Rebel  left  flank,  throwing  the  whole  army  into  the 
wildest  disorder,  capturing  eighteen  pieces  of  artillery  and 
eleven  hundred  prisoners.  Grover's  division  had  early  been 
moved  far  to  the  right,  and  close  to  the  enemy,  and  during 
the  day  had  been  engaged  constructing  a  strong  breastwork 
of  logs  and  brush  on  the  crest  of  a  timbered  hill,  to  be  used 
in  the  event  of  the  failure  of  the  Eighth  corps  in  its  flank 
movement,  and  the  probable  assault  of  the  enemy  on  our 
front.  This  division  was  now  ordered  in  the  advance  of  the 
pursuit,  and  while  darkness  was  gathering  over  the  heaps  of 
dead  and  wounded,  it  moved  at  double  quick  across  the  nar- 


NIGHT  ATTACK  ON  SHUNK'S  BRIGADE.  689 

row  river,  and  with  echoing  shouts,  hurried  along  the  broad 
highway  closely  followed  by  the  remainder  of  the  army. 

Burning  ambulances  and  wagons,  and  overturned  caissons, 
told  of  the  haste  and  terror  of  the  fugitives,  and  excited  the 
eager  pursuers  to  increased  speed.  About  ten  o'clock,  while 
three  regiments  of  Shunk's  brigade  were  marching  by  the 
flank  side  by  side  on  the  turnpike,  completely  filling  it  from 
ditch  to  ditch,  there  being  in  front  of  them  but  one  regiment, 
deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  General  Emory,  with  his  staff, 
suddenly  from  a  clump  of  trees  on  the  left  of  the  road,  imme 
diately  in  advance,  flashed  the  blaze  of  a  volley  of  musketry. 
The  volley  was  not  repeated,  but  two  pieces  of  artillery, 
planted  on  the  road  a  hundred  yards  in  advance,  opened  on 
Shunk's  brigade.  The  men,  by  instinct,  obliqued  to  the  right 
and  rear,  leaving  the  dangerous  highway  unobstructed.  For 
an  instant  all  was  confusion.  The  brigade  was  composed 
entirely  of  veteran  regiments,  yet  belonging  to  each  regiment 
were  numbers  of  recruits,  who  began  to  discharge  their  pieces 
in  every  possible  direction.  The  partial  panic  was  quickly 
allayed  by  the  example  of  the  more  experienced,  and  the  ef 
forts  of  the  officers,  and,  in  almost  as  short  a  time  as  is  re 
quired  to  tell  it,  the  brigade  was  rallied,  and  placed  in  line 
of  battle  on  the  right  of  the  road.  In  the  meantime  the  skir 
mishers  captured  thirty  or  forty  of  the  infantry  of  the  ambus 
cade,  who  reported  they  had  been  sacrificed  to  save  the  re 
treating  army.  The  artillery,  after  firing  once,  limbered  up, 
and  rapidly  retreated  a  few  hundred  yards,  when  it  fired 
again,  and  again  retreated,  and  so  firing  and  retreating,  it  re 
tired  beyond  range.  Many  were  killed  and  wounded  in  this 
affair,  as  well  by  being  ridden  down  by  the  horsemen  of 
Emory's  staff,  as  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  Nothing  is  more 
trying  to  the  nerves  of  soldiers  than  an  unexpected  night  at 
tack  on  unfamiliar  ground.  Yet  the  troops  behaved  remark 
ably  well,  every  man  keeping  his  place  in  the  slow  and 
cautious  advance  in  line  of  battle,  till  the  doubtful  district 
was  passed. 

The  Rebels  had  selected  an  excellent  place  for  the  ambush, 
before  the  entrance  of  a  hollow,  through  which  the  road 
44 


690  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

passed  between  timbered  hills  for  nearly  a  half  mile.  By  this 
manoeuvre  the  Confederates  gained  two  hours,  which  advan 
tage  they  preserved  throughout  the  night.  As  daylight  was 
breaking  in  the  east  the  Union  forces,  having  passed  through 
the  town  of  Woodstock,  and  gone  into  line  in  the  suburbs, 
threw  themselves  upon  the  ground,  and  in  a  moment  were 
asleep,  happily  unconscious  of  rain,  which  soon  fell.  The 
supply  train,  which  had  arrived  at  Fisher's  hill  too  late  the 
evening  before  to  distribute  its  contents,  now  came  up,  and 
rations  were  issued  to  the  men,  who  had  gone  supperless  the 
night  previous, — not  to  bed,  but  to  fight  and  follow  the 
enemy.  At  noon  they  again  set  forward,  marched  five  miles, 
and  went  into  bivouac.  Early  the  next  day  they  were  again 
in  motion  up  the  beautiful  valley.  About  noon,  at  Mount 
Jackson,  they  overtook  the  Confederates,  who  quickly  de 
camped,  leaving  their  wounded  in  the  hospitals,  and  a  rear 
guard  at  the  crossing  of  the  river.  A  few  shells  cleared  the 
opposite  bank,  and  our  troops  plunged  through  the  water. 
At  Newmarket  they  again  overtook  the  Rebels,  who,  to  save 
their  train,  which  could  be  seen  slowly  winding  along  the 
valley  pike,  were  compelled  to  make  a  show  of  resistance. 
The  position  of  Shunk's  brigade,  marching  by  the  flank  on 
the  top  of  the  ridge  on  the  west,  gave  the  Eighteenth  a  view 
of  the  whole  valley.  Such  a  sight  even  a  soldier  is  rarely 
privileged  to  see.  The  undulating  valley,  shut  in  by  towering 
mountains  on  the  east,  and  a  line  of  hills  on  the  west,  open 
from  side  to  side  in  rich  farms,  with  small  groves  surrounding 
old  mansions,  and  a  bright,  little  river  meandering  northward^ 
stretched  away  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  The  two 
armies,  formed  in  order  of  battle,  stretched  across  the  valley, 
the  Union  forces  steadily  and  eagerly  advancing,  our  battery 
moving  along  the  western  hills,  continually  hurling  its  shells^ 
the  Rebels  now  standing  till  the  opposing  skirmishers  be 
came  warmly  engaged,  then  breaking  by  the  right  of  regi 
ments  to  the  rear.  Thus  they  continued,  advancing  on  the 
one  side  and  retreating  on  the  other,  without  coming  to  an 
engagement  till  the  sun  went  down  behind  the  hills,  when 
the  Rebels  made  a  stand  at  a  sunken  road  running  across 
the  valley,  and  constructed  a  temporary  barricade  from  the 


PURSUIT  FOLLOWED  BY  RETREAT.          091 

rails  of  the  fences  on  either  side.  Lying  down  in  the  road, 
they  poured  volley  after  volley  into  their  pursuers  till  dark 
ness  enabled  them  to  continue  their  flight,  and  allowed  Sher 
idan's  troops  to  lie  down  on  their  arms.  Shunk's  brigade, 
by  chance,  bivouacked  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  army,  on 
the  top  of  the  hills  on  the  right  flank,  near  a  wealthy  farm 
house.  It  was  fortunate,  on  this  campaign,  for  a  small  body 
of  troops  to  be  encamped  in  an  isolated  position,  for  the 
abundance  of  one  plantation,  when  divided  among  the  troops 
of  a  whole  army,  in  the  language  of  economical  housekeep 
ers,  does  not  go  far. 

On  this  occasion,  but  few  minutes  had  elapsed,  after  stack 
ing  arms  and  stripping  off  accoutrements,  till  all  along  the 
line  of  the  brigade  bright  rail  fires  lighted  up  the  night,  and 
grim  veterans  sat  around,  forgetful  of  the  toils  and  dangers 
of  the  day,  eating  dainty  morsels  of  roasted  fowls,  and 
crackers  spread  with  new-made  apple-butter,  finishing  the 
repast  with  mellow  apples.  Their  suppers  over,  they  lay 
down  on  beds  of  hay  from  the  barn,  and  slept  till  roused  by 
the  cheerful  reveille.  The  next  day  brought  the  army  to 
Harrisonburg.  Averill's  cavalry  had  gone  up  the  valley  on 
the  west,  with  the  intention  of  intercepting  the  Rebels  here, 
and  of  delaying  them,  if  possible,  till  the  arrival  of  our  in 
fantry.  But  they  had  passed  before  the  arrival  of  the  cav 
alry,  and  turning  to  the  left,  had  hastened  to  the  hills  of 
central  Virginia  by  way  of  Brown  Gap,  whither  it  was  im 
prudent  to  follow  them.  The  infantry  encamped  at  Harrison- 
burg  while  the  cavalry  proceeded  to  Staunton  and  Waynes- 
boro,  destroying  many  miles  of  railroad,  all  the  flour  mills, 
forage  and  government  property,  within  their  reach.  After 
remaining  in  camp  a  few  days,  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth 
corps  were  moved  forward  six  miles  to  Mount  Crawford, 
and  the  next  day  returned  to  Harrisonburg.  When  the 
army  had  remained  a  week  in  this  region,  far  from  its  base 
of  supplies,  and  the  enemy  had  shown  signs  of  emerging 
from  his  fastnesses,  the  camp  at  Harrisonburg  was  suddenly 
broken  up,  and  a  rapid  march  down  the  valley  commenced. 
The  third  day  brought  our  forces  to  Fisher's  Hill,  where  the 
enemy's  cavalry  overtook  the  rear  guard.  An  engagement 


692  THE  SOLBTETl  OF  INDIANA. 

was  interrupted  by  nightfall.  In  the  morning,  General  Sher 
idan  completely  routed  the  horsemen,  driving  them  back  up 
the  valley,  toward  their  infantry,  and  capturing  eleven  pieces 
of  artillery  and  all  their  baggage — in  the  words  of  his  report, 
"everything  on  wheels."  During  this  day,  our  infantry  lay 
in  camp  in  the  vicinity  of  Strasburg.  The  following  after 
noon,  the  army  moved  back  five  miles,  encamped  on  the 
north  side  of  Cedar  creek,  the  Eighth  corps  on  the  left,  near 
Massanutten  Mountain,  the  Nineteenth  in  the  centre,  with 
its  left  resting  on  the  valley  turnpike,  and  the  Sixth  on  the 
right.  Here  they  rested  till  the  afternoon  of  the  eleventh, 
when  the  Rebel  army,  having  arrived  at  Fisher's  Hill,  a  re 
connoitring  force  came  down  and  shelled  the  camp  of  the 
Eighth  corps,  and  sharply  engaged  a  brigade  sent  out  to 
meet  them.  Night  coming  on,  the  Rebels  retired  to  their 
intrenched  camp  at  Fisher's  Hill.  The  Sixth  corps,  which 
had  reached  Ashby's  Gap,  on  its  way  to  Washington  to  join 
the  army  of  the  Potomac,  was  recalled,  and  on  the  next  day 
arrived  and  again  took  up  its  position  on  the  right.  Shunk's 
brigade  had  been  moved  into  reserve  the  night  before.  It 
now  returned  to  its  place  in  the  second  line.  Up  to  this 
time  our  forces  had  occupied  their  camps  on  the  hills,  with 
out  artificial  defences,  but  now  long  lines  of  breastworks 
were  constructed  with  substantial  abatis  in  front.  In  a  few 
days  the  position  appeared  almost  impregnable.  Thus  the 
two  hostile  armies  lay  in  sight  of  the  smoke  by  day,  and  the 
fire  by  night,  of  each  others  camp,  nothing  occurring  to 
break  the  sameness,  save  an  occasional  skirmish  between 
pickets  and  reconnoitring  parties.  The  Federal  lines  lay 
along  the  hills  on  the  north  side  of  Cedar  creek,  which,  run 
ning  diagonally  across  the  valley  in  a  south-easterly  direc 
tion,  empties  into  the  west  fork  of  the  Shenandoah,  near 
Massanutten  Mountain.  The  Nineteenth  corps,  in  the  centre, 
overlooking  the  valley,  and  undulating  upward  and  beyond 
the  creek,  was  separated  from  the  Sixth  corps,  on  the  right, 
by  a  deep  ravine  through  which  a  rivulet  ran  to  Cedar  creek, 
and  from  the  Eighth  corps,  on  the  left,  by  the  valley  turnpike. 
While  the  army  was  thus  posted  and  the  Rebels  seemed 
inclined  to  remain  quiet,  Sheridan  made  a  flying  visit  to 


"  BUT  LOOK  !  WHY  PALES  THE  GUARDSMAN'S  CHEEK  ?  "     (593 

Washington.  On  the  night  of  the  eighteenth  he  slept  at 
Winchester  on  his  return.  On  that  evening  Captain  Black 
was  detailed  for  picket  duty,  and  accompanied  the  numerous 
guard  to  the  line  of  posts  about  a  mile  in  front  of  the  centre 
of  the  army.  The  picket  force  had  been  somewhat  reduced, 
but  still  consisted  of  several  large  reserves,  a  line  of  posts  of 
three  or  four  men  each  at  a  short  distance  from  one  another, 
besides  a  number  of  single  infantry  videttes.  The  night  was 
cool  and  most  beautiful.  The  perfect  stillness  was  broken 
by  an  occasional  shot  from  a  picket  post  on  the  left  of  the 
turnpike.  About  ten  o'clock,  three  horsemen  came  down  to  a 
point  a  hundred  yards  in  front  of  our  vidette,  halted  a  mo 
ment,  then  turned  away  toward  the  left.  There  was  a  stand 
ing  order  requiring  the  entire  picket  force  to  be  on  the  alert 
at  four  o'clock  every  morning,  and  the  whole  army  was  ac 
customed  to  stand  under  arms,  in  line,  from  five  till  broad 
daylight.  During  the  night  the  pickets  had  been  notified 
that  a  division  of  the  Nineteenth  corps  would  pass  the  line 
about  daylight  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy.  At  half  past  three 
their  reveille  was  heard.  At  this  time,  too,  the  pickets  on 
the  line  of  posts  occupied  by  Shunk's  brigade,  were  aroused 
and  placed  under  arms.  This  had  scarcely  been  done,  when 
away  on  the  extreme  right,  far  beyond  the  infantry  line,  at 
the  camp  of  the  cavalry  guarding  the  right  flank,  was  heard  a 
volley  of  musketry,  as  from  a  platoon  or  company,  followed 
at  short  intervals  by  volley  after  volley.  It  seemed  at  first 
but  a  morning  surprise  of  the  cavalry  camp,  yet  the  videttes 
were  reinforced  and  strict  vigilance  was  enjoined.  The  firing 
on  the  right  ceased  after  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  from  the 
first  volley.  Not  many  minutes  elapsed,  when,  on  the  ex 
treme  left,  on  the  flank  of  the  Eighth  corps,  were  heard  shots 
which  soon  became  incessant,  intermingled  with  the  wild 
yells  of  the  battle  charge,  and  the  dull  boom  of  artillery.  The 
flash  of  musketry,  the  blaze  of  artillery  and  the  fiery  curves 
of  flying  shells  penetrated  the  fog,  through  which  was  visi 
ble  but  the  faintest  appearance  of  dawn.  The  variations  of 
sound  told  that  the  Eighth  corps  was  retiring  before  the  ter 
rific  onset,  and  that  its  forsaken  artillery  was  being  turned 
upon  it.  While  the  pickets  in  front  of  the  centre  were 


694  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

watching  the  red  glare,  a  vidette  came  running  to  the  officers 
place  in  line  of  posts,  with  the  intelligence  that  a  strong  col 
umn,  preceded  by  skirmishers,  was  near  at  hand.  A  man 
was  dispatched  to  inform  the  reserves.  The  men  were  put 
in  readiness,  when  information  came  that  the  Rebels  were  in 
,our  rear.  Every  man  stood  with  rifle  ready,  peering  with 
anxious  eyes  and  listening  for  the  word  of  command.  Sud 
denly,  as  the  thickly  set  skirmishers  appeared  over  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  a  hundred  steps  in  advance,  loud  from  the  centre 
of  our  line  sounded  the  word,  "Fire!"  A  hundred  rifles 
blazed.  Without  answering  a  single  shot,  the  Rebels  rushed 
forward  to  capture  pickets,  as  had  been  clone  on  the  flank  of 
the  Eighth  corps.  Our  men,  turning  and  firing  on  their  yell 
ing  pursuers  as  fast  as  they  could  reload  their  pieces,  re 
treated  in  good  order.  When  the  Rebels  found  their  plan  of 
capture  frustrated,  they  let  out  a  storm  of  bullets  upon  our 
retreating  pickets,  who  thus  skirmishing,  at  length  reached 
camp.  Here  everything  was  in  confusion.  The  First  and 
Third  brigades  of  Grover's  division  were  occupying  the 
trenches  unaware  of  the  approach  of  an  enemy  in  front,  all 
attention  being  directed  to  the  fighting  on  the  left,  whither 
the  remainder  of  the  corps  had  been  sent  to  support  the 
Eighth.  Horses,  with  riders  and  riderless,  were  flying  hither 
and  thither.  Commissary  men  and  headquarters  men  were 
throwing  their  stores  and  baggage  loosely  upon  the  wagons. 
Wagons  with  frightened  horses  and  terrified  teamsters  were 
hurrying  in  disorder  to  the  rear,  losing  at  almost  every  rod 
something  of  their  badly  loaded  contents.  Over  all  resounded 
the  loud  roar  of  battle,  while  the  sulphurous  smoke  mixing 
with  the  heavy  fog,  rendered  every  object  indistinct  and  made 
the  air  almost  suffocating.  The  Rebels  had  now  brought  up 
their  own  artillery  to  the  hills  in  front,  lately  held  by  the 
Nineteenth  corps  pickets,  and  the  roar  that  brought  Sheridan 
down  from  Winchester,  began.  In  every  quarter  of  the 
camp  shells  were  bursting  and  scattering  destruction  where 
an  hour  before  thousands  were  sleeping  in  fancied  security. 
The  Rebel  line  on  the  left  extended  northward  from  the  left 
flank  of  the  Eighth  corps,  where  the  great  part  of  their  forces 
were  massed,  to  the  village  of  Middletown,  running  parallel 


"NOT  LOST  IF  VALOR  CAN  AVAIL."  {595 

with  the  turnpike,  and  by  its  mere  advance  constantly  flanked 
the  Federal  forces  thrown  against  the  point  of  attack.  The 
Nineteenth  corps  stood  long  and  well  against  the  fearful  odds, 
as  the  ground,  thickly  strewed  with  friends  and  foes,  after 
wards  attested.  At  length,  when  nearly  surrounded,  and 
when  bullets  whistled  almost  as  thick  from  flank  and  rear  as 
from  front,  all  gave  way  at  once,  and  went  flying  back  across 
the  turnpike  and  off  toward  the  right  flank  of  the  army,  fol 
lowed  by  the  Rebels,  not  in  line,  but  like  those  they  pursued, 
in  a  confused  swarm.  The  Eighteenth  here  lost  thirty-two 
men  taken  prisoners,  so  long  and  stubbornly  did  it  hold  its 
ground.  The  trenches  emptied  their  contents,  commencing 
on  the  left,  and  the  troops  occupying  them  followed  the  oth 
ers  toward  the  right,  while  the  Rebels  poured  over  the  works. 
At  the  ravine  dividing  the  Nineteenth  corps  from  the  Sixth, 
a  desperate  stand  was  made  to  stop  the  advance  of  the  Rebel 
host,  now  fairly  mad  with  success.  The  old  heroes  of  the 
Nineteenth  might  have  stood  their  ground  had  they  not  been 
again  flanked  and  compelled  to  choose  between  flight  and 
captivity.  The  Sixth  corps  in  the  meantime  had  struck  tents 
and  loaded  wagons,  which  were  sent  away  on  a  by-road  to 
the  rear,  while  many  of  the  wagons  belonging  to  the  Eighth 
and  Nineteenth,  having  gone  to  the  turnpike,  were  there  fal 
len  upon  and  captured.  Drawn  up  in  good  order,  the  Sixth 
stood  ready,  a  human  wall  to  bar  the  progress  of  the  fierce 
rabble  still  coming  on.  It  was  a  grand  thing  to  see — those 
long,  steady  lines  of  men,  each  of  whom  seemed  braced  with 
an  iron  souL  Unheeding  the  excited  thousands  flying  past 
them,  they  kept  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  scene  in  front,  and 
awaited  their  own  part  in  the  dreadful  drama  of  the  day. 
After  their  first  onset,  the  Rebels,  both  officers  and  men,  in 
constantly  increasing  disorder,  began  to  struggle  for  plunder 
in  the  captured  camps,  so  that  the  force  in  front  of  the  Sixth 
corps  was  much  diminished.  These  veterans  stood  long  and 
well,  but  again  was  repeated  the  flanking  process.  The  ad 
vancing  Rebels  reached  the  left  of  the  Sixth  corps,  which 
then  gave  way,  hurrying  after  the  Eighth  and  Nineteenth. 
By  the  exertion  of  their  officers,  these  had  been  now,  to  a 
great  extent,  reformed  and  placed  in  position  across  the  line 


696  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  retreat.  Whole  regiments  of  cavalry,  scattered  about  with 
drawn  sabres,  compelled  the  fugitives  to  join  their  commands 
in  the  newly  formed  line.  The  cavalry  bands,  discoursing 
martial  airs,  sought  to  infuse  new  spirit  into  the  defeated 
troops,  and  not  all  in  vain,  for  many,  whom  threats  and  drawn 
swords  had  failed  to  induce  to  join  again  in  the  seemingly 
hopeless  resistance,  were  cheered  and  called  to  duty  by  the 
familiar  strains  of  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

The  new  position  was  held  only  a  short  time,  but  having 
now  retired  beyond  the  right  of  the  Rebel  line,  by  the  advance 
of  which  they  had  so  often  been  flanked,  our  forces  fell  back 
with  less  precipitation.  The  pursuit  also  lagged,  the  Rebels 
being  scattered  over  the  deserted  camps,  and  utterly  disor 
ganized. 

Many  times  during  the  morning  was  heard  in  Union  ranks 
the  anxious  inquiry,  "Where  is  Sheridan?"  for  the  army  did 
not  at  first  know  of  his  absence,  and  it  had  not  long  been 
known,  when  he  appeared  on  the  field.  If  the  army  had 
been  whipped,  that  he  had  not,  his  manner  showed.  He  was 
greeted  by  shouts  and  joyful  welcome  as  he  galloped  here 
and  there,  examining  the  situation,  and  as  he  shouted  mer 
rily,  "Face  the  other  way,  boys!  We  are  going  back  to  our 
camps!  We  are  going  to  lick  them  out  of  their  boots!" 

Little  time  sufficed  to  turn  the  tide.  With  the  infantry  in 
the  centre  and  the  cavalry  on  the  flanks,  advance  began, 
slowly  and  steadily  at  first — rapidly,  but  still  steadily,  as  the 
Rebels  began  to  fall  back.  When  the  mounted  squadrons, 
the  best  cavalry  in  the  world,  came  down  with  impetuous 
charge  upon  their  flanks,  the  Rebels  broke  and  fled.  With 
well  preserved  lines  our  forces  swept  on  over  the  field,  now 
covered  with  the  dead  and  wounded  men  and  horses  of  both 
armies,  and  before  dark  they  had  regained  and  passed  their 
despoiled  camps.  Here,  in  every  hollow  and  every  nook,  lay 
heaps  of  wounded,  feebly  sheltering  themselves  from  the 
storm  of  battle. 

Soon  after  our  army  had  been  routed,  less  than  an  hour 
after  the  first  charge  of  the  Rebels,  the  camps  were  overrun 
by  hundreds  of  women  from  the  neighboring  village  of  Stras- 
burg.  Laying  aside  the  natural  pity  of  their  sex,  they  taunted 


"THE  CAMPS  ARE  GAINED,  THE  FIELD  REWON."  697 

the  helpless,  mangled  men  in  blue,  asking  the  dying  "if  they 
would  ever  steal  apple  butter  again,''  and  the  maimed  for  life 
"if  they  would  ever  burn  another  barn,"  and  never  offering  a 
drop  of  water,  or  making  an  effort  to  find  a  cooling  shade. 
At  night  our  infantry  discontinued  1he  pursuit,  but  the  cav 
alry,  breaking  through  the  rear  guard,  pushed  on  through  the 
darkness  among  the  confused  Rebels,  capturing  wagon?,  ar 
tillery  and  prisoners  in  great  numbers. 

The  Third  Indiana  captured  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
four  stands  of  colors.  Twenty-four  of  our  guns,  all  that  had 
been  captured  in  the  morning,  were  recaptured,  with  twenty- 
three  Rebel  guns  in  addition.  The  enemy,  after  a  short  halt 
at  Fisher's  Hill,  continued  the  flight  during  the  night,  while 
the  Federal  army,  faint  and  famished,  rested  on  the  field  it 
had  lost  and  won  the  same  day. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the  part  taken  by  a  single 
regiment  in  the  great  battle.  The  Eighteenth,  displaying  its 
accustomed  discipline  and  bravery,  fought  all  day,  and  out 
of  three  hundred  men  who  entered  the  ranks  in  the  morning, 
lost  eighty-nine  in  killed,  wounded  and  captured.  The  sec 
ond  day  after  the  battle  the  army  returned  and  occupied  its 
old  camps  as  before.  But  all  was  not  the  same.  There  was 
scarcely  a  mess  that  had  not  lost  a  man,  and  many  a  mess 
answered  not  at  all  to  the  call  of  its  number.  It  was  indeed 
a  saddening  .sight,  the  old  weather-browned  veterans  sitting 
silent  and  apart  through  the  hazy  autumn  afternoons,  think 
ing  of  comrades  with  whom  they  had  so  often  shared  their 
blankets  and  their  rations,  with  whom  they  had  stood  on  the 
lonely  picket  post,  by  whose  sides  they  had  marched  and 
fought,  but  who  now  lay  on  the  field,  or  in  the  dreaded  hos 
pital,  or  were  being  hurried  into  a  captivity  whose  name  had 
become  a  synonym  for  death.  Wistfully  they  looked  round 
upon  the  heaps  of  newly  turned  earth,  scattered  in  groups  all 
over  the  field,  and  wondered  when  would  the  cruel  war  be 
over. 

Among  the  fatally  wounded  were  Major  Williams  and 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Charles.  The  former  was  struck  by  a 
shell,  which  burst  at  his  feet,  tearing  off  one  leg  and  horribly 
mangling  the  other.  He  lay  on  the  field,  where  he  fell,  all 


699  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

through  the  scorching  day  and  almost  freezing  night,  stripped 
nearly  naked  by  the  plundering  Rebel  stragglers,  and  suffer 
ing  a  thousand  deaths  from  his  undressed  wounds.  Having 
been  removed  to  the  hospital  at  Winchester,  he  died  there  a 
few  days  afterward,  lamented  by  all  as  a  brave  man  and  an 
excellent  officer.  He  entered  the  service  as  Captain  of  Com 
pany  I,  from  Franklin,  where  he  had  been  in  the  practice  of 
law,  and  where  he  left  a  family  to  mourn  his  early  loss. 

Colonel  Charles  was  wounded  by  a  rifle-shot  through  the 
breast,  and  was,  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  saved  from  fall 
ing  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  He  was  accompanied  by 
his  brother,  who,  though  not  an  enlisted  soldier,  had  fought 
by  his  side,  and  who  now  took  him  to  the  home  of  their  parents 
in  Illinois,  where,  on  the  tenth  of  November,  four  days  after 
his  arrival,  he  died. 

Colonel  Charles  was  born  in  White  county,  Illinois,  in 
June,  1829.  His  education  was  completed  at  Bloomington, 
Indiana.  In  1860  he  removed  to  Bloomington,  and  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  law.  When  the  Rebellion  broke  out  he 
entered  the  first  company  of  that  place  as  an  enlisted  man. 
On  the  organization  of  the  Eighteenth  he  was  commissioned 
as  Captain  of  Company  H.  His  health  was  never  good,  and 
was  still  further  impaired  by  the  severe  service  upon  which 
his  regiment  immediately  entered.  Yet  so  great  was  his  en 
ergy,  and  so  firm  his  purpose,  that  he  performed  the  most 
trying  duties,  and  endured  the  severest  hardships,  frequently 
to  be  completely  prostrated  when  the  exigency  was  past. 
During  the  Vicksburg  campaign  his  bravery  rendered  him 
conspicuous.  His  gallant  conduct  at  Port  Gibson  was  men 
tioned  in  general  orders,  and,  though  not  the  ranking  Cap 
tain,  he  was  elected  by  the  officers  of  the  regiment  to  the 
vacant  Lieutenant  Colonelcy.  His  disease,  a  bronchial  affec 
tion,  had  been  constantly  progressing,  and  during  the  cam 
paign  in  the  Shenandoah  valley  he  quite  lost  the  power  of 
speaking  above  a  whisper.  Yet  though  a  proper  subject  of 
the  tenderest  care  of  home,  he  would  not,  at  such  a  time, 
leave  his  post  of  duty.  As  might  be  expected  of  a  man  so 
brave,  he  possessed  the  tenderest  and  noblest  impulses.  The 
soldier  knew  him  as  his  constant  friend,  and  when  he  fell  in 


END  OF  SHENANDOAH  CAMPAIGN.  (599 

the  last  battle  of  the  campaign,  and  in  the  last  in  which  his 
regiment  fought,  felt  that  though  a  weary  sufferer  had  gone 
to  an  honorable  rest,  yet  a  generous  and  brave  comrade  was 
forever  lost.  After  the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek  the  Eighteenth 
was  commanded  by  Captain  James  B.  Black. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  October  Slmnk's  brigade  was 
detailed  as  escort  for  the  train  conveying  supplies  from  Mar- 
tinsburg  to  the  army,  the  country  lying  between  being  in 
fested  by  Mosby's  cavalry.  At  Martinsburg  the  Eighteenth 
was  rejoined  by  Colonel  Washburn,  who  immediately  after 
the  election  in  Indiana  hastened  back  to  his  post,  anxious  to 
participate  with  his  regiment  in  the  glorious  campaign.  He 
relieved  Captain  Black,  but  was  now  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Fourth  brigade,  when  the  command  of  the  Eighteenth  de 
volved  on  the  senior  officer,  Captain  Ben.  H.  Robinson.  On 
returning  from  the  second  march  to  the  railroad,  the  army 
had  fallen  back  to  Kernstown,  four  miles,  in  front  of  Win 
chester.  The  Rebels,  under  Early,  had  again  come  down 
the  valley,  and  the  cavalry  of  the  two  armies  had  all  day 
been  skirmishing.  Another  general  engagement  was  ex 
pected,  and  in  view  of  it  Washburn's  brigade  was  relieved 
from  escort  duty,  and  placed,  with  its  division,  in  line  of  bat 
tle.  All  night  and  all  the  next  day  the  infantry  constructed 
breastworks,  and  felled  the  timber  in  front  of  them,  while  the 
cavalry  still  skirmished  with  the  enemy.  The  Rebel  infantry 
forces  crossed  Cedar  creek,  and  came  down  as  far  as  Middle- 
town,  but  seeing  the  preparation  to  receive  them,  they  wisely 
concluded  not  to  risk  another  engagement  with  the  troops 
by  whom  they  had  already  been  three  times  severely  punished, 
and  again  withdrew  from  the  valley.  Winter  was  now  ap 
proaching,  and  as  soon  as  they  had  been  relieved  of  the  im 
mediate  presence  of  the  enemy,  the  Union  forces  began  the 
erection  of  winter  quarters. 

Captain  Black,  who,  on  the  death  of  Major  Williams,  was 
commissioned  Major,  and  who,  on  the  death  of  Colonel 
Charles,  was  made  Lieutenant  Colonel,  now  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  Eighteenth, 


700  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

ATLANTA. 

<;For  every  stripe  of  stainless  hue, 
And  every  star  in  the  field  of  blue, 
Ten  thousand  of  the  brave  and  true 
Have  laid  them  down  and  died." 

The  Atlanta  campaign  was  a  running  fight,  extending 
over  several  parallel  ranges  of  the  Alleghanies,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  miles,  and  continuing  through  the  hot  months 
of  the  year,  May,  June,  July  and  August,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  days.  The  mountain  region  of  Georgia  was 
one  of  the  most  valuable  and  valued  portions  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  certainly  not  for  its  wonderful  mixture  of  the  wild 
and  the  gentle  in  natural  scenery,  nor  for  its  healthful  and 
delicious  climate,  but  for  its  practical  uses,  necessity  having 
forced  the  supercilious  South  to  a  certain  degree  of  esteem 
for  labor.  Yankee  and  German  minds  were  induced  to 
apply  themselves  to  the  task  of  relieving  the  rocks  of  their 
burden  of  ore,  and  of  turning  to  account  the  ice  cold  springs 
and  crystal  streams.  Numerous  manufactories,  transform 
ing  iron  into  rails,  and  into  military  weapons  and  implements, 
weaving  cloth,  sewing  caps  and  pegging  shoes,  indicated 
satisfactory  and  indeed  surprising  success.  The  culminating 
point  of  industry  and  enterprise  was  Atlanta,  called  the 
"Gate  City,"  from  its  position  south  of  the  southern  verge 
of  the  mountains,  between  the  highlands  and  the  lowlands, 
and  at  the  intersection  of  several  important  railroads.  At 
lanta  flourished  by  the  war,  which  in  turn  owed  much  to 
Atlanta.  Early  in  1863,  the  Gate  City  was  strongly  forti 
fied,  apparently  with  reference  to  its  importance,  rather  than 
to  necessity,  for  its  position,  defied,  if  it  did  not  forbid  ap- 


CONCENTRATION  OF  SHERMAN  S  FORCES.       7QJ 

proach  from  the  north.  The  first  of  its  natural  lines  of  de 
fence  is  the  wide,  deep  and  swift  Chattahoochie,  not  eight 
miles  distant,  with  its  tributaries,  Nancy's  and  Peach  Tree 
creeks.  Ten  or  twelve  miles  further  north  is  the  rugged 
range,  of  which  the  double-headed  Kenesaw  is  the  central 
and  loftiest  mountain.  The  Etowah  mountains  and  the 
Etowah  river,  the  broad  Oostanaula,  with  its  forming 
branches,  the  Conasauga  and  Coosawattie,  and  the  precipi 
tous  cliffs  of  Rocky  Face  ridge,  with  unbroken  stretches  of 
ancient  forest,  and  gorges  choked  with  tangled  vegetation, 
complete  the  enumeration.  The  slender  railway,  running 
through  narrow  passes  and  long  tunnels,  on  costly  bridges, 
and,  where  the  land  is  comparatively  level,  between  parallel 
streams,  is  the  only  line  which  connects  Atlanta  to  Chatta^ 
nooga.  The  roads  of  the  region  are  few  and  bad. 

Seven  months  had  elapsed  since  Rosecrans  crossed  the 
Tennessee,  and  more  than  five  months  had  passed  since  the 
battles  of  Lookout  and  Mission  Ridge,  when  Sherman  or 
ganized  and  concentrated  his  army  for  the  Atlanta  cam 
paign.  He  united  the  armies  of  the  Cumberland,  the  Ten 
nessee  and  the  Ohio,  drawing  them  from  east  and  west  and 
central  Tennessee;  from  Mississippi  and  Alabama;  and 
calling  to  the  front  troops  which,  though  long  in  the  service, 
had,  as  yet,  been  employed  in  guarding  railroads,  and  volun 
teers  who  were  but  recently  enrolled.  All  told,  his  forces 
numbered  ninety-eight  thousand  and  a  few  hundred  men. 
The  three  armies,  though  united,  retained  their  form  and 
designation,  and  were  under  the  command  respectively  of 
Thomas,  McPherson  and  Schofield.  Six  corps  were  present 
at  the  outset, — Howard's,  Palmers,  Hooker's,  Logan's  and 
Dodge's,  and  the  single  corps  which  comprised  the  Army  of 
the  Ohio.  The  army  included  sixteen  infantry  divisions,  un 
der  Stanley,  Newton  and  Wood ;  Baird,  Johnson  and  Davis ; 
Geary,  Butterfield  and  "Williams;  Osterhaus,  Wood  and 
Harrow;  Hovey,  Cox  and  Judah ;  and  three  cavalry  divisions 
under  Kilpatrick,  Stoneman  and  Garrard.  M'Cook  had  part 
in  the  campaign  at  a  later  date.  Judah  was  superseded  by 
Hascall  shortly  after  the  march  began.  Hovey's  division 
consisted  entirely  of  Indiana  regiments,  straight  from  home 


702  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

and  excessively  tired  by  a  march   of  twenty  days,  during 
which  they  had  carried  guns,  clothing,  blankets  and  rations. 

The  Confederate  army  was  nearly  sixty  thousand  strong, 
in  three  corps,  under  Hardee,  Hood  and  Polk,  with  ten  thou 
sand  cavalry  under  Wheeler.  General  Johnston  was  Com- 
mander-in- Chief.  It  was  behind  Rocky  Face  ridge,  in  and 
around  Dalton,  with  an  outpost  on  Tunnell  Hill,  twenty 
miles  from  Chattanooga. 

The  Army  of  the  Cumberland  being  the  most  powerful, 
and  the  best  appointed  portion  of  the  triple  force,  formed  the 
centre  of  Sherman's  advance.  The  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
was  the  right  at  the  start,  but  it  was  swung  from  one  flank 
to  the  other  so  frequently,  and  with  such  facility,  that  it 
came  to  be  called  the  Whip-Lash.  Each  regiment  was 
limited  to  one  wagon.  Officers  and  privates  carried  their 
blankets,  and  nothing  else  except  rations.  The  greatness  of 
the  enterprise,  the  inspiration  of  numbers,  the  beauty  of  the 
scenery  and  the  charming  spring  weather  exhilarated  the 
troops,  and  they  set  out  in  high  spirits.  Yet  the  campaign 
had  hardly  opened  before  they  were  perceptibly  impressed 
with  its  severity.  Many  who  had  been  careless  of  religious 
services,  now  attentively  received  the  chaplain's  teachings. 

On  the  sixth  of  May,  the  pickets  saw  the  enemy's  pickets 
without  coming  in  contact  with  them.  The  next  day  there 
was  slight  skirmishing  on  Tunnel  Hill,  and  in  the  little  val 
ley  at  the  foot  of  Rocky  Face.  The  only  pass,  Buzzard  Roost 
gap,  was  triply  defended,  being  overflowed  by  the  damming 
of  a  little  stream,  half  choked  with  abatis,  and  commanded 
by  artillery.  Howard,  Hooker  and  Palmer  cleared  the  way 
to  the  base  with  a  strong  skirmish  line,  and  began  the  ascent, 
the  troops  pulling  themselves  up  by  means  of  roots  and 
bushes,  and  finding  shelter  behind  trees  and  shelving  rocks 
from  stones,  balls  and  bullets  which  were  cast  from  points 
above  them.  Schofield  was  on  the  left,  with  Hovey's  di 
vision  on  his  left.  He  captured  a  conical  elevation  which 
was  surrounded  by  strong  works  and  surmounted  by  heavy 
cannon.  Harker  made  a  vigorous  but  unsuccessful  assault. 
Whitaker,  with  a  portion  of  the  Eighty-Fourth,  under  Major 
Boyd,  deployed  in  his  front,  also  unsuccessfully  assaulted, 


ROCKY  FACE  GAINED.  703 

after  gaining  an  advanced  position  by  climbing.  Wagner 
gained  a  height  in  his  front.  The  Eighty-Sixth  skirmished 
Thirty  hours  without  relief,  advancing  within  a  few  yards  of 
the  top,  and  so  close  to  the  Rebels  as  to  invite  an  exchange 
of  remarks.  "What  corps  is  that  down  there?"  cried  a  sol 
dier  in  gray.  "  The  Fourth!"  replied  a  man  in  blue.  "  That's 
a  lie,"  rejoined  the  other,  "the  Fourth  corps  would  have  been 
on  the  ridge  by  this  time."  "What  regiment  are  you?" 
"Eighty-Sixth  Indiana."  "You  charged  Mission  Ridge, 
didn't  you?  If  we  had  been  there  instead  of  the  Arkansas 
troops,  you  never  would  have  reached  the  top."  He  inter 
rupted  his  frank  expression  of  opinion  by  shouting,  "Look 
out!  Here  comes  a  stone!" 

On  the  twelfth,  W^hitaker's  brigade  had  the  picket  line  very 
near  the  enemy's  works.  Father  Cooney,  who  never  omitted 
evening  prayer,  generally  calling  his  men  around  him  by  a 
little  bell,  this  evening  went  along  the  line  of  the  Thirty- 
Fifth  and  whispered,  "It  is  time  for  prayer.  Follow  me." 
The  men  obeyed,  leaving  their  arms  against  the  slight  breast 
works,  and  hastening  from  both  flanks  to  the  centre.  The 
alternate  recitation  of  prayer  by  pastor  and  flock,  attracted 
the  enemy's  fire,  which,  however,  proved  harmless. 

The  fighting  on  Rocky  Face  was  not  at  any  time  heavy. 
"  In  comparison  with  what  we  went  through  afterwards,"  an 
officer  in  Howard's  corps  said,  "our  stay  there  was  only  a 
picnic.  The  Rebels  amused  themselves  by  inviting  us  up  to 
the  top,  and  we  in  turn  invited  them  down.  They  never 
threw  a  stone  without  giving  us  warning." 

On  the  twelfth,  Howard  suddenly  found  his  front  clear. 
He  pressed  on,  leaving  nearly  a  thousand  killed  and  wounded, 
belonging  chiefly  to  the  divisions  of  Geary,  Wood  and  New 
ton.  The  Ninth,  deployed  in  skirmish  line,  was  the  first  reg 
iment  to  enter  Dalton,  and  among  the  foremost  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy's  rear,  as  it  retired,  over  the  direct  and  easy  road, 
eighteen  miles,  to  Resaca. 

A  flanking  movement  against  Resaca  had  occasioned  the 
sudden  backing  out  of  the  enemy.  While  Thomas  and 
Schofield  pressed  up  Rocky  Face,  McPherson,  with  Garrard's 
cavalry,  made  a  rapid  and  circuitous  march  through  Ship 


704  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Gap,  Villanow  and  Snake  Creek  gap,  surprising  and  putting 
to  flight  a  brigade  of  Rebel  cavalry,  and  appeared  directly  in 
front  of  Resaca,  though,  as  the  place  was  more  strongly  for 
tified  than  he  had  expected,  only  to  return  to  the  west  end  of 
Snake  Creek  gap.  Being  joined  by  Hooker,  Palmer  and 
Schofield,  after  they  had  made  an  inconceivably  hard  march, 
McPherson  deployed  again  through  the  hills  toward  Resaca, 
cavalry  skirmishing  in  advance.  The  enemy  was  admirably 
posted  behind  lines  of  rifle  pits,  and  strong  field  fortifications, 
running  across  the  peninsula,  at  the  head  of  which  Resaca  is 
situated,  and  close  round  the  town,  his  right,  under  Hardee, 
protected  by  the  Conasauga,  his  left,  under  Polk,  resting  on 
the  Oostauaula,  and  his  left  centre,  under  Hood,  covered  by 
a  small  branch  of  the  latter  river.  Under  fierce  skirmishing, 
Sherman  formed  his  lines  close  to  the  hostile  lines.  Scho 
field  on  the  left,  McPherson  on  the  right  and  Thomas  in  the 
centre.  On  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  the  thirteenth,  McPher 
son  moved  out  in  beautiful  order,  down  a  hill,  across  grain 
fields,  through  a  belt  of  woods  and  into  a  low  flat,  under  a 
murderous  fire  from  the  further  bank  of  a  narrow,  deep  stream. 
He  was  compelled  to  fall  back  into  the  shelter  of  the  woods, 
where  he  formed  a  new  line,  with  Harrow's  division  on  his 
left.  Major  Johnson,  of  the  One  Hundredth,  commanded 
the  heavy  skirmish  line  of  Williams'  brigade,  of  which  the 
Twelfth  and  One  Hundredth  regiments  formed  the  left  and 
right  flanks.  The  Twelfth  suffered  severely.  By  noon  of 
the  next  day,  in  spite  of  the  enemy's  warm  and  steady  oppo 
sition,  Sherman's  line  was  formed  from  right  to  left  in  the  fol 
lowing  order:  Dodge,  Logan,  Palmer,  Hooker,  Schofield 
and  Howard.  Chiefly  the  left  and  left  centre  were  engaged. 
Palmer's  corps,  in  an  attempt  to  advance,  drew  upon  itself 
at  the  first  movement,  a  terrible  artillery  fire,  nevertheless,  it 
plunged  forward  through  the  creek,  with  its  thick  border  of 
undergrowth  and  tangled  vines,  and  into  a  valley  which  was 
full  of  ditches.  It  was  forced  back.  Schofield  gained  ground, 
each  brigade  pushing  forward  with  its  utmost  strength. 
Manson's  brigade,  with  the  Sixty-Third,  under  Colonel  Stiles, 
in  the  front  line,  charged  across  open  ground  more  than  a 
half  mile,  under  a  terrific  fire,  and  took  a  portion  of  the 


RESACA  ASSAULTED.  705 

works.  Major  Patterson  and  Lieutenant  Swank  were  killed, 
and  one  hundred  and  ten  others  of  the  Sixty-Third  alone  fell. 
Howard,  after  severe  loss,  gained  a  point  in  the  enemy's 
outer  line.  Wagner's  brigade  was  not  engaged,  except  that 
his  skirmishers,  becoming  separated  from  the  command,  threw 
themselves  into  the  brunt  of  the  battle.  Two  companies  of 
the  Fortieth  and  Fifty-Seventh,  with  three  companies  from 
other  regiments,  formed  the  skirmish  line. 

The  Eighteenth  battery,  now  under  Captain  Beck,  was 
masked,  and  the  cavalry  supporting  it,  was  dismounted  and 
concealed  in  the  woods,  when,  at  three  o'clock,  Rebel  cavalry 
moving  toward  Schofield's  left,  came  within  two  hundred 
yards  of  the  position.  The  cavalrymen  rose,  the  artillerymen 
double-shotted  their  guns,  and  they  poured  out  a  stream  of 
b,ullet  and  ball.  The  Rebels  fled,  pursued  by  the  Second  In 
diana.  Lieutenant  Hill  commanding.  Shortly  after,  they 
impetuously  returned,  massing  solid  columns  against  Stan 
ley's  division.  They  drove  it  in  confusion,  and  seemed  on 
the  point  of  destroying  it,  but  were  checked  by  Simonson's 
battery  and  held,  until  Hooker,  moving  from  the  right,  came 
to  the  rescue.  The  moment  the  enemy  retired,  Hooker, 
springing  from  his  horse,  impulsively  shook  hands  with  every 
man  in  the  battery,  saying,  "  You  are  heroes,  every  one  of 
you!" 

Meantime,  Logan's  corps  and  part  of  Dodge's,  succeeded 
in  getting  over  the  creek,  which  they  had  approached  the 
previous  day,  and  which  Palmer  had  crossed  in  advancing 
and  recrossed  in  retreating.  They  took  a  line  of  rifle  pits, 
and  Logan  repulsed  a  heavy  and  desperate  assault.  Fight 
ing  continued  until  ten  at  night,  and  ceased  with  the  Fed 
eral  lines  nowhere  permanently  forced  back,  and  on  the  right 
and  centre  advanced  to  commanding  positions. 

Sunday  morning,  the  fifteenth,  under  cover  of  heavy  skirm 
ishing,  Hooker's  corps  massed  on  the  extreme  left,  to  assault 
two  fortified  hills  which  seemed  to  form  the  key  to  the  en 
emy's  position.  A  little  after  one  in  the  afternoon,  Butter- 
field,  with  his  division  in  five  lines,  the  Seventieth  in  the 
front  line,  and  closely  supported  by  Geary  and  Williams, 
45 


706  TIIE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

who  in  turn  were  supported  by  Hovey,  charged  through  the 
projecting  works  of  a  lunette,  having  a  fearful  fight  within 
its  wall,  and  pushed  on  beyond  the  main  line  of  the  enemy; 
but  staggered  by  an  enfilading  Rebel  fire  and  a  fire  on  the 
rear  from  their  comrades,  who  did  not  understand  their  posi 
tion,  the  troops  fell  back  to  the  ground  immediately  outside 
the  lunette.  To  advance  was  for  a  time  impossible.  It  was 
scarcely  possible  to  maintain  the  footing  already  gained. 
Nevertheless,  Butterfield  clung  to  the  point, 'and  after  dark 
succeeded  in  effecting  a  breach  and  in  taking  possession  of 
the  lunette,  in  which  he  captured  four  twelve  pounders. 
He  took  also  the  flags  of  two  regiments  and  more  than  two 
hundred  prisoners.  Meantime  the  supporting  divisions  were 
scarcely  less  warmly  engaged.  Williams  halted  within  four 
hundred  yards  of  the  enemy's  works,  and  Colonel  Colgrovaj. 
his  extreme  right,  advanced  with  his  regiment,  receiving  and 
returning  a  deadly  fire  as  he  moved.  When  the  lines  drew 
near,  the  Twenty-Seventh  darted  forward,  broke  the  Rebel 
ranks,  and  drove  them  back  to  their  works,  capturing  fifty 
or  sixty  prisoners,  and  the  colors  of  an  Alabama  regiment. 
Lieutenant  Chapin  was  killed,  and  Lieutenants  Stephenson 
and  Bloss  were  wounded.  Hovey's  division,  while  support 
ing  Hooker's  left,  made  a  brilliant  charge  on  the  enemy, 
moving  on  the  double-quick  and  with  loud  huzzas  through  a 
hailstorm  of  lead. 

During  the  struggle  on  the  left,  heavy  skirmishing,  with  a 
close  and  continual  encounter  of  sharpshooters,  occupied  every 
other  position  of  both  lines.  General  Willich  was  severely 
wounded. 

The  morning  of  May  16,  Sherman  entered  Resaca  in  tri 
umph,  Johnston  having  retreated  across  the  Oostanauga  dur 
ing  the  night. 

"  CAMP  SEVENTIETH  INDIANA. 

"We  were  nearly  all  night  of  the  twelfth  getting  ready  for 
the  fight.  Found  ourselves  next  morning  on  a  woody  hill, 
and  the  Rebels  just  opposite.  They  were  on  a  hill  shaped, 
it  seemed  to  me,  something  like  an  egg,  and  with  an  open 
space  all  round  it,  the  strongest  natural  fortification  I  ever 


CHARGE  OF  THE  SEVENTIETH.  707 

saw.  Then  they  had  three  or  four  lines  of  intrenchments. 
Between  us  and  them,  in  the  open  space,  was  a  deep,  muddy 
ditch,  so  it  would  have  been  folly  for  us  to  make  a  charge 
there.  We  sent  out  skirmishers,  who  hid  behind  stumps  in 
the  open  field,  and  shot  and  were  shot  at  all  day.  One  good 
thing,  cut  hill  was  round,  too,  so  we  could  get  behind  it. 
Bullets  from  Relfcl  sharpshooters  kept  flying  past  us  all  day, 
wounding  a  man  now  and  then.  General  Ward  couldn't 
keep  still,  he  wanted  to  make  a  charge  so  bad.  At  last  he 
ordered  the  brigade  forward,  so  our  regiment,  the  only  one 
that  advanced,  went  over  the  hill  in  about  ten  seconds,  (no 
exaggeration,)  and  hid  behind  a  fence  at  the  bottom.  In 
those  ten  seconds  we  lost  two  men  killed,  and  ten  wounded. 
What  •'would  have  been  our  loss  if  we  had  advanced  across 
the  tpen  field!  It  would  have  taken  us  three  quarters  of  an 
hour,  •  supposing  the  ditch  could  easily  be  crossed.  We 
waited  behind  the  fence  till  dark. 

"  Saturday  we  only  skirmished  and  shot  at  each  other. 
Sunday  morning  we  were  relieved,  (some  thought  to  rest.) 
We  passed  round  the  Rebel  'egg,'  where  the  space  was  not 
so  broad,  formed  into  line,  that  is,  General  Butterfield's  divi 
sion,  and  made  the  wild  charge,  our  regiment  in  front.  This, 
I  know,  we,  our  regiment,  the  Seventieth  Indiana,  took  the 
enemy's  guns.  That  we  were  not  fired  into  by  the  Rebels 
from  behind  their  intrenchments  for  ten  minutes  after  taking 
the  guns,  proves  the  statement  of  a  prisoner  that  a  whole 
Rebel  brigade  behind  those  works  threw  down  their  guns  and 
ran,  found  we  didn't  follow,  rallied  and  gave  us  fits. 

What  a  sad  mistake  in  not  advancing!  But  we  did  not 
know,  thought  that  all  there  was  to  be  done  was  to  take  the 
guns.  The  guns  neither  we  nor  the  enemy  could  get  all  day. 
The  next  day  the  Rebels  were  gone.  But  I  must  stop.  I 
shall  have  plenty  to  tell  you  another  time,  among  other  things, 
how  a  shell  burst  near  me  when  I  was  asleep  in  a  fence  cor 
ner!  Oh  but  they  are  wicked  sounding. things!  They  have 
an  awful,  screeching,  whining  tone,  and  seem  to  say,  *  You 
I'm  after,  nobody  else,'  or  as  the  darkey  said,  'Wha's  dat 
nigga?  Wha's  dat  nigga?  I  want  dat  nigga!'" 

Sherman's  loss  at  Resaca  was  more  than  four  thousand. 


708  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

The  Rebel  loss  was  about  half  as  great,  not  including  nearly 
a  thousand  prisoners. 

The  Twenty-Seventh  lost  twelve  killed  and  fifty  wounded. 

During  the  charge,  and  in  taking  the  battery  from  the  fort 
at  night,  the  Seventieth  lost  twenty-six  killed,  and  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty  wounded.  An  officer  describes  the  burial  of 
the  dead:  "  The  grave  was  six  feet  long  and  forty  feet  widf . 
We  laid  in  it,  side  by  side,  with  blankets  for  winding-sheets, 
the  forms  of  those  who  had  just  died  for  their  country.  We 
tenderly  dropped  evergreen  branches  on  the  sleeping  patriots 
to  break  the  fall  of  the  clods,  and  in  token  that  their  sacrifice 
should  ever  be  green  in  our  memories.  We  stood  with  heads 
uncovered  while  the  Captains  of  the  regiments  cast  in  the 
first  earth,  and  while  the  chaplain  prayed  that  the  sad  tidings 
might  not  break  the  hearts  of  the  widows  and  the  orphans. 
The  sinking  sun  closed  the  mournful  day." 

Colonel  Lennard,  of  the  Fifty-Seventh,  was  mortally 
wounded  on  the  thirteenth,  although  his  regiment  was  not 
engaged  in  the  fighting.  He  was  in  the  act  of  mounting  his 
horse,  when  a  shell  shattered  his  leg.  As  he  was  carried  past 
the  regiment  on  a  stretcher,  he  said  to  Major  McGraw,  u  Now 
take  good  care  of  the  boys,  Major."  He  was  carried  to  a 
cabin  in  the  rear,  and  laid  on  a  pallet  on  the  floor.  It  was 
soon  night,  and  pine  knots  \vere  kindled  in  the  fire-place. 
The  surgeon  was  unable  to  amputate  his  leg,  as  his  system 
did  not  react  from  the  shock.  He  was  told  that  he  might 
die  at  any  moment.  "What,  so  soon!"  he  exclaimed.  A 
smile  hovered  on  his  pale  face,  as  he  added,  "  It  is  necessary 
for  me  to  make  the  sacrifice,  and  I  make  it  cheerfully.  Here 
I  am  in  Georgia,  away  from  my  wife  and  my  dear  little  chil 
dren.  To-night  they  don't  know  that  I'm  dying  by  the  fire 
of  these  pine-knots." 

His  mind  dwelt  fondly  on  the  home  he  was  never  to  see, 
then  turned  calmly  to  the  contemplation  of  the  eternal  home 
to  which  his  spirit  was  flitting.  A  surgeon  prayed  with  him, 
and  encouraged  him  with  assurances  of  the  love  of  Jesus. 
He  died  in  perfect  peace. 

Captain  Peoples  was  killed  on  the  thirteenth,  a  ball  strik 
ing  his  head,  and  passing  entirely  through  his  body.  When 


THE  ARMY  ADVANCES.  709 

passing  through  the  woods  from  which  the  Twelfth  emerged 
on  making  its  charge,  he  expressed  to  a  comrade  one  of  those 
presentiments  which  are  forgotten  if  they  are  unfulfilled,  sadly 
recalled  if  they  are  realized:  "I  shall  be  killed  in  this  battle, 
but,"  he  added,  "  I  am  ready."  He  was  buried  at  dead  of 
night. 

Lieutenants  Bolcy  and  Caston,  of  the  Eighty-Eighth,  were 
killed.  Of  the  Eightieth,  Captain  Showers,  Lieutenants 
Archer  and  Craig  were  killed,  and  Captain  Emery  was  mor 
tally  wounded.  Lieutenant  Colestock,  of  the  Seventieth, 
was  mortally  wounded  after  the  battle,  as  he  was  drinking 
from  a  spring  in  the  rear. 

The  Eighty-Second  lost  twenty-five  men. 

A  Lieutenant  of  the  Sixty-Sixth,  exhausted  by  heat,  fatigue 
and  excitement,  lost  his  reason.  He  now  wanders  about  the 
Soldiers'  Home  at  Knightstown,  hopelessly  insane. 

With  very  little  delay  the  army  pushed  over  the  river  on 
pontoon  bridges.  Davis'  division  moved  down  the  north 
west  bank  of  the  Oostanaula,  to  Rome,  where  it  captured 
heavy  guns,  and  destroyed  mills  and  foundries.  Thomas, 
having  the  direct  road,  was  most  frequently  in  contact  with 
the  enemy,  whose  habit  was  to  fight  for  his  trains  in  the  even 
ing,  and  hasten  on  during  the  night,  but  the  whole  army 
moved  in  the  face  of  artillery,  and  with  frequent  cavalry  en 
counters  and  picket  skirmishes.  A  spirited  contest  at  Adairs- 
ville  threatened  to  become  a  battle.  Before  Kingston  Scho- 
field  and  Hooker  engaged  in  violent  skirmishing,  which 
seemed  nothing  less  than  the  opening  of  battle.  At  Cassville 
the  enemy  drew  up  behind  fortifications  of  great  strength, 
apparently  bent  on  stopping,  at  that  point,  the  tide  of  invas 
ion,  but  only  to  disappear  before  Sherman's  concentrated 
advance. 

"  CAMP  EIGHTY-SIXTH  INDIANA, 
"  CASSVILLE,  GEORGIA,  May  20,  1864. 

"We  march  sometimes  night  and  day,  and  our  habits 
are  so  irregular  and  universally  fatiguing  that  every  one  feels 
dull  and  tired.  No  advance  was  ever  made  by  a  very  large 
army  so  rapidly  as  this.  The  people  nearly  all  desert  their 
homes  at  our  approach,  scared  away  by  the  idea  that  we  are 


710  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Vandals,  and  will  destroy  them  if  they  fall  into  our  hands.  I 
saw  in  the  pretty  little  town  Calhoun,  a  house,  with  all  its 
nice  furniture,  its  beautiful  flower  garden,  standing  empty, 
a  temptation  for  the  soldier's  rough  hands  and  feet.  I  stopped 
and  got  some  roses.  While  I  was  in  the  town  the  owners, 
an  old  lady  and  her  daughter,  returned.  When  they  saw 
their  house  was  untouched, the  old  lady  broke  forth  into  ex 
clamations  of  joy  and  thankfulness  to  the  Yankees  for  their 
good  conduct." 

General  Kimball,  who  had  been  summoned  from  his  com 
mand  in  Little  Rock,  reported  to  Sherman  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  May,  and  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  First 
brigade  of  the  Second  division. 

Passing  beyond  the  Etowah  river,  and  burning  the  bridges 
behind  him,  the  enemy  halted  in  front  of  Alatoona  pass,  in 
the  Etowah  mountains,  in  so  formidable  a  position  as  to  de 
bar  attempt  at  a  direct  assault.  Sherman,  however,  lurked 
in  his  front  and  watched  him  until  he  was  prepared  to  move 
out  and  strike  him  on  the  flank. 

The  Forty-Second  was  on  picket  duty  seven  days  and 
nights,  within  fifty  yards  of  the  Rebel  skirmish  line,  without 
being  relieved.  May  23,  the  railroad  bridge  having  been  re 
paired,  and  supplies  brought  up,  the  army  with  twenty  days' 
provisions  cut  loose  from  the  line  of  communication,  and 
struck  out  over  painful  hills  and  difficult  ravines  to  Dallas,  a 
town  about  fifteen  miles  southwest  of  Alatoona  pass,  and 
eighteen  miles  west  of  Marietta.  McPherson  worked  his 
way  to  Van  Wert,  nearly  twenty  miles  west  of  Dallas,  to 
come  in  on  Thomas'  ri^ht.  Schofield  moved  over  to  con- 

O 

nect  with  Thomas'  left.  Davis  went  down  directly  from 
Rome.  The  slow,  toilsome  and  dangerous  march  met  its 
first  serious  rebuff  on  Pumpkin  Vine  creek,  near  New  Hope 
church,  at  the  meeting  of  roads  from  Dallas,  Ackworth  and 
Marietta.  Geary's  division,  following  a  sharp  encounter  of 
cavalry,  came  suddenly  upon  the  enemy  in  force.  Butter- 
field  entered  into  the  engagement.  Williams  advanced  just 
before  sundown,  moving  but  a  short  distance,  through  the 
thick  pine  woods  of  the  region,  before  his  right,  the  Twenty- 
Seventh,  found  itself  in  close  proximity  to  the  enemy's  works. 


NEW  HOPE  CHURCH  AND  PICKETTS  MILLS. 

Its  right  was  enfiladed  by  two  pieces  of  artillery,  while  its 
front  suffered  also  from  a  heavy  fire.  After  losing  fifty-six 
men  it  was  compelled  to  take  refuge  behind  a  little  hill. 
The  Rebels  also  retreated,  being  pressed  by  the  increasing 
Union  force.  They  took  shelter  in  their  intrenchments,  and 
threw  back  their  assailants,  inflicting  a  loss  of  six  hundred. 
Howard  hastened  up,  but,  overtaken  by  night  and  storm,  he 
was  compelled  to  halt.  Three  days  were  spent  in  manoeu 
vring,  skirmishing  and  battling  along  the  lines,  which  were 
discovered  to  stretch  from  Dallas  to  Marietta,  and  to  be 
scarcely  less  strong  than  the  position  at  Alatoona  pass. 
Wood's  division  was  engaged  twenty-two  hours.  It  marched 
early  in  the  morning  of  the  twenty-seventh,  and  at  four 
o'clock  confronted  the  enemy's  right.  At  half-past  four, 
Hazen's  brigade  made  its  way  through  innumerable  obsta 
cles,  and  under  a  front  and  enfilading  fire,  almost  to  the 
Rebel  intrenchrnents.  Unable  to  preserve  the  line,  yet  un 
willing  to  retreat,  the  men  sought  shelter  behind  logs,  stumps 
and  rocks,  and  held  their  ground  until  they  were  relieved  by 
Gibson's  brigade.  Gibson  was  equally  unfortunate  and 
equally  resolute,  not  falling  back  until  his  withdrawal  was 
covered  by  Knefller,  in  command  of  Wood's  Third  brigade. 
Becoming  engaged  immediately,  Knefllcr's  front  line  was 
thrown  into  confusion,  but  his  rear,  the  Seventy-Ninth,  gal 
lantly  came  forward,  and  driving  the  Rebels,  pushed  through 
woods  and  across  an  open  field  within  three  hundred  yards 
of  the  breast  works.  Compelled  to  halt  in  the  edge  of  the 
field,  the  Seventy-Ninth  covered  its  front  with  fence  rails, 
and  under  this  slight  protection  resisted  the  returning  enemy 
until  nine  at  night,  when  it  fired  away  its  last  ammunition 
and  fell  back.  The  Eighty-Sixth  guarded  the  left  flank  of 
Wood's  division,  and  lay  on  the  ground  an  hour  under  the 
fire  of  a  Rebel  battery.  A  shell  burst  at  the  feet  of  Colonel 
Dick,  a  piece  of  it  glanced  aside  from  his  sword-belt,  yet 
wounded  him  sufficiently  to  disable  him  a  month.  A  part 
of  Palmer's  corps  was  also  engaged  in  the  fight  at  this  point, 
and  his  left,  the  Thirty-Seventh,  lost  fifty-five  men  in  killed 
and  wounded.  The  next  day  Johnston  desperately  assaulted 
McPherson,  striking  him,  as,  protected  by  good  breastworks, 


712  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

he  was  reaching  out  to  Thomas,  with  the  intention  of  mov 
ing  back  to  the  railroad.  Harrow's  division  had  McPher- 
son's  right,  with  Williams'  brigade  on  his  right.  A  fearful 
cannonade  announced  the  assault,  and  the  troops,  crouching 
behind  their  works,  waited  in  awful  expectation  for  the  wild 
yell  which  introduces  a  charge.  It  rose,  mingled  with  the 
closing  artillery  fire,  and  continued  after  that  had  ceased. 
Then  the  enemy  rolled  in  billows  toward  McPherson's  cen 
tre,  sweeping  over  or  breaking  up  heavy  lines  of  skirmishers. 
He  was  himself  broken  under  a  terrific  fire  from  the  trenches, 
but  reformed  and  returned,  and  returned  again,  each  time 
weaker,  and  at  last  reeling  back  with  a  loss  of  more  than 
three  thousand.  McPherson  did  not  lose  one  thousand. 

Sherman  had  failed  in  his  effort  to  gain  the  enemy's  right 
flank,  and  he  now  gradually  moved  his  army  to  the  left,  at 
length  overlapping  the  Rebel  right,  Stoneman's  and  Garrard's 
cavalry  seizing  Alatoona  pass.  Stoneman's  division  included 
the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Indiana.  Garrard's  included  the  Seven 
teenth  and  Seventy-Second.  The  Rebels  withdrew  their 
left  from  New  Hope  Church,  and  fell  back  slowly  and  sul 
lenly  to  the  mountains  which  cover  Marietta  and  the  Chat- 
tahoochie.  Reinforced  by  fifteen  hundred  Georgia  militia, 
they  ridged  the  spurs  with  trenches  and  barricades,  over 
topped  the  summits  with  batteries,  and  crowned  the  lofty 
conical  peaks  with  signal  stations.  The  mountains  were  like 
grisly  giants  armed  from  top  to  toe.  Polk  had  the  centre 
and  advance,  Pine  Mountain;  Hardee  the  right,  Kenesaw 
and  Hood  had  the  left,  Lost  Mountain.  Fifteen  thousand 
cavalry  covered  the  flanks.  The  country  lay  spread  out  be 
neath  like  an  open  map.  Sherman  could  hope  nothing  from 
concealment,  and  could  find  little  encouragement  for  strat 
egy.  He  waited  to  hear  the  railroad  whistle,  and  was  rein 
forced  meantime  by  Long's  brigade  of  cavalry,  and  by  two 
divisions  of  Blair's  corps,  which  had  marched  more  than 
three  hundred  miles.  General  Gresham  was  in  command  of 
one  division.  Colonel  Sanderson  was  in  charge  of  Gresham's 
brigade,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Davis  had  command  of  the 
Twenty-Third  Indiana.  When  the  advance  was  resumed, 
McPherson  was  on  the  left,  and  Schofield  was  oil  toward 


THE  APwMY  BEFORE  KENESAW.  713 

Lost  Mountain,  Stoneman  and  Garrard  covered  the  flanks, 
and  M'Cook  guarded  the  rear.  Thomas  moved  directly  to 
ward  Kenesaw  and  Pine,  and  endeavored  to  break  the  line 
which  connected  the  two  mountains.  June  14,  during  sharp 
cannonading,  General  Polk  was  killed.  The  following  night 
his  command  abandoned  Pine  Mountain  and  retired  to  Ken 
esaw.  Manoeuvring,  skirmishing,  battling  and  assaulting, 
at  one  time  throwing  forward  a  division,  at  another  depend 
ing  on  a  single  regiment,  Sherman  gained  line  upon  line. 
In  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth,  Hascall's  division,  under 
a  furious  fire  of  grape  and  canister,  captured  an  intrenched 
point,  with  many  prisoners.  At  the  same  time  the  Eight 
eenth  battery,  with  its  division  (cavalry),  attacked  the  lines 
from  the  south,  and  after  a  sharp  engagement  of  an  hour, 
occupied  the  Rebel  works.  At  last,  Lost  Mountain,  with  a 
long  line  of  admirable  works,  which  connected  it  with  Kene 
saw,  was  gained.  The  Sixth  cavalry  was  the  first  to  enter 
the  works,  and  the  first  to  raise  the  flag  on  Lost  Mountain. 
Sherman  now  drew  up  his  lines,  and  prepared  to  storm 
Kenesaw.  The  rain  rained  every  day  during  three  weeks, 
Hooding  the  camps  and  destroying  the  health  of  the  new 
troops.  Nevertheless  advance  was  made  inch  by  inch. 
Picket  firing  stopped  only  when  it  became  skirmishing.  June 
17,  the  Thirty-Eighth,  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Griffin, 
drove  the  enemy  from  his  rifle-pits  in  its  front  to  his  main 
works,  and  gained  a  position  six  hundred  yards  therefrom. 
On  the  eighteenth  the  Fortieth,  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
strong,  shot  away  over  sixty  thousand  rounds  of  ammunition, 
and  lost  thirty-three  men.  The  same  day  the  Fifty-Seventh 
captured  skirmish  pits'  and  forty  men,  and,  supported  by  the 
Twenty-Sixth  Ohio  and  One  Hundredth  Illinois,  gained  a 
point  in  the  enemy's  second  line.  On  the  twentieth  the 
Thirty-Fifth,  while  in  the  front  line,  was  fiercely  and  unex 
pectedly  attacked  and  thrown  into  confusion.  It  rallied  and 
fought  hand  to  hand,  using  muskets  as  clubs.  Sixty-five 
men  fell.  Major  Dufficy,  in  command,  was  killed. 


SEVENTIETH,  May  30. 
"  Even  if  one  has  to  remain  quiet,  the  constant  firing  and 


714  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  continued  waiting  exhaust  body  and  spirit  Scarcely  a 
night  passes  without  an  attack,  and  no  words  coined  on  earth 
can  describe  the  terrific  nature  of  such  affairs.  One  could 
hardly  imagine  that  the  bursting  of  all  the  fiends  from  the 
pit  would  be  able  to  create  so  fearful  a  confusion.  I  thought 
I  had  been  in  some  terrible  thunder  storms;  but  I  feel  now 
like  David  after  he  had  taken  the  census,  and  was  offered  a 
choice  of  punishments;  I  should  rather  fall  into  the  hands 
of  God  than  of  man. 

"We  are  gaining  very  slowly.  Indeed  our  regiment  occu 
pies  the  identical  ground  we  siezed  a  week  ago.  S.  M." 

"BATTLE  FIELD,  ALATOONA  MOUNTAIN,  ) 
" EIGHT Y-SiXTH  REGIMENT,  June  o.    ) 

"  Our  regiment  has  been  in  the  front  for  the  past  few  day?, 
and  so  near  the  enemy's  works  that  we  dare  not  put  our  heads 
over  our  works.  It  has  rained,  and  made  it  very  disagreea 
ble  to  lie  in  the  ditches.  We  have  had  to  do  most  of  the 
work  by  night.  Our  regiment  was  within  three  hundred 
yards  of  a  battery  of  five  guns,  which  opened  on  us  last 
evening,  and  sent  their  infernal  shells  so  near  our  heads  that 
it  seemed  we  should  all  be  killed.  D.  T." 

"AcivWORTH,  June  8. 

"  We  have  just  succeeded  in  getting  the  enemy  out  of  an 
other  very  strong  position,  but  I  expect  to-morrow  noon  will 
find  us  pop,  popping  away  again.  It  seems  strange  not  to 
hear  the  bullets  cutting  through  the  leaves  about  my  head. 
We  fought  the  Rebels  twelve  days  in  their  last  position. 
They  make  all  their  positions  so  strong  that  it  is  impossible 
to  take  them  by  direct  attack,  so  we  have  to  flank  them  out 
I  hope  we  can  go  on  with  the  good  work  until  we  get  them 
out  of  these  everlasting  hills.  An  open  field  fight  would  be 
almost  a  luxury. 

"  We  are  about  thirty  miles  from  Atlanta.  I  presume  the 
fight  that  is  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  place  will  not  be  much 
longer  delayed.  I  am  anxious  to  get  there,  for  I  think  we 
may  get  a  little  rest  then. 

"  Shells  have  burst  all  about  me,  but  no  piece  has  hit  me. 


"ROUGH  TIMES,  SURE."  715 

One  burst  near  my  head,  burnt  my  face  and  tickled  my  ears. 
I  can  stand  a  good  deal  of  noise,  and  a  'miss  is  as  good  as  a 
mile.'  "D.  T." 

"SEVENTIETH  INDIANA,  } 

"!N  THE  WOODS  THREE  MILES  BELOW  ACKWORTH,  > 
"  SUNDAY  MORNING,  June  12.          ) 

"Rain!  Rain!  Rain!  I  never  saw  the  like.  Thunder 
storm  after  thunderstorm.  Rain  all  night.  It  was  nine 
o'clock  this  morning  before  it  stopped  long  enough  for  me  to 
crawl  out  (the  only  way  to  get  out  of  these  little  tents)  and 
make  a  cup  of  coffee.  We' were  ordered  to  pack  up  the  other 
morning  at  daylight;  just  as  we  got  ready  it  commenced  to 
rain,  and  we  waited,  and  waited,  and  waited  for  further  or 
ders  all  day  in  the  rain.  The  hardest  rain  I  ever  saw  fell  the 
other  day  when  our  regiment  was  on  picket,  but  I'll  give  an 
account  of  the  whole  day.  At  daylight  we  were  called  up 
unexpectedly  to  be  ready  to  march  in  ten  minutes.  We 
were  ready,  and  waited  two  hours,  couldn't  take  off  our  things 
to  get  breakfast.  At  dinner  time  we  stacked  arms,  but 
couldn't  leave  ranks  to  get  dinner.  Resting  about  an  hour, 
we  went  several  miles  further,  and  put  up  our  tents  for  the 
night.  Just  got  them  up  when  an  order  came  for  the  whole 
regiment  to  go  on  picket.  Then  the  rain  came  down  by  the 
bucketfull,  and  constant  firing  was  kept  up  all  night.  The 
supply  train  can't  get  up,  and  we  are  on  half  rations.  I  have 
seen  fellows  offer  twenty-five  and  fifty  cents  for  a  hard  tack. 
In  passing  a  battery  near  us  yesterday  I  saw  a  fellow  from 
our  regiment  picking  up  a  few  grains  of  corn  which  a  battery 
horse  had  left.  We  are  having  rough  times,  sure!  It  won't 
last  long,  though,  and  I  don't  mind  it  at  all  while  I  am  well. 

"  We  havn't  been  under  fire  now  for  several  days,  though 
we  can  hear  cannon  now  and  then  on  our  right.  We  were 
under  fire  almost  a  month  every  day  from  the  tenth  of  May 
to  the  first  of  June,  skirmishing  or  fighting.  We  hnd  over 
eight  hundred  men  for  duty  at  Wauhatchie,  and  now  havn't 
four  hundred, — one  hundred  and  sixty-three  killed  and 
wounded,  and  the  rest  played  out.  And  this  I'm  afraid  is 
only  the  beginning.  L.  K." 


716  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

" SEVENTIETH  INDIANA,  ) 

UNOT   FAR  FROM    MARIETTA,  JuilC  19.   j 

"  We  started  on  our  journey  again  after  the  Rebels,  and 
got  into  a  fight  just  before  dark.  We  ran  on  one  of  their 
strong  forts,  and  ho\v  we  ever  got  out  again  is  wonderful. 
They  had  eight  guns  playing  against  our  regiment.  The 
shot  and  shell  were  terrible,  but  only  some  forty  were  wounded, 
and  a  few  torn  all  to  pieces.  Some  had  very  narrow  escapes. 
A  bullet  struck  a  spy  glass  in  Major  Ragan's  pocket,  and  af 
terward  a  cannon  ball  cut  his  belt  in  two,  and  only  bruised 
him.  One  man  had  his  haversack  torn  all  to  pieces,  another 
his  gun  bent  like  a  hoop.  After  dark  we  went  back  for  am 
munition.  The  men  had  nearly  all  shot  their  sixty  rounds. 
After  midnight  we  went  forward  again,  and  built  breastworks. 
All  next  day  we  fought  behind  our  breastworks,  and  the 
Rebels  behind  theirs.  The  skirmishers  out  in  front  did  most 
of  the  fighting.  We  lost  several  wounded  during  the  day. 
I  was  making  a  detail,  when  a  ball  passed  under  my  chin, 
and  struck  a  man  right  by  me.  I  have  a  ball  in  my  pocket 
now  that  hit  me.  It  was  a  spent  ball,  and  didn't  hurt. 

"  Toward  evening  the  Rebels  opened  eight  guns  on  us  for 
about  ten  minutes,  but  did  not  hurt  a  man.  Next  day  the 
Rebels  fell  back,  and  we  followed,  passing  through  the  fort. 
This  fort  was  the  strongest  thing  I  ever  saw.  The  Rebels 
had  cut  down  trees  in  front,  and  sharpened  every  limb,  so 
that  a  rabbit  could  hardly  have  got  nearer  than  ten  feet.  We 
flanked  them,  though,  and  they  had  to  skedaddle. 

"That  day  we  had  advanced  in  line  of  battle,  but  were  not 
in  the  front  line.  Had  a  rest  that  night  and  all  next  day, 
though  it  rained  in  torrents. 

"  To-day  is  shower  and  sunshine,  and  we  are  encamped  in 
an  open  field,  the  first  time  for  nearly  two  months.  Glad  to 
get  out  of  the  thick  woods,  where  we  were  nearly  tormented 
to  death  by  bugs,  ants,  scorpions,  snakes,  and  creeping  things 
of  every  description.  A  big  black  snake,  two  feet  long,  came 
crawling  up  by  my  side  one  day  while  I  was  lying  in  my 
tent.  You  better  believe  I  jumped.  One  ten  feet  long  was 
killed  not  fifty  yards  from  our  tent. 

"Lswis  KETCHAM." 


ADVANCING  THE  LINES.  717 

"HEADQUARTERS  EIGHTY-SIXTH  INDIANA, 

June  20. 

"  I  can  catch  but  a  moment  to  let  you  know  that  up  to 
this  date  I  still  live.  The  enemy  drives  never  so  stubbornly, 
and  \ve  are  yet  three  miles  from  Marietta.  His  right  rests 
upon  a  large  mountain,  at  which  our  cannon  are  thundering 
this  morning.  Our  brigade  is  not  now  engaged,  but  prob 
ably  will  be  this  afternoon.  At  the  last  position  our  regi 
ment  was  continually  in  front  but  our  loss  is  comparatively 
light.  It  continues  to  rain  unmercifully,  and  we  are  some 
times  almost  drowned." 

"Twenty-fifth.  We  have  had  some  sharp  fighting  and  are 
now  jam  up  against  the  enemy's  works.  Many  bullets  cut 
close  to  our  ears  inside  the  works  and  it  behooves  us  to  keep 
as  quiet  as  possible.  We  tried  to  advance  the  lines  even 
closer  last  night,  but  it  was  impracticable  in  front  of  our  di 
vision,  and  all  that  was  accomplished  by  the  fight  was  the 
advance  of  the  division  on  our  right,  thus  protecting  us  from 
a  coss-fire.  Some  of  the  battles  that  occur  in  these  forests 
are  very  exciting.  The  last  our  division  had  that  gave  us 
the  place  we  now  hold  so  near  the  enemy,  was  brought  on  by 
our  artillery,  which  opened  on  the  enemy  from  unexpected 
points  in  the  woods  along  our  lines,  and  got  them  to  running 
from  their  front  line  in  great  haste.  We  followed  and  kept 
them  going,  until  almost  to  their  main  works,  when  we  made 
a  breastwork  under  a  hot  fire.  We  are  now  prepared  to  stay 
until  the  genius  of  Sherman  causes  them  to  fall  back  again, 
or  suffer  for  not  doing  it.  We  have  some  heavy  artillery 
fights  on  this  line.  I  like  it,  but  it  is  very  dangerous  except 
when  we  get  close  in  the  breastworks.  Ten  days  ago  our 
lines  faced  southward,  and  now  the  enemy's  left  and  centre 
are  pressed  around  so  far  that  our  front  is  directly  toward  the 
rising  sun.  The  Rebels  seern  to  be  massing  on  our  right 
this  afternoon,  and  will  probably  try  Hooker's  strength  again 
this  evening.  They  charged  him  two  nights  ago,  as  he  was 
taking  up  his  position,  but  gained  nothing  by  it.  The  Thirty- 
Third  lost  several  in  the  fight. 

"General  Johnston  is  displaying  great  ability  in  this  cam 
paign,  or  he  has  many  more  men  than  is  represented." 


718  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"June  25,  This  is  a  peculiar  campaign.  The  Rebels  take 
up  a  position  which  affords  the  best  means  of  defence,  and 
fortify  it  as  if  they  intended  to  hold  it  to  the  last  extremity. 
We  fight  right  up  to  them  and  fortify  as  strongly  as  they  do. 
Then  General  Sherman  goes  to  work  to  flank  them  out,  and 
sooner  or  later  the  morning  dawns  with  no  enemy  in  our 
front.  The  last  two  positions  they  abandoned  were  only 
abandoned  by  their  left  and  centre,  the  right  resting  on  Ken- 
esaw  mountain,  which  served  as  a  pivot.  Our  line  faces  the 
east  now,  with  Hooker  on  the  right,  then  Schofield,  Howard, 
Palmer  and  McPherson's  army  on  the  left — extending  close 
round  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  amusing  themselves  every 
day  with  shelling  somebody.  There  has  been  more  cannon 
ading  at  this  position  than  any  other  during  the  campaign. 
Our  artillery  holds  some  very  fine  positions,  and  masses  upon 
the  enemy  so  that  some  successful  duels  are  fought.  A  few 
days  ago  a  party  of  ladies  came  upon  the  mountain  to  enjoy 
the  si£rht  of  their  friends  shelling  the  Yankees.  The  show 

o  o 

began  as  usual,  by  the  enemy  opening  eight  guns  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Palmer's  corps;  but  to  the  dismay  of  the  ladies,  twenty 
Yankee  guns  that  had  been  placed  in  position  and  masked, 
all  opened  immediately.  It  is  feared  some  of  the  fair  crea 
tures  had  their  crinoline  disarranged,  and  perhaps  worse,  as 
some  were  seen  carried  away  on  stretchers. 

"We  have  been  here  six  days.  The  Eighty-Sixth  has 
been  in  front  all  the  time,  but  has  been  very  fortunate,  having 
lost  only  thirty-five  wounded,  none  killed,  during  the  cam 
paign.  D.  T." 

The  assault  on  Hooker,  to  which  allusion  is  made,  oc 
curred  on  the  twenty-second.  The  enemy  suddenly  advanced 
over  comparatively  open  ground,  and  furiously  attacked 
Hooker  and  Schofield,  directing  his  heaviest  blows  against 
Williams'  division  and  one  of  Hascall's  brigades.  A  single 
regiment  met  him  and  held  him  a  few  moments,  then  falling 
back,  left  the  way  open  for  the  advance.  The  hastily  pre 
pared  line  stood  up  stoutly  to  the  shock,  repulsed  repeated 
assaults,  and  in  the  end  hurled  the  assailants,  bloody  and 
broken,  back  to  their  defences.  The  Rebel  dead  and  wounded 
were  left  on  the  field.  The  next  day,  Howard's  corps,  after 


ASSAULT  ON  KENESAW.  719 

severe  fighting,  made  an  advance,  but  faltered  as  the  enemy 
skillfully  directed  his  fire  and  a  charge  into  a  gap  between 
the  divisions  of  Newton  and  Wood.  Wagner,  who  was  on 
Newton's  left,  immediately  threw  the  Fifty-Seventh  into  the 
gap.  The  regiment  gallantly,  but  with  much  loss,  checked 
i.he  charge.  The  Thirtieth,  Thirty-Sixth  and  Ninth  gained 
the  works  in  their  front,  and  held  them  against  column  after 
column  of  the  enemy. 

June  27,  Newton's  and  Davis'  divisions,  and  a  brigade  from 
each  of  Logan's  divisions,  made  an  assault  at  two  points 
south  of  Kenesaw.  Logan's  troops  scattered  the  Rebel  skirm 
ishers  on  Little  Kenesaw,  gained  the  first  line  of  intrench- 
ments,  and  captured  some  of  the  retreating  Rebels  as  they 
endeavored  to  gain  the  gorge  between  the  two  peaks,  but 
were  stopped  by  shot  and  stones  from  a  perpendicular  cliff 
thirty  feet  high,  and  after  a  short  and  severe  struggle,  were 
compelled  to  hasten  back.  Newton  and  Davis  charged  up 
the  mountain  in  the  face  of  a  powerful  battery,  struggling 
through  entanglements  almost  to  the  breastworks.  Kim  ball's 
brigade  even  gained  the  parapets,  Kirnball,  with  that  cheer 
ful  courage  which  never  deserted  him,  leading  it  to  almost 
certain  death,  over  troops  already  defeated  and  discouraged. 
All  were  cast  back  with  terrible  destruction.  Sherman  had 
hoped  to  force  a  way  to  the  railroad  below  Marietta,  and 
thus  cut  off  the  Rebel  retreat.  But  the  only  result  of  the 
assault  was  the  slaughter  of  a  thousand  brave  men  and  the 
wounding  of  two  thousand.  Our  Fortieth,  which,  under 
Colonel  Blake,  was  at  the  head  of  Wagner's  brigade,  lost  in 
thirty  minutes,  one  hundred  and  six  out  of  three  hundred  men. 
The  loss  of  officers  in  Kimball's  command  was  in  remarka 
ble  disproportion  to  that  of  enlisted  men,  being  one  to  six. 
The  dead  were  buried,  the  wounded  were  cared  for,  and  no 
more  assaults  were  made  from  our  side. 

"  IN  THE  MIDST  OF  BATTLE,  June  27. 

"A  terrible  fight  is  raging  all  along  the  line,  but  as  it  is 
made  our  duty  to  hold  the  centre  and  prevent  the  enemy 
from  breaking  through,  I  can  lie  under  the  breastworks  and 
beneath  the  flying  balls  and  pencil  a  few  lines  to  you.  We 


720  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

have  rumors  of  our  repulse  on  the  left,  but  no  dependence 
can  be  placed  on  reports  here,  as  every  soldier  has  his  mouth 
and  ears  full  of  them. 

"  My  experience  is  that  about  one-fifth  of  the  Rebels  fight 
as  well  as  our  best  troops,  making  up  in  bitterness  and  des 
peration  what  they  lack  in  manliness,  but  on  an  average  our 
soldiers  are  much  superior  to  theirs.  In  numberless  cases  we 
have  carried  their  works,  but  I  have  yet  to  learn  of  one  at 
tack  upon  us  in  which  they  have  been  successful. 

"It  would  be  wise,  however,  to  write  little  on  this  sub 
ject  as  we  are  in  a  position  before  which  the  enemy  is  sup 
posed  to  be  massing  his  forces,  and  we  may  not  be  able  to 
hold  our  ground.  It  is  hard  to  write,  the  battery  we  are  sup 
porting  keeps  up  such  an  uproar,  almost  lifting  one's  scalp  at 
each  discharge.  When  the  war  ends  I  ain  going  to  retire  to 
the  wilderness  every  'Fourth  of  July'  to  prevent  myself  from 
hearing  the  hideous  noise  made  by  exploding  gunpowder. 

"Just  at  this  point  I  had  occasion  to  call  out:  'Put  on 
your  shirt  and  accoutrements,  sir!  This  is  no  time  to  be  look 
ing  for  vermin.'  One  of  the  horrors  of  this  kind  cf  life  is 
that  the  men's  bodies  and  clothes  are  alive  and  nothing  can 
be  done  to  relieve  them,  as  they  have  no  change  of  clothing 
and  seldom  have  any  opportunity  to  bathe.  The  officer  can 
escape  the  affliction,  but  the  poor  private  drags  his  tormented 
carcass  in  utter  hopelessness  to  the  end  of  the  campaign. 

"Every  man  from  Colonel  to  private  is  broken  out  horri 
bly,  and  cannot  enjoy  a  moment's  rest  for  the  intolerable 
itching.  Such  things  may  appear  only  disgusting  to  you, 
but  I  consider  them  as  constituting  the  chief  hardship  of  the 
soldier,  and  the  man  who  endures  them  for  his  country  is 
worthy  of  the  highest  respect.  S.  M." 

The  ignoble  but  pertinacious  enemy  to  which  the  writer 
alludes,  is  generally  understood  to  be  beneath  notice;  but 
as  it  formed  the  pest  of  army  life,  the  climax  of  the  soldier's 
woes,  the  narration  of  our  soldiers'  doings  and  sufferings  is 
wot  complete  without  a  recognition  of  its  existence.  An 
officer  in  the  Fortieth  writes:  "Shall  I  ever  forget  the  shock 
I  felt  when,  last  fall,  after  wearing  and  sleeping  in  my 
clothes  (often  on  the  ground  where  their  fellow  graybacks 


CHARACTER  OP  NIGHT  ATTACKS.  72} 

the  Rebels  had  lain)  without  change  for  three  weeks,  and 
wondering  at  the  strange  and  incessant  irritation  of  my  skin, 
I,  when  our  baggage  carne  up  and  I  stripped  for  a  change, 
discovered  myself,  yes,  7j  covered,  alive  with  the  most  devilish 
and  disgusting  monsters?  I  stormed,  and  blessed  the  war 
and  the  Rebels  left-haridedly,  and  then  ordering  a  pot  of  wa 
ter  put  on  the  fire,  I  felt  a  sweet  satisfaction  as  the  clothes, 
every  stitch  I  had  on,  gradually  warmed  with  the  water,  in 
reflecting  that  they  were  enjoying  the  same  slow  torture  they 
had  inflicted  upon  me.  I  have  had  none  since.  Pardon  me 
for  introducing  so  low  a  subject;  but,  from  one  sort  of  gray- 
back  to  another  is  rather  an  easy  transition, — both  of  a  color, 
one  preying  upon  the  body  corporate,  the  other  upon  the 
body  politic." 

"CAMP  OF  EIGHTY-SIXTH,  July  1. 

"  There  is  a  fine  duel,  between  their  guns  and  ours  nearly 
every  evening,  which  affords  us  considerable  amusement,  es 
pecially  when  our  guns  get  the  best  of  the  contest,  which 
they  have  been  doing  in  the  last  few  days.  Our  shells  seem 
to  tear  the  top  of  the  mountain  terribly.  We  are  two  miles 
away,  but  we  can  see  the  clouds  of  smoke  and  dust.  The 
most  exciting  features  of  this  extraordinary  campaign  are 
the  night  attacks  of  the  enemy  upon  our  works.  They  burst 
forth  in  the  stillness  of  these  summer  nights,  with  a  noise 
and  fury  that  would  terrrify  any  but  a  soldier.  The  first 
thing  you  see  on  waking  is  the  lightning-like  flash  of  their 
artillery,  as  it  opens  along  the  line  through  the  dense  forest, 
and  sends  shell  crashing  and  bursting  through  the  tree  tops. 
The  great  rattle  of  musketry,  and  the  wild  shouts  of  the 
enemy  join  to  make  it  a  fearful  time.  But  our  boys  all 
know  their  duty,  and  quickly  take  their  places  in  the  rifie- 
t  pits,  with  their  guns  in  hand,  and  a  little  pile  of  cartridges 
on  the  ground  in  front  of  them,  ready  for  the  word  to  fire.' 
In  all  their  night  attacks  the  enemy  has  gained  nothing  yet, 
and  has  lost  many  men.  *  * 

"  I  regret  always  to  write  with  a  pencil,  but  can't  get  ink 
in  this  wooden  country.     Sometimes  we  don't  see  daylight 
46 


722  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

for  weeks.     If  the  cars  did  not  whistle  once  in  a  while,  we 
should  think  ourselves  lost  entirely." 

"  CENTRE  OF  SHERMAN'S  ARMY,  July  1. 
"  I  had  to  laugh  at  Jane's  prescription  for  my  health,  in 
which  she  tells  me  to  have  Jerry  toast  me  a  slice  of  bread,  to 
take  so  much  butter,  and  such  a  quantity  of  tea,  and  a  little 
cinnamon,  and,  if  approved,  a  pinch  of  ground  cloves,  mixed 
in  a  bowl.  Bless  her  kind,  suggestive  heart!  Doesn't  she 
know  that  from  bread  to  bowl  we  are  lacking,  and  that  she 
might  as  well  prescribe  ice  cream,  to  be  eaten  from  a  golden 
goblet,  three  times  daily?  As  for  the  pudding  that  we  are  to 
bake  in  a  skillet,  tell  her  that  our  only  cooking  utensils  are  a 
fruit-can  for  coffee,  and  a  tin-bucket  in  which  Jerry  fries  the 
meat.  The  bucket  Jerry  stole.  He  'wasn't  gwine  to  hab 
everything  stold  from  him,  and  not  have  nothin'  to  cook  in.' 

"S.  M." 

While  threatening  the  enemy's  centre  still,  and  demonstra 
ting  against  his  right,  Sherman  threw  McPherson's  army 
toward  the  Chattahoochie,  on  the  left.  It  was  enough.  At 
dawn  of  July  3  his  pickets  were  on  the  summit  of  Kenesaw. 

Now  began  a  race  for  the  Chattahoochie.  The  Rebels 
had  the  road  clean  and  clear  before  them,  and  intrenchments, 
previously  prepared,  at  the  bridge  head,  on  the  northern  bank 
of  the  river,  ready  to  receive  them,  while  streams  on  each 
side  of  the  road,  and  parallel  to  it,  protected  their  line  of 
march.  Thomas,  at  their  heels,  took  two  thousand  prisoners 
in  Marietta.  About  three  miles  beyond  Marietta  his  advance 
had  a  sharp  fight.  Captain  Kirk,  with  a  small  body  of  skirm 
ishers,  stormed  an  outwork,  losing  eleven  men  out  of  eight 
een.  Kirk  was  wounded.  McPherson  and  Schofield,  urging 
troops  who  needed  little  urging,  over  the  rough  country  east 
and  west  of  the  direct  road,  gained  the  river  and  connected 
with  Thomas,  to  find  two  corps  of  the  Rebel  army  streaming 
across  on  three  bridges,  and  one  powerful  corps,  Hardee's? 
turned  at  bay,  with  too  dangerous  a  front,  so  few  hours  after 
Kenesaw,  for  assault. 


CROSSING  THE  CHATTAHOOCHIE.  723 

"NEAR  THE  CHATTAHOOCHIE,  July  6. 

"  The  pickets  of  our  division  fire  across  the  river  at  the 
enemy's  pickets.  We  are  nine  miles  from  Marietta,  and  the 
same  distance  from  Atlanta.  Our  division  had  the  advance 
yesterday,  and  overtook  the  Rebels  just  as  they  were  getting 
their  last  wagons  over  their  pontoon  bridge.  A  skirmish 
took  place,  and  our  artillery,  on  a  high  point  a  mile  back  of 
us,  warmed  up  the  tail  end  of  their  train  as  it  switched  about 
among  the  hills  on  the  other  side.  From  the  hill  on  which 
the  artillery  is  posted  the  Rebels  are  in  full  view,  with  all 
their  fortifications  and  their  large  wagon-trains  parked  in 
the  rear;  and  Atlanta,  with  its  fortifications  standing  out  in 
bold  relief.  We  took  a  good  many  prisoners  and  deserters 
yesterday  and  the  day  before.  The  deserters  hide  in  the 
brush  until  our  skirmishers  pass  by  them.  One  of  these 
poor  fellows,  or  at  least  one  who  had  been  accused  of  being 
a  deserter  at  some  time,  had  been  retaken  before  we  came 
along,  and  now  hangs  from  a  limb  of  a  tree  upon  the  top  of 
the  hill  I  spoke  of.  Johnston  maintains  a  discipline  that  was 
never  equaled  in  any  army  in  our  country,  and  hangs  and 
shoots  many  of  his  men.  At  Dalton  I  saw  seventeen  stakes, 
to  which  that  number  of  men  had  been  tied  and  shot.  To 
see  a  gallows  in  their  camp  is  a  common  occurrence.  Noth 
ing  less  than  such  discipline  would  keep  his  army  together. 
The  picket  line  is  so  hot  that  it  can  be  relieved  only  at  night 
Our  boys  make  it  just  as  hot  for  the  Rebels.  D.  T." 

A  flanking  movement,  involving,  as  it  must,  the  passage 
of  the  broad,  deep  and  rapid  Chattahoochie  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  enemy,  was  scarcely  less  formidable  than  a  direct  attack. 
But  Sherman  was  not  now,  nor  indeed  was  he  ever,  to  be 
deterred  by  formidable  appearances.  While  his  strong  skir 
mish  line  carried  the  outer  rifle-pits,  and  made  demonstra 
tions  far  to  the  enemy's  left,  south-west  of  the  railroad  bridge, 
his  reserve,  Schofield,  moved  rapidly  eastward,  crossed  the 
river,  his  foremost  troops,  the  Sixty-Third  and  Sixty-Fifth  in 
cluded,  wading,  though  the  water  was  neck  deep. 

Schofield  effected  a  lodgment  on  high  ground,  on  the 
southern  bank,  eight  miles  above  the  railroad,  and  made  a 


724  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

good,  strong  bridge.  Garrard's  cavalry  then  occupied  Ross* 
well,  a  town  seven  miles  farther  up  the  river,  destroyed 
woolen  and  cotton  mills,  which  had  supplied  the  Rebel 
armies,  and  protected  bridge  builders  at  that  point.  Howard 
threw  a  bridge  across  at  Powell's  ferry,  but  four  miles  above 
the  railroad. 

Meantime  the  demonstrations  in  front  were  hot.  A  fort 
was  built  and  occupied  by  the  Eighteenth  battery.  The 
Rebels  erected  two  forts  on  higher  ground,  and  within  six 
hundred  yards.  Cannonading  was  incessant;  July  17,  while 
Hardee  was  withdrawing,  it  was  furious ;  more  than  a  hun 
dred  shells  burst  inside  the  fort.  With  Schofield  and  How 
ard  south  of  the  river,  and  the  rest  of  the  Northern  army  pre 
paring  to  follow,  Johnston  could  do  no  less  than  withdraw. 

'  CAMP  OF  THE  FORTIETH,  ) 

"  NEAR  ATLANTA,  GEORGIA,  July  16,  1864.  J 

"We  are  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Chattahoochie,  our 
camp  about  six  or  seven  miles  from  Atlanta;  other  parts  of 
our  army  somewhat  nearer.  We  crossed  on  the  thirteenth, 
and  have  been  in  camp  quietly  resting  for  three  whole  days, 
and  with  the  charming  prospect  of  at  least  another  day  of 
rest.  I  never  felt  so  keenly  the  need  of  it  before,  for  both 
body  and  mind  are  completely  wearied  out  with  the  constant 
strain  brought  upon  them  during  a  campaign  of  over  sixty- 
six  days,  sixty  of  which  were  spent  under  fire  more  or  less 
intense.  We  were  always,  during  the  sixty  days,  not  only 
within  reach  of  Rebel  artillery,  but  also  within  range  of 
Minie  balls,  and  could  hear  them  at  almost  any  moment 
whistling,  sometimes  singly,  sometimes  in  groups,  all  the 
notes  of  the  scale,  from  highest  to  lowest,  according  to  veloc 
ity  or  the  more  or  less  perfect  smoothness  of  the  missile.  If 
a  ball  hits  a  tree,  and  glancing,  is  battered  by  the  impact,  it 
comes  squalling  along  so  much  like  a  cat,  that  the  boys  con 
stantly  say,  '  There,  they  are  throwing  another  cat  over  here 
by  the  tail.'  These  glancing  balls  perform  strange  feats  in 
the  way  of  penetrating  into  apparently  impossible  places. 
For  instance  the  Chaplain  of  the  Ninety-Seventh  Ohio  was 
struck  in  the  back  by  one,  with  his  face  toward  the  spot  from 


VAGARIES  OF  STRAGGLING  BALLS.  725 

which  it  came,  I  saw  a  man  have  a  hole  put  through  his 
hat,  and  it  knocked  off,  he  sitting  at  the  time  with  his  back 
to  a  breastwork  three  feet  higher  than  his  head,  and  actu 
ally  leaning  against  it.  The  ball  had  been  shot  from  a  lower 
point  than  the  wall,  and,  striking  a  litnb  overhead  at  a  proper 
angle,  was  deflected  in  such  a  manner  as  to  quite  equal  the 
Irishman's  shot  round  the  hay-stack  with  a  bent  gun.  There 
is  no  certainly  safe  place,  and  no  possibility  of  providing 
against  the  vagaries  of i straggling  balls/  On  the  eighteenth 
of  June,  a  man  standing  talking  with  me,  and  at  the  same 
time  cleaning  his  gun,  and  whose  head  was  at  least  six  feet 
lower  than  the  top  of  the  ridge  between  him  and  the  Rebels, 
and  they  also  thirty  feet  lower  than  that,  and  four  hundred 
yards  off  over  an  open  field,  was  shot  through  the  head  and 
fell  as  you  have  seen  a  bullock  fall,  an  involuntary  quivering 
of  the  muscles  lasting  for  a  few  minutes,  alone  showing  that 
there  remained  even  a  remnant  of  the  vitality  which  had  ani 
mated  him  a  moment  before.  On  the  twenty-seventh  of 
June,  in  the  assault  upon  the  enemy's  lines,  in  which  our  regi 
ment  was  so  badly  cut  up,  three  men  were  wounded,  (have 
since  died,)  all  within  less  than  a  minute,  and  so  near  that 
two  of  them  were  in  actual  contact  with  me  at  the  time,  and 
the  other  not  two  feet  off.  I  did  not  get  a  scratch.  A  small 
tree,  about  eight  inches  across,  behind  which  I  stood  for  half 
an  hour  nearly,  after  the  attack  had  evidently  failed,  and  the 
greater  part  if  not  all  the  regiment  had  got  back  to  the  works, 
I  saw  afterward,  when  the  Rebels  had  retreated, — there  may 
have  been  balls  put  in  it  before,  or  some  after  the  twenty-sev 
enth  assault, — but  it  was,  when  I  looked  at  it,  actually  torn 
into  splinters  by  both  canister  and  rifle  balls.  There  was 
hardly  a  particle  of  bark  left  on  it,  from  the  ground  up,  on 
the  side  of  the  enemy,  yet,  as  I  said,  I  was  untouched,  while 
in  a  line  of  that  same  fire  there  were  not  less  than  one  hun 
dred  men  hurt,  many  of  them  killed  outright.  I  fear  you 
may  think  there  is  a  touch  of  egotism  about  this.  My  inten 
tion  was  simply  to  give  you  an  idea,  if  possible,  of  the  strange 
freaks  and  unpleasant  partiality  these  bullets  display  for  en 
tering  the  bodies  of  some  men,  while  they  avoid  those  of 
others.  Happily,  so  far,  they  have  avoided  me.  I  continue 


726  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

to  hope  they  may  'keep  on  doing  it.'  But  about  the  war, 
what  shall  I  say?  I  cannot  tell  you  anything  of  our  move 
ments,  for  that  would,  under  present  circumstances,  be  con 
traband  news,  and  mere  speculations  are  of  but  small  account 
in  the  face  of  the  events  which  follow  each  other  with  suffi 
cient  rapidity  to  satisfy  any  one  not  born  in  the  country 
where  everything  is  'expected  to  be  done  in  about  twenty 
minutes.'  We  have  come  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  over 
mountains  and  rivers,  gaining  every  inch  by  hard  fighting 
with  an  army  who  have  made  'spades  trumps,'  and  held  a 
handfull  of  them,  too.  The  positions  from  which  Johnston 
has  been  driven  by  force  or  strategy  are  each  miracles  of 
strength,  both  natural  and  artificial,  and  having  accomplished 
the  huge  undertaking  in  spite  of  all  that  could  be  done  to 
prevent  it,  we  are  now  arrived  at  the  plain  country,  and  have 
left  the  mountains  and  their  spurs  and  outlying  ridges  behind 
us.  The  Chattahoochie  is  crossed,  and  we  can  count  the 
church  steeples,  and  see  the  dwellings  of  the  people  of 
Atlanta. 

"You  will  find  when  this  campaign  in  all  its  parts  has  been 
carried  to  a  conclusion,  that  there  will  only  be  a  few  of  the  out 
side  corners  of  the  rebellion  to  polish  off.  We  are  fighting  it 
now  in  a  way  to  either  annihilate  the  men  of  the  South,  or 
compel  tne  remnant  to  submission  to  the  laws.  It  is  a  '  Kil 
kenny  cat  fight' — and  we  have  a  'cat  with  the  longest  tail;' 
and  the  more  desperate  the  fighting,  the  more  terrible  the  loss, 
the  quicker  will  peace  return  and  the  blessings  that  belong 
to  it.  In  spite  of  our  losses  in  this  army,  they  have  been  at 
least  made  up  by  reinforcements.  You  may  rely  upon  this 
statement.  We  are  most  likely  stronger  than  when  we 
started.  The  South  are  fighting  their  last  men — without  re 
sources.  We  can  lose  man  for  man  with  them,  annihilate 
them,  and  have  a  handsome  balance  to  our  credit  to  com 
mence  the  business  of  building  up  a  nation  anew  out  of  the 
reliques  of  the  old. 

HARRY  LEAMING." 

After  crossing  the  Chattahoochie,  Sherman  rested  until  he 
heard  the  locomotive  whistle,  a  sound  which  always  enheart- 
ened  the  troops  and  set  them  huzzaing.  When  again  in 


BATTLE  OF  PEACH  TREE  CREEK.  727 

motion,  the  army  gradually  assumed  the  form  of  an  arc  of  a 
circle  on  the  northeast  of  Atlanta. 

July  19,  McPherson's  left  was  south  of  the  Augusta  rail 
road,  while  his  entire  force,  as  was  also  Schofield's,  was  west 
of  Decatur,  within  the  strong  defensive  lines  of  Nancy's  and 
Peach  tree  creeks.  Beatty's  brigade  in  the  morning  of  this 
day,  made  an  admirable  reconnoissance  in  Thomas'  front, 
driving  the  enemy's  out-post  two  miles.  In  the  afternoon, 
the  brigade,  under  the  friendly  shelter  and  concealment  of  a 
ravine,  tall  corn,  weeds  and  willows,  crossed  Peach  Tree  creek 
on  a  hastily  constructed  bridge ;  and  one  hundred  picked  men 
of  the  Seventy- Ninth,  "one  hundred  as  good  men  as  ever 
walked  on  ground,"  surprised  and  captured  a  point  in  the 
Rebel  works,  though  Lieutenant  Colonel  Parker,  in  com 
mand,  was  wounded  at  the  outset.  The  brigade  and  corps 
following  closely,  a  foothold  was  gained  on  the  south  side  of 
the  stream.  Before  night,  Thomas'  army  was  south  of  Peach 
Tree  creek.  The  Rebels  were  on  strong  ground,  and  strongly 
fortified.  It  would  be  hard  to  assault  them  and  not  easy 
to  outflank  them.  Unexpectedly  their  policy  underwent  a 
change.  Johnson  being  deposed,  and  Hood,  who  succeeded 
him,  assuming  the  offensive.  At  noon  of  the  twentieth,  as 
Newton  was  following  Stanley  and  Wood  toward  Schofield's 
line  on  the  left,  as  Hooker,  and  Johnson  on  Hooker's  right, 
were  moving  in  the  same  dirction,  each  body  disconnected 
and  unsupported,  nearly  the  whole  Rebel  army  advanced 
without  skirmishers,  from  woods  which  had  concealed  it,  and 
threw  itself  furiously  on  Newton's  division,  which  at  the  mo 
ment  was  halting  on  a  prominent  ridge,  with  stacked  arms 
and  no  other  defence  than  hastily  constructed  earthworks, 
such  as  the  troops  made  whenever  they  halted,  and  on  Hook 
er's  corps,  which  had  not  the  slightest  protection.  Newton's 
troops  sprang  to  arms,  and  met  the  assault  with  deliberate 
and  deadly  musketry  in  their  front,  and  artillery  on  both 
flanks.  Kimball,  commanding  two  brigades  and  a  part  of  a 
third,  held  the  right  unmoved.  Geary  swerved,  but  Will 
iamson,  on  his  right,  stood  with  perfect  steadiness,  and 
Ward's  division  (formerly  Butterfield's)  on  his  left  and  rear? 
rushed  to  the  front  and  beyond  in  a  counter  charge,  relieving 


728  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

both  Kimball  and  Geary.  Coburn's  brigade  was  the  first  to 
come  in  contact  with  the  charging  forces  of  the  enemy.  The 
Eighty-Fifth  was  not  more  than  fifty  feet  from  their  front 
when  it  opened  fire.  The  Rebels  pressed  forward  again,  and 
repeatedly,  suffering  one  bloody  repulse  after  another  with  a 
terrible  fortitude,  and  only  seeking  their  intrenchments  after 
a  four  hours'  battle  and  to  escape  utter  destruction. 

"BATTLEFIELD  NEAR  ATLANTA,      ) 
SEVENTIETH  INDIANA,  July  21,  1864.  j 

"We  had  a  glorious  fight  yesterday.  I  don't  know  the  re 
sults  of  the  whole  fight,  but  our  division  repulsed  the  Rebels 
and  threw  up  works  on  the  battlefield  where  they  lay  killed 
and  wounded  two  to  our  one,  that  I  know. 

"At  midnight  we  were  ordered  to  get  ready,  and  at  day 
light  we  pushed  forward.  Halted  at  noon  in  a  cornfield  and 
ate  a  cracker  for  dinner — the  sun  so  terribly  hot!  Then  we 
formed  in  line  of  battle.  Our  division  was  so  fortunate  this 
time  as  to  have  an  open  field.  The  Fourth  corps,  on  our 
left,  and  the  other  divisions  of  our  corps  had  woods  to  fight  in. 
We  were  soon  in  line  of  battle,  and  waited  for  orders  in  the 
hot  sun.  The  battle  began  at  four  o'clock  and  lasted  until 
after  dark.  It  began  on  the  Fourth  corps;  they  were  a  little 
in  advance  of  the  line  and  had  all  their  non-combatants  with 
them.  Of  all  the  skedaddling,  running  and  confusion!  I  never 
saw  the  beat!  It  amused  us  at  first,  but  when  the  firing  be 
gan  on  our  line  amusement  sobered  into  alarm.  Then  the 
hot  work  began  on  the  left.  Both  right  and  left  sent  to 
Hooker  for  reinforcements — all  the  answer  they  got  was  'For 
ward!'  'Fighting  Joe'  had  his  body  guard  (so  I  hear  from 
Colonel  Harrison)  draw  their  sabres  and  push  forward  the 
skulking  parties  of  those  who  asked  for  reinforcements.  At 
this  moment  we  advanced.  On  we  moved  in  steady  line — 
we  couldn't  see  the  Rebs  yet — '  Colonel  Merrill  will  take  that 
cedar  knoll.'  When  we  reached  the  top  our  lines  wern't  in  so 
good  a  shape,  the  lines  of  our  division  I  mean.  But  no  won- 
der-^-some  regiments  had  a  steep  hill  to  cliinb,  to  pass  through 
a  cornfield,  through  thickets,  blackberry  bushes,  to  cross  a 
creek  and  a  deep  gutter,  all  of  which  our  regiment  did  be- 


BATTLE  OF  PEACH  TREE  CREEK.  729 

fore  we  at  last  reached  the  top  of  the  cedar  knoll.  And  there 
were  the  Johnny  Rebs  on  a  ridge  just  opposite  us  advancing 
on  us.  The  thickets,  blackberry  bushes  and  small  but  deep 
ravines,  offered  a  good  place  for  skulkers — one  little  cvs  slop 
ped  and  commenced  picking  blackberries.  A  regiment  on 
our  right  had  nice  ground  to  advance  on  and  was  ahead ;  the 
Lieutenant  Colonel  and  a  Rebel  Colonel  were  in  a  hand  to 
hand  light  for  a  Rebel  flag, — but  strange  to  say,  the  Rebel 
Colonel  got  away, — limping.  At  this  point  our  lines  wavered. 
Some  of  our  regiment,  tired  or  excited,  stopped  on  the  cedar 
hill  and  commenced  firing.  Others  were  in  the  ravine  in 
front  and  starting  up  the  slope  to  meet  the  Rebels.  Now! 
who  would  win?  The  Rebels  advancing,  our  men  faltering. 
We  had  nothing  to  fall  back  on  but  a  muddy  creek  we  had 
taken  several  hours  in  crossing  on  one  small  bridge.  Had 

o  o 

we  broken  how  terrible  would  have  been  the  slaughter — our 
men  killing  their  comrades  and  themselves  in  trying  to  cross 
the  creek!  There  was  a  desperate  attack  on  our  batteries 
on  the  right  and  left.  Colonel  Harrison's  Adjutant  came 
flying  along  the  lines  and  shouting,  *  Forward!  they  are 
driving  us  on  our  right  and  left!' 

"But  our  artillery  helps  us.  Canister  shot  is  fired  into 
them  from  the  woods  on  our  right,  and  we  give  them  a  vol 
ley.  They  halt,  waver,  lie  down.  Hurrah!  They  break 
and  run.  Our  boys  take  steadier  aim  now,  and  advance 
with  enthusiasm.  They  don't  retreat  without  giving  us  sev 
eral  volleys.  We  gain  their  hill,  passing  over  their  killed  and 
wounded,  and  lie  down  behind  some  fence  rails  the  skirmish 
ers  have  thrown  up,  and  fire  into  them  retreating.  They 
made  several  attempts  to  rally  and  recross  the  open  field,  but 
without  success.  I  got  a  gun  from  a  wounded  man,  pock 
eted  some  cartridges  and  caps,  and  had  several  shots.  We 
were  at  work  nearly  all  night  throwing  up  earthworks.  We 
didn't  suffer  as  much  as  we  did  at  Resaca — other  regiments, 
though,  a  great  deal  more.  Our  loss  was  five  killed  and 
twenty-seven  wounded.  Captain  Matlock  and  Lieutenant 
Reed  were  wounded.  Englehart  was  wounded  and  Spaulcling 
killed.  Lieutenant  Lowe  was  killed.  He  was  sick,  and 
ought  to  have  been  in  a  hospital,  but  he  wouldn't  stay  be- 


7:jf)  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

hind.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  a  battle  correctly.  Every 
one  has  a  different  story  to  tell.  Some  had  very  narrow  es 
capes.  Captain  Carson  had  three  bullet  holes  in  his  hat. 

Uncle  S had  a  bullet  pass  through  his  coat  sleeve.     I 

didn't  get  a  scratch.  No  one  knows  how  many  narrow  es 
capes  he  has  in  battle.  It  was  a  sad,  sad  sight  to  see  the 
dead  and  dying  on  the  battle  field.  The  Rebel  wounded 
couldn't  all  be  taken  off  till  this  morning.  They  lay  from 
four  o'clock  in  the  hot  sun.  One  poor  fellow  prayed  for  help, 
another,  too  far  gone  to  pray  for  help  from  us,  I  heard  utter 
ing  his  last  prayer.  He  was  dead  this  morning. 

"  No  doubt  we  made  a  good  fight  of  it.  It  might  have 
been  better,  to  be  sure.  If  we  hadn't  faltered  we  would  have 
accomplished  more,  but  if  we  had  not  advanced  at  all  from 
the  cedar  knoll  we  would  undoubtedly  have  lost  the  batteries 
on  our  right  and  left,  and  many  prisoners,  and  perhaps  been 
defeated. 

"July  23.  General  Ward  is  proud  of  his  old  brigade.  He 
rides  a  large,  splendid  looking  horse,  and  is  of  pretty  good 
size  himself.  When  excited  he  pulls  at  his  tremendous 
gloves.  He  was  greatly  excited  when  we  commenced  driving 
the  Rebels,  and  jerking  first  at  one  glove,  then  the  other,  he 
called  out  to  his  aid,  Lieutenant  Harryman,  of  our  regiment, 
'Ha'yman!  Ha'yman!  Come  hea'.  Look  how  the  Fust 
brigade,  my  old  brigade,  goes  in!'  Some  one  tells  a  good 
story  of  General  Thomas.  He  was  standing  on  a  hill  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  creek.  He  is  always  working  at  his 
short,  thick  whiskers.  When  satisfied,  he  smooths  them 
down,  when  troubled  he  works  them  all  out  of  shape.  The 
Rebels  advancing  on  us,  and  we  on  them,  we  met  in  a  hol 
low  between  the  cedar  knoll  and  the  hill  we  afterward  occu 
pied.  The  General  could  see  neither  party,  and  it  was  at 
that  very  moment,  when  our  right  and  left,  fighting  in  the 
woods,  seemed  ready  to  give  way,  he  had  his  whiskers  all 
out  of  shape.  He  gave  orders  to  his  body-guard  to  hold  the 
bridge  across  Peach  Tree  creek,  and  cut  down  any  armed 
soldier  who  attempted  to  cross.  But  when  he  saw  the  Reb 
els  running,  with  us  after  them,  he  took  off  his  hat  and  slung 
it  on  the  ground,  and  shouted,  'Hurrah!  Look  at  the  Third 


HOOD  ASSAULTS  A  SECOND  TIME.  731 

division!     They're  driving  them!'     His  whiskers  were  soon 
in  good  shape  again. 

"I  can  hardly  understand  why  the  Rebels  lost  so  many. 
They  had  a  long  way  to  charge,  but  it  was  a  fair,  open  field 
fight.  The  most  of  them  were  shot  after  they  started  to  run. 
Thirty-four  Rebels  were  buried  on  the  ground  our  regiment 
occupied.  We  lost  only  five  killed.  I  think  that  is  the  pro 
portion  of  the  loss.  L.  K." 

It  was  announced  along  Hooker's  front  that  Sherman  de 
clared  Atlanta  won  if  Peach  Tree  Heights,  on  which  the  tri 
umphant  but  exhausted  troops  now  rested,  could  be  held  two 
hours  longer.  The  message  exalted  our  Seventieth,  and 
doubtless  other  regiments,  to  a  fierce  enthusiasm.  "We'll 
die  right  here!"  cried  the  heroes.  And  they  knew  what  it 
was  to  die,  with  death  in  every  hideous  shape  about  them, 
and  hearts  which  had  beaten  in  unison  with  theirs  at  the  out 
set  of  the  charge,  already  stilled  forever.  But  the  Rebels  re 
turned  no  more.  Their  repulse  was  so  severe  that  it  drove 
them  into  and  beyond  their  fortifications  on  the  hills  of  Peach 
Tree  creek.  Nor  was  Atlanta  won.  Its  last  and  strongest 
line  of  defence  remained. 

Five  thousand  men  left  on  the  field  attested  the  strength 
and  desperation  of  Hood's  assault.  Sherman's  loss  was  sev 
enteen  hundred  and  eighty-three,  and  largely  in  Hooker's 
corps. 

The  army  pressed  fiercely  after  the  enemy,  Thomas  from 
the  north,  McPherson  and  Schofield  from  the  east  and  north 
east.  On  the  twenty-second,  a  day  of  exhausting  heat,  Hood 
repeated  the  battle  of  the  twentieth,  flinging  his  army,  ex 
cept  barely  sufficient  troops  to  hold  the  intrenchments,  on 
Sherman's  converging  lines.  At  the  first  onset  McPherson, 
"the  brave,  chivalrous  and  beautiful,"  was  slain,  and  the  rear 
of  the  extreme  left  was  threatened.  Six  death-defying  as 
saults  on  front,  and  right  and  left,  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  followed.  The  Rebels  leaped  over  the  works.  They 
forced  back  the  defenders  by  companies.  Their  daring  knew 
no  restraint.  But  their  success  was  not  of  long  duration. 
They  were  cast  back  from  the  trenches  with  a  resolve  which 


732  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

matched  their  desperation,  and  were  forced  by  the  coming 
of  ni^ht  to  cease  their  efforts.     Morning  showed  two  thou- 

O  O 

sand  two  hundred  dead  Rebels  close  before  our  lines. 

Sherman  was  now  within  three  miles  of  Atlanta.  His 
long  range  guns  fired  into  the  city.  The  Twenty-Second 
battery  claims  to  have  sent  the  first  Yankee  shells  into  the 
streets.  Reconnoissances,  skirmishes,  raids  and  fights  along 
the  close  and  heavy  picket  lines  varied  the  regular  approaches 
of  a  siege.  New  lines  were  constantly  made.  Troops  were 
constantly  shifted  from  one  point  to  another. 

"CAMP  OF  THE  SEVENTIETH,  August  5. 
"  I  had  to  make  details  last  night  at  nine,  eleven,  two  and 
five  o'clock,  to  work  on  a  new  line  of  trenches.  We  have 
just  occupied  them  this  morning.  This  makes  the  third,  and 
in  some  places  the  fourth  line  of  works.  We  are  creeping 
in  on  them.  Will  dig  our  way  either  in  or  around  the  city. 
We  were  on  the  extreme  right  three  days  ago,  are  now  near 
the  centre.  A  heavy  old  siege  gun  sends  a  shell  into  the 
city  every  five  minutes  as  regular  as  a  clock.  It  has  been 
firing  about  thirty-six  hours.  The  shell  goes  screeching  and 
howling.  The  boys  call  it  the  Atlanta  Express.  L.  K." 

"NEAR  EAST  POINT,  GEORGIA,    ) 
July  30,  1864.          \ 

"  Saturday.  The  Rebels  appear  to  us  entirely  heathenish, 
for  they  make  no  effort  to  remove  their  severely  wounded, 
leaving  them  to  fall  into  our  hands  after  a  day  or  two,  and 
never  exerting  themselves  in  the  least  to  bury  their  dead, 
who,  when  we  find  them,  are  most  loathsome. 

"Sunday.  Just  at  twilight,  the  Thirty-Third  band  played 
4  Old  Hundred'  grandly.  I  am  not  often  nowadays  con 
scious  of  being  immortal,  but  as  that  glorious  tune  swelled 
forth,  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future  seemed  to  melt 
into  one,  and  all  our  loved  who  have  gone  before  were  with 
me  listening. 

"  Of  late  I  have  been  touched  with  pity  for  our  deluded 
enemies.  It  is  very  sad  to  read  letters  written  by  men  just 
before  they  died,  or  to  see  a  corpse  deserted  by  every  one  ex 
cept  a  howling  dog.  S.  M." 


STONEMAN  OVERPOWERED  BY  WHEELER.  733 

"BEHIND  THE  Loos,  SUNDAY,  August  15. 

"A  bullet  just  now  went  through  my  tent  with  force 
enough  to  have  gone  through  me  twice  over.  We  had  three 
men  killed  day  before  yesterday,  and  two  wounded  yester 
day  by  what  are  called  stray  bullets.  I  was  affected,  as  the 
boys  carried  Johnnie  Newton  on  a  stretcher  to  the  rear  to  die, 
by  his  calling  out,  'Good  bye,  Colonel!'  S.  M." 

On  the  fourth,  the  Eighty-Seventh  lost  seventeen  men  in 
an  attempt  to  wrest  from  the  enemy  a  prominent  portion  of 
his  lines.  On  the  seventh,  one  hundred  and  five  men  of  the 
Eighty-Second,  while  on  the  skirmish  line,  lost  twenty -six  of 
their  number. 

Meantime,  Sherman's  cavalry  was  engaged  on  the  enemy's 
line  of  communication.  Garrard's  division  made  an  exten 
sive  and  destructive  raid  on  the  Augusta  railroad.  On  his 
return,  Stoneman,  with  five  thousand,  including  Garrard's 
force,  and  M'Cook,  with  four  thousand,  started  out,  the  one 
west,  the  other  east,  to  meet  at  Lovejoy's  station,  south  of 
Atlanta,  pursuant  to  tearing  up  the  Macon  railroad  and 
pushing  on  to  the  relief  of  our  suffering  prisoners  at  Ander- 
sonville.  Stoneman  forgot  the  duty  of  a  subordinate,  and  of 
a  party  to  an  agreement,  and  audaciously  followed  the  dic 
tates  of  his  capricious  judgment.  He  went  as  far  east  as  Cov- 
ington,  destroying  the  Augusta  railroad,  and  as  far  south  as 
Macon,  fighting  and  driving  a  body  of  the  enemy  and  tear 
ing  up  the  road  in  the  vicinity  of  that  place.  August  31,  on 
his  return  by  the  same  route,  he  was  attacked  by  Wheeler's 
cavalry.  Perceiving  that  he  was  unable  to  extricate  his  whole 
command,  with  one  brigade  he  absorbed  the  enemy's  atten 
tion  while  two  brigades  escaped.  He  then  surrendered,  to 
the  chagrin  of  the  force  he  had  detained.  Colonel  Butler,  of 
the  Fifth,  made  a  solemn  protest.  Two  officers,  forty-seven 
privates  and  two  guns  of  the  Twenty-Fourth  battery  were 
also  included  in  the  surrender.  The  Sixth  cavalry,  under  the 
lead  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Matson  and  Major  Smith,  cut  its 
way  out;  but  was  afterwards  attacked  at  night  near  Athens, 
and  defeated,  and  many  of  the  men  were  captured  in  squads. 
Major  Smith  was  wounded  and  taken  while  gallantly  at 
tempting  to  rally  a  small  detachment.  Colonel  Matson  was 


734  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

also  captured.  The  brigades  which  were  so  fortunate  as  to 
effect  their  escape,  reached  the  army  north  of  Atlanta,  one 
entire,  the  other  in  pieces.  Garrard  had  already  arrived,  hav 
ing  in  the  beginning  of  the  raid  returned  from  Flat  Rock, 
whither  Stoneman  had  sent  him. 

M' Cook's  part  of  the  expedition  is  described  by  a  member 
of  the  Eighteenth  battery,  which  belonged  to  his  divison: 

"July  27,  we  marched  at  daylight,  and  crossed  the  Chatta- 
hoochie  on  pontoons  at  Mason's  Ferry.  Our  force  consisted 
of  the  First  and  Second  brigades,  which  last  included  the 
Second  and  Fourth  Indiana  of  our  division,  a  brigade  of 
Stoneman's,  and  one  section  of  our  battery,  numbering  in  all 
about  twenty-one  hundred.  The  command  was  superbly 
mounted  and  marched  without  baggage  of  any  kind.  After 
taking  up  the  pontoons  we  went  down  the  river,  reaching 
Cartersville  at  dark.  At  two  in  the  morning  marched  six 
miles  further  down,  and  threw  the  pontoons  across  the  river. 
Leaving  them  in  charge  of  dismounted  men,  we  struck  boldly 
for  the  railroad.  At  dark  we  reached  Palmetto,  a  small  sta 
tion  on  the  Atlanta  and  West  Point  railroad.  We  tore  up 
the  road  for  three  miles,  burned  three  bridges  and  the  depot, 
destroyed  a  train  of  cars  laden  with  provisions,  and  buildings 
filled  with  commissary  and  quartermaster's  stores.  We  con 
tinued  our  march  at  eight  in  the  evening  toward  Fayetteville, 
twenty-five  miles  further  east,  and  a  depot  of  supplies  for  the 
Rebel  army.  All  night  we  passed  almost  noiselessly  along, 
reaching  Fayetteville  just  before  dark. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  we  captured  three 
hundred  prisoners,  with  several  hundred  wagons  laden  with 
forage  and  commissary  stores.  Our  march  had  been  so 
noiseless,  not  a  shot  having  been  fired  throughout  the  night, 
that  we  surrounded  the  Rebels,  and  were  in  their  midst  be 
fore  they  were  aware  of  it.  They  could  hardly  realize  that 
we  were  Yankees  until  daylight  made  apparent  our  arms 
and  uniform.  We  halted  here  only  long  enough  to  com 
plete  the  destruction  of  the  train,  and  to  replace  our  jaded 
horses  by  fresh  ones  from  the  Rebel  train,  when  we  moved 
forward  in  an  easterly  direction,  to  the  Atlanta  and  Macon 
railroad.  As  we  were  but  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Atlanta, 


M' COOK'S  RAID.  735 

of  course  reinforcements  from  that  point  would  soon  be  after 
our  command,  and  it  behooved  us  to  be  rapid.  We  struck 
the  railroad  at  Lovejoy's  Station,  twenty-four  miles  from  At 
lanta,  and  sixteen  miles  from  Fayetteville.  During  our  march 
from  the  latter  place  we  captured  several  more  supply  trains, 
which  ran  into  our  column  to  avoid  a  large  body  of  cavalry, 
making  for  the  railroad,  from  the  east.  The  trains  were 
burned.  The  prisoners  we  mounted  on  mules,  and  guarded 
near  our  centre.  Two  brigade  generals  and  several  colonels 
and  lesser  officers  were  among  our  prisoners.  We  remained 
four  hours  at  Lovejoy's  Station,  and  for  the  first  time  on 
that  road  fed  our  stock.  We  scattered  several  miles  up  and 
down  the  railroad,  tearing  up  the  track,  and  burning  ties. 
When  this  work  was  completed  our  command  fell  into  line, 
and  retiring  four  miles,  took  a  road  leading  south.  All  our 
column  had  filed  past  this  cross  road  except  part  of  the  Eighth 
Iowa,  when  a  large  force  of  Rebel  cavalry  suddenly  came 
upon  it  at  the  cross  roads,  cutting  it  in  two,  and  capturing 
about  twelve  hundred.  The  First  brigade  formed  and 
-charged,  but  was  driven  back.  The  Fourth  Kentucky  then 
formed  a  strong  rear  guard.  But  the  roads  were  literally 
swarming  with  Rebels;  not  less  than  live  thousand  were  on 
our  track  and  around  us.  They  had  captured  all  the  bridges 
across  Sweet  Water  creek,  a  deep,  muddy  stream  in  our 
front.  Captain  Hill,  with  a  battalion  of  the  gallant  Second 
Indiana,  secured  one  of  the  bridges,  which  lay  two  miles 
south  of  us.  We  hastened  up,  crossed  and  directed  our 
course  toward  the  west,  but  soon  found  a  strong  Rebel  force 
in  our  front.  We  halted,  threw  out  skirmishers,  secured  a 
negro  guide,  and  retraced  our  steps  two  miles.  It  was  now 
night,  and  we  succeeded  in  taking  a  by-road  to  the  left  of 
the  main  road,  and  in  passing  the  principal  Rebel  force. 
Through  the  intelligence  and  loyalty  of  our  guide  our  entire 
command  escaped  capture.  We  marched  rapidly  all  night, 
avoiding  the  main  roads,  and  traveling  nearly  west.  About 
three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-ninth  we  came 
upon  another  Rebel  train  of  fifty  wagons,  which  we  cut  down, 
but  did  not  burn  for  fear  of  betraying  ourselves  to  our  pur 
suers.  Our  guns  became  entangled  in  the  woods,  as  it  was 


73G  TH]G  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

intensely  dark.  General  McCook  ordered  us  to  leave  them, 
but  actuated  by  the  strange  affection  a  soldier  has  for  his 
arms,  we  refused,  and  after  a  half  hour's  delay  we  succeeded 
in  getting  them  through,  and  on  the  road  again.  The  exces 
sive  exertion  of  the  two  days  and  nights  travel,  without  rest 
or  food,  overcame  many.  They  gave  out  from  sheer  exhaus 
tion.  Our  mules  could  scarcely  be  urged  along,  by  coaxing 
or  beating,  when  we  crossed  a  stream  of  water,  but  orders 
were  imperative  not  to  stop  for  water  or  any  other  purpose. 
If  a  horse  or  a  mule  fell  dead,  the  carriage  was  driven  to  the 
roadside,  and  a  fresh  animal  put  into  the  harness.  The  car 
riage  must  regain  its  place  as  it  could.  The  column  was 
ordered  to  keep  well  closed  up.  But  it  was  impossible  in 
the  darkness,  and  the  Rebel  prisoners,  of  whom  we  had  now 
nearly  nine  hundred,  kept  constantly  escaping,  and  did  all  in 
their  power  to  mislead  the  troops  at  cross-roads  and  by-paths. 
Many  squads  were  led  off  in  this  way.  About  eight  in  the 
morning  we  reached  Newman,  on  the  West  Point  railroad, 
having  marched  forty  miles  since  we  left  Lovejoy.  Our  ad 
vance  made  a  dash  at  the  town,  but  Rebel  troops  which  had 
arrived  a  half  hour  previously  from  West  Point,  on  the  rail 
road,  had  possession  of  the  works,  and  forced  us  to  retire. 
Our  negro  guide  had  gone  beyond  his  reckoning.  It  was 
two  hours  before  we  found  another  road.  We  passed  south 
of  Newman  two  miles,  and  struck  for  the  river,  which  we 
hoped  to  cross  at  Lodi,  eight  miles  west  of  Newman.  We 
had  proceeded  but  four  miles  when  our  advance  regiment 
was  cut  off  and  captured.  The  Second  brigade  formed  in 
line,  and  drove  the  Rebel  skirmishers  a  mile,  when  our  col 
umn  was  attacked  simultaneously  on  our  right  and  rear. 
We  continued  the  unequal  contest  until  near  night.  Our 
command  had  been  whittled  down  on  every  side,  until  but 
twelve  hundred  remained.  The  cavalrymen  used  their  last 
round  of  ammunition;  we  fired  our  last  shell  and  our  last 
stand  of  canister,  when  nothing  was  left  us  but  to  abandon 
our  position.  We  chopped  our  gun  carriages  to  pieces, 
spiked  our  guns,  cut  up  our  harness,  fell  in  line,  the  cavalry, 
with  drawn  sabres,  made  a  dash  on  the  Rebel  line,  cut  our 
way  through,  and  traveled  rapidly  southward  to  Corinth, 


SHERMAN  BEGINS  TO  FLANK  ATLANTA.  737 

twenty  miles,  and  west  to  the  river,  which  we  reached  near 
midnight,  burning  the  bridges  behind  us.  We  found  an  old 
flat-boat,  in  which  men  and  accoutrements  were  ferried  over, 
while  the  horses  swam.  As  the  ferrying  was  slow  and  tedi 
ous,  many  built  rafts  of  rails,  and  swam  the  river,  pushing 
these  before  them  with  their  saddles  and  arms.  By  eight 
the  morning  of  the  thirtieth  the  majority  of  the  troops  had 
crossed.  Those  who  had  not  were  captured.  Our  command 
moved  up,  took  a  westerly  course,  and  marching  forty  miles, 
encamped  at  eight  in  the  evening  at  Wedowee,  Alabama. 
We  started  at  daylight  the  next  morning,  and  passing  through 
a  rough,  hilly  country,  arrived  at  Marietta  August  4." 

The  Eighth  Indiana  was  the  only  regiment  which  pre 
served  its  organization  in  this  unfortunate  raid. 

After  the  death  of  General  McPherson  several  important 
changes  took  place  among  the  officers  of  Sherman's  army. 
Howard  assumed  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 
He  was  succeeded  in  the  Fourth  corps  by  Stanley,  whose 
division  was  delivered  over  to  Brigadier  General  Kimball. 
Hooker  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Slocum.  Palmer 
was  relieved,  and  was  succeeded  by  Davis. 

On  the  night  of  July  26,  Sherman  began  a  general  move 
ment,  by  the  right  flank,  to  cut  the  railroad  in  the  rear  of 
Atlanta.  Howard's  army  made  the  initiatory  step  by  mov 
ing  round  the  rear  from  the  left  to  the  right.  It  was  scarcely 
in  position  before  it  received  a  tremendous  blow.  About 
noon  of  the  twenty-eighth  Hood  once  more  madly  assaulted. 
A  heavy  cannonade  opened  the  battle  as  usual.  The  Rebel 
masses  formed  behind  a  swell  of  ground.  They  advanced 
in  parallel  lines,  and  with  splendid  assurance,  up  open,  sloping 
fields,  against  Logan's  corps,  which  was  on  Howard's  right, 
expecting  to  catch  it  exposed.  But  Logan's  well  tried  troops, 
,  standing  on  the  crest  of  a  wooded  ridge,  and  behind  trenches 
dug  with  bayonets  and  tin-plates,  and  breastworks  of  fails, 
piled  up  after  indications  of  the  enemy's  purpose,  with  their 
right  refused,  and  with  Blair  and  Dodge  ready  to  advance 
to  their  support,  were  masters  of  the  situation.  With  a 
steady  volley  they  broke  the  enemy's  front,  broke  it  again 
*  47 


738  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

when  it  was  restored,  and  shattered  it  or  cut  it  down  at  every 
return.  At  some  points,  as  often  as  six  times  they  hurled  it 
back.  They  dragged  over  defences,  or  killed  in  their  front, 
men  and  officers  who  were  goaded  to  the  top  of  the  ridge,  or 
who,  confounded  by  terror,  ran  here  and  there,  and  round  and 
round,  not  knowing  whither  to  fly.  Harrow's  division,  hold 
ing  the  right  flank,  was  enveloped  in  a  continual  blaze  of  fire. 
Trees  several  inches  in  diameter  were  cut  down  by  bullets. 
No  artillery  was  engaged.  At  four  the  enemy,  except  six 
thousand  dead,  wounded  and  captured,  disappeared.  Sher 
man  lost  but  five  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  suffered  no 
delay  in  his  flanking  manoeuvres. 

Schofield  followed  Howard  from  the  left  and  took  up  a  po 
sition  on  the  extreme  right;  where,  however,  his  flank  was 
constantly  annoyed  and  threatened  by  a  heavy  Rebel  force 
with  artillery  on  two  hills.  Several  unsuccessful  attempts 
were  made  to  clear  the  hills.  At  length,  on  the  sixth  of 
August,  a  brigade  from  each  of  his  divisions  pushed  through 
a  dense  thicket  of  pines  and  oaks,  and  emerging  into  an 
open  field,  ran  to  the  position  under  a  rain  of  artillery  and 
musketry,  and  carried  it,  though  many  fell  in  the  woods  and 
very  many  in  the  field. 

Discovering  that  Hood  had  weakened  his  cavalry  by  send 
ing  Wheeler  on  a  raid,  Sherman  was  tempted  to  a  deviation 
from  his  plan,  as  far  as  regarded  moving  in  full  force  round 
Atlanta,  and  he  sent  Kilpatrick  with  five  thousand  cavalry  to 
break  the  railroads..  Kilpatrick  made  the  circuit,  but  with 
so  little  success  as  to  compel  the  resumption  of  the  original 
movement.  At  night  of  August  25,  Slocum,  with  the  Twen 
tieth  corps,  took  all  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  the  surplus 
wagons,  and  went  back  to  the  Chattahoochie  to  protect  com 
munications,  also  to  give  the  appearance  of  retreat.  The  in 
fatuated  enemy  saw  the  movement  wTith  delight,  and  Hood 
enjoyed  a  wild  but  short-lived  triumph.  Meantime  Sherman's 
army,  with  fifteen  days  rations,  Howard  on  the  right,  Thomas 
in  the  centre  and  Schofield  on  the  left,  marched  round  to  the 
south  of  the  city.  Schofield  being  near  the  city,  moved 
with  special  caution,  but  reached  the  Atlanta  and  Macon 
railroad  at  Rough  and  Ready  the  night  of  the  thirtieth, 


BATTLE  OF  JONESBORO.  739 

unobserved,  and  of  course,  unopposed.  Thomas,  also  unop 
posed,  reached  Couch's  station.  Howard  pushed  back  skirm 
ishers  throughout  the  thirtieth,  and  assured  that  the  enemy 
was  in  force  in  his  front,  halted  a  half  mile  from  the  railroad 
and  formed  his  lines  to  resist  assault, — the  Fifteenth  corps 
advanced  and  on  a  commanding  hill,  the  Sixteenth  on  his 
right,  the  Seventeenth  on  his  left.  He  intrenched  strongly. 
Early  the  next  day  Thomas  and  Schofield  set  to  work  at 
tearing  up  the  railroad,  a  kind  of  destruction  in  which  Sher 
man's  troops  were  adepts,  while  Howard,  relying  uoon  his 
own  strength,  awaited  attack. 

The  Rebel  army  had  been  divided  in  consequence  of  Kil- 
patrick's  raid,  half,  under  Hardee,  having  been  removed  to 
Jonesboro,  whence  it  now  advanced,  without  Hood's  daunt 
less  presence,  but  with  an  equally  reckless  courage.  After 
repeated  and  unsuccessful  assaults,  Hardee  at  length  sub 
mitted  to  be  driven  behind  his  intrenchments  and  held  there, 
while  Davis  moved  down  from  the  centre,  relieved  Blair  and 
began  a  vigorous  attack.  After  a  two  hours'  struggle,  Davis 
stormed  the  works,  capturing  two  batteries,  one  of  which  was 
Loomis',  lost  at  Chickamauga,  and  many  prisoners,  but  fail 
ing  to  hold  Hardee  with  his  main  force.  The  Thirty-Eighth 
distinguished  itself  in  the  battle  of  Jonesboro,  carrying  the 
works  in  its  front,  but  losing  heavily.  The  color  bearer  was 
killed  within  the  fortifications,  and  the  colors  were  seized  by 
Lieutenant  Redding,  who  carried  them  the  rest  of  the  day. 
Captain  Osborne  was  slain.  The  Twenty-Second  also  suf 
fered  severely. 

At  midnight  the  ground  shook  with  explosions,  which, 
coming  from  the  direction  of  Atlanta,  indicated  that  Hood 
acknowledged  himself  hopelessly  outflanked  and  was  pre 
paring  to  escape.  Sherman  however,  went  on  after  Hardee, 
finding  him  intrenched  seven  miles  down  the  railroad  at 
Lovejoy's.  In  the  afternoon  of  September  2,  Wood's  di 
vision  assaulted,  advancing  a  hundred  yards  over  abatis, 
capturing  skirmish  pits  and  skirmishers,  and  pushing  across 
an  open  field  under  a  withering  fire.  The  Seventy-Ninth, 
in  the  front  line  of  its  brigade,  came  within  two  hundred 
yards  of  the  works.  The  troops  of  the  division  bivouacked 


740  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

with  their  arms  in  their  hands,  and  remained  in  advance  till 
the  fourth,  when  Sherman  withdrew.  The  Eighty-Sixth,  left 
on  the  skirmish  line  to  guard  the  rear  of  its  brigade,  crept  out 
of  the  ditches  at  midnight  in  the  rain,  under  the  constant  fire 
of  pickets,  and  with  both  flanks  exposed,  and  made  its  way 
through  woods  and  streams,  overtaking  the  army  at  daylight. 
Sherman  found  at  Atlanta,  Colonel  Coburn,  who  had  ad 
vanced  from  the  Chattahoochie  on  the  first  of  September,  the 
morning  after  the  explosion.  Thomas'  troops  encamped  in 
the  vicinity  of  Atlanta.  Howard's  army  encamped  at  East 
Point  and  Schofield's  found  rest  at  Decatur.  Never  was  rest 
more  fairly  won,  never  was  victory  more  complete,  and  never 
did  a  more  magnificent  army  claim  the  result  of  its  labors. 
In  number  it  was  not  less  than  at  the  outset  of  the  campaign, 
one  hundred  thousand  men.  In  character  and  also  in  aspect  it 
was  vastly  finer.  Four  months  of  climbing  mountains,  thread 
ing  forests,  wading  and  bridging  rivers,  lying  in  trenches  and 
scaling  fortifications,  under  a  fire  so  constant,  so  penetrating 
and  so  pitiless,  that  day  was  scarcely  noisier  than  night,  the 
front  scarcely  more  exposed  than  the  rear,  and  the  battle 
hardly  more  deadly  than  the  inarch  and  the  bivouac,  men 
being  shot  as  they  slept  in  their  tents,  and  passing  away  with 
a  single  sigh, — four  such  months  had  embrowned  the  faces, 
toughened  the  muscles  and  sharpened  the  wits  of  the  soldiers 
and  had  curiously,  often  nobly  developed,  their  inner  natures. 
"You  can't  tell,"  says  an  officer  of  the  Seventieth,  "any 
thing  about  a  man^until  he  is  tried.  There  was  in  our  regi 
ment  a  long,  loose,  gawky,  open-mouthed,  simple  fellow, 
just  the  idea  of  a  Hoosier,  who  was  astonishingly  changed 
by  the  thunder  and  blood  of  Resaca.  He  was  a  new  man. 
His  eyes  were  bright.  His  face  was  thoughtful.  He  even 
moved  with  a  manliness,  which  you  might  call  dignity.  He 
continued  to  improve  and  develope  until  he  fell  at  Peach 
Tree  creek.  I  venture  to  say  that  man  lived  more  in  his  last 
three  months  than  in  all  the  twenty  preceding  years.  I've 
seen  many  another,  fine  at  talking,  good  at  understanding, 
right  enough  in  feeling,  lose  command  of  himself,  and  slink 
to  the  rear,  to  be  ordered  with  scorn  and  curses  to  the  picket 
line  in  front." 


PROPORTION  OF  LOSS  IN  THE  STATE  TROOPS.          74/J 

The  army  had  lost  immensely.  While  a  vast  number  had 
been  killed  outright,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  wounded 
had  died,  especially  among  the  troops  who  had  undergone  the 
hardships  of  the  East  Tennessee  campaign.  Fevers  also  had 
carried  away  many  of  the  best  men.  The  figures  which 
indicate  the  wounded  and  dead  may  be  uninteresting  to 
those  who  had  no  personal  friends  in  the  army,  or,  who  are 
not  blessed  with  the  power  of  sympathy,  but  they  represent 
infinite  loss  and  grief.  The  aggregate  loss  of  seventeen  regi 
ments,-— the  Twelfth,  Thirty-Sixth,  Thirtieth,  Sixty-Third, 
Thirty-Fifth,  Twenty-Seventh,  Thirty-Eighth,  Thirty-Third, 
Forty-Second,  Sixty-Fifth,  Seventieth,  Seventy-Fourth, 
Eighty-Eighth,  Ninety-Ninth,  Eightieth,  Seventy-First  and 
Fifty-Seventhj — was  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
four.  The  regiment  which  suffered  least  lost  thirty-nine. 
The  regiment  which  suffered  most,  the  Thirty-Third,  lost 
three  hundred.  The  other  troops  in  the  campaign,  all  los 
ing  at  the  same  rate,  were  the  Sixth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Twenty- 
Second,  Thirty-First,  Thirty-Second,  Thirty-Seventh,  Forti 
eth,  Forty-Second,  Fifty-Eighth,  Sixty-Sixth,  Seventy-Fifth, 
Eighty-First,  Eighty-Second,  Eighty-Third,  Eighty-Fourth, 
Eighty- Fifth,  Eighty-Sixth,  Eighty-Seventh,  Ninety-Seventh, 
One  Hundredth,  One  Hundred  and  First,  One  Hundred  and 
Twentieth,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Third,  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-Fourth,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Eighth, 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Ninth,  and  One  Hundred  and 
Thirtieth,  which  were  in  the  entire  campaign,  the  Twenty- 
Third,  Fifty-Third  and  Ninety-First,  which  joined  the  army 
June  6,  at  Acworth,  and  the  Twenty-Fifth,  which  came  in 
August  8,  infantry  regiments;  the  Second,  Fourth,  Fifth, 
Sixth,  Eighth,  the  Seventeenth,  which  included  the  veterans 
of  the  Fifteenth,  the  Seventy-Second  and  Klein's  battalion 
of  cavalry;  the  Fifth,  Seventh,  Eleventh,  Fifteenth,  Eight 
eenth,  Nineteenth,  Twentieth,  Twenty-Second,  Twenty- 
Third  and  Twenty-Fourth  batteries.  The  Fifty-Eighth 
regiment  was  in  the  engineer  department,  and  had  charge 
of  the  pontoon  trains,  bridging  the  rivers  often  in  the  facr 
of  the  enemy,  and  some  of  them  as  many  as  sixteen  times. 


742  THR  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Forty-nine  infantry,  seven  cavalry  regiments  and  ten  bat 
teries  constituted  the  Indiana  organizations  engaged  in  the 
Atlanta  campaign.  With  few  exceptions  out  of  Hovey's 
division,  the  regiments  were  mere  remnants  even  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  campaign. 

In  addition  to  the  officers  already  mentioned  as  gone 
from  the  Twelfth,  were  Captain  Huston  and  Lieutenants 
Alfont  and  Godown,  who  were  in  captivity,  and  Lieuten 
ants  Weaver  and  Waters,  who  were  among  the  slain.  On 
the  twenty-second  of  July,  Lawrence  Parks  was  struck  five 
times,  twice  mortally,  while  attempting  to  rally  his  comrade?. 
He  died  on  the  field  during  the  night,  attended  by  his  brother. 
David  Vanskike,  one  of  a  small  party  who  captured  a  skirm 
ish  post,  was  never  heard  of  afterward.  He  was  doubtless 
killed,  as  he  had  frequently  declared  that  he  never  would  be 
taken  prisoner.  William  Curnutt  died  from  exhaustion  in 
the  battle  of  July  28.  Francis  Martin,  a  hospital  steward 
of  excellent  ability  and  character,  was  killed  August  9. 

The  Seventy-Ninth  was  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Ritter,  Colonel  Knefller  being  in  command  of  the  brigade, 
Colonel  Oylcr  having  been  sick  throughout  the  campaign, 
Major  Parker  having  been  severely  wounded  at  Peach  Tree 
creek,  and  Captain  Dunbar  captured  while  establishing  a 
picket  line  at  Lovejoy.  William  Johnson,  a  Sergeant  in 
the  Seventy-Ninth,  was  killed  at  Kenesaw.  He  was  a  young 
man  of  line  ability  and  fine  appearance,  and  was  the  last 
though  the  oldest  of  four  soldier-brothers;  of  whom  Thomas 
was  killed  by  a  cannon  ball  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River, 
Andrew  died  a  month  later  in  Murfrcesboro,  (they  were 
twins,)  and  David  the  youngest  died  at  Knoxville.  Their 
mother,  Mrs.  Eller,  lives,  and  is  a  widow. 

Of  the  Thirty-Sixth,  Lieutenant  Fentress  was  killed  at 
New  Hope  Church,  Lieutenants  Hendricks  and  Bowman 
were  killed  before  Kenesaw,  Lieutenant  Willard  was  mortally 
wounded  in  front  of  Atlanta. 

Captain  Scott,  of  the  Thirty-Third,  was  killed  en  picket, 
Adjutant  Porter  at  Kenesaw,  and  Lieutenant  Reed  at  Peach 
Tree  creek. 


NAMES  OF  SOME  OP  THE  FALLEN.  743 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Baker,  in  command  of  the  Seventy- 
Fourth,  was  killed  August  5;  Captain  Abbot  was  killed  at 
Jonesboro. 

Captain  Homan,  of  the  Ninety-Ninth,  was  captured  July  2. 

The  Eighty-Second  lost  its  brave  Lieutenant  Colonel  Slo- 
cura  in  the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  at  Rocky  Face.  Near 
Atlanta,  Lieutenant  Walker  was  killed. 

The  Sixty- Fifth  started  out  with  Lieutenant  Colonel  John 
son  in  command.  His  health  failing,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Captain  Hodge,  who  died  of  typhoid  fever  in  August,  when 
the  command  devolved  on  Captain  Hammond. 

The  Sixth  lost  Major  McKeehan,  severely  wounded  and 
captured,  dying  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  at  Atlanta.  He 
was  a  brave  and  accomplished  gentleman.  The  regiment 
lost  also  Captain  Cummings,  killed  at  Dallas,  and  Captains 
Conner  and  Newland. 

The  Ninth  lost  Captain  Hodsden,  died  July  27,  of  wounds. 

The  Twenty-Second  lost  Lieutenants  Eunyan  and  Lind- 
son,  both  at  Jonesboro,  and  Captain  Moss,  killed  July  1. 
Captain  Bennct,  of  the  Twenty-Fifth,  was  killed  before 
Atlanta. 

Captain  Seifert  and  Lieutenant  Hupfaup,  of  the  Thirty- 
Second,  were  killed  at  Alatoona. 

Lieutenant  Spears,  of  the  Thirty-Seventh,  fell  at  Dallas. 
Captain  Elliot,  Lieutenant  Sharp  and  Captain  Kirkpatrick 
were  killed  at  Kenesaw.  Captain  Holmes  was  mortally 
wounded.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Jones,  Lieutenants  Smith, 
Gibson  and  Huston,  Captains  Matthis  and  Shively,  feU  July 
22.  Lieutenant  Marsh  was  mortally  wounded.  Lieutenant 
White  was  killed  at  Kenesaw. 

In  the  action  at  Sunshine  Church,  Captain  E.  W.  Peck 
of  the  Sixth  cavalry,  a  worthy  and  competent  officer,  was 
killed  while  fighting  as  a  private,  he  being  under  charges  at 
the  time.  He  was  honorably  acquitted  by  order  of  General 
Schofield,  before  his  death,  but  he  was  not  aware  of  his  ac 
quittal. 

Captain  Stidham  and  Lieutenants  Beitzell  and  Callaway, 
of  the  Fifty-Seventh,  were  killed  at  Kenesaw.  Lieutenant 
Minesinger  was  mortally  wounded  at  Jonesboro. 


744  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Major  Patterson,  of  the  Sixty-Third,  was  killed  at  Resaca, 
also  Lieutenant  Swank. 

Colonel  Spooner,  of  the  Eighty-Third,  lost  an  arm  at  Ken- 
esaw,  and  was  so  disabled  as  to  be  forced  to  resign.  His 
ability  and  amiability  made  his  loss  severely  felt  by  the  regi 
ment.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Myers  was  killed  at  Dallas. 
Lieutenant  Hazen  died  of  wounds. 

Major  Boyd,  of  the  Eighty-Fourth,  Lieutenants  Robertson 
and  Barret,  of  the  Ninety-First,  Captains  Swain  and  Owens, 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Third,  and  Lieutenant 
Cone  and  Captain  Mitchell,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Thir 
tieth,  died  of  wounds. 

Captain  Young,  of  the  Ninety-Seventh,  was  killed  at  Ken- 
esaw.  Lieutenant  Jeffries,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twen 
ty-Third,  was  killed  at  Dallas. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  Neff,  of  the  Thirty-First,  was  killed  on 
the  twenty-fifth  of  June.  He  had  unusual  fortitude  and 
courage,  and  was  possessed  of  the  large  heart  and  the  deli 
cate  perception  of  character  which  enable  a  man  easily  to 
obey  the  Scriptural  command,  "Honor  all  men."  As  aeon- 
sequence  he  was  regarded  with  honor  and  affection,  and 
could  ill  be  spared. 

Colonel  De  Hart  was  severely  wounded  early  in  the  cam 
paign,  and  was  succeeded  in  command  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-Eighth  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Packard. 

The  Twenty-Second  battery  reached  the  front  while  the 
army  was  before  Kenesaw.  Captain  Denning  was  wounded 
July  1,  before  he  had  fired  a  dozen  shots.  He  died  the  next 
day.  The  Fifth  battery  lost  ten,  including  the  brave  Simon- 
son,  who  was  killed  while  placing  his  battery  in  position  at 
Pine  Mountain. 

Sherman's  communications,  during  his  advance  on  Atlanta, 
.had  been  comparatively  undisturbed.  The  only  raid  of  im 
portance  was  Wheeler's,  commenced  shortly  after  Stoneman's 
failure.  But  the  damage  committed  by  him  on  the  railroad 
between  Atlanta  and  Chattanooga  was  so  slight  thot  on  the 
fifteenth  the  roads  and  telegraphs  were  all  repaired,  and  cars 
were  running  with  regular  speed. 


PRO  PATRIA.  745 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

GEORGE  B.  COVINGTON. 

Gem  of  our  hearth,  our  household  pride, 

Earth's  undefiled; 
Could  love  have  saved,  thou  liadst  not  died, 

Our  dear,  sweet  child ! 
Humbly  we  bow  to  Fate's  decree; 
Yet  had  we  hoped  that  time  should  see 
Thee  mourn  for  us,  not  us  for  thce. —  D.  M.  Moir. 

"At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  George  B.  Covington,  then 
not  {sixteen  years  old,  was  living  at  Newport,  Kentucky. 
Although  a  garrison  of  United  States  troops  has  been  main 
tained  at  that  town  during  the  present  century,  a  strong  and 
impudent  Rebel  sentiment  existed  there.  Union  people,  and 
even  the  troops  belonging  to  the  garrison,  were  deliberately 
insulted  by  women  claiming  to  be  ladies,  and  who  boasted 
of  having  been  'bawn  in  Kaintueka.'  On  the  Monday  after 
Fort  Sumter  was  first  fired  upon,  the  streets  of  Cincinnati 
were  fairly  festooned  with  Union  flags,  while  in  Newport  but- 
few  were  displayed.  Two  of  these  few  were  tied,  by  young 
Covington,  to  the  lightning  rods  at  either  end  of  his  father's 
residence.  They  were  lied  because  threats  had  been  made 
that  Union  ilags,  if  unfurled  in  Newport,  would  be  torn 
down. 

"  When  the  first  call  was  made  for  troops,  George  impor 
tuned  his  parents  for  permission  to  go  to  Indiana,  his  native 
State,  and  enlist  in  one  of  her  regiments.  His  youth  was 
urged  as  an  objection,  and  he  was  assured  that  he  would  not, 
on  that  account,  be  received  as  a  soldier.  Knowing  that 
General  Morris  was  his  friend,  he  felt  confident  that  through 
his  influence  he  would  be  received,  and,  yielding  to  the 
wishes  of  his  parents,  he  waited  until  General  Morris  passed 
through  Cincinnati  on  his  way  to  Virginia,  when  he  solicited 


746  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  privilege  of  accompanying  him.  The  General  dissuaded 
him,  and  while  commending  his  spirit,  assured  him  that  he 
\vould  be  unable  to  bear  the  fatigues  of  a  soldier's  life,  and 
might  be  a  burden  instead  of  an  aid  to  the  cause.  George 

o  O 

reluctantly  acquiesced. 

"In  the  Seventh  Indiana,  which  entered  the  service  at  ihis 
time,  were  many  of  his  friends,  and  they  but  so  little  his  sen 
iors,  that  he  could  hardly  part  with  them,  Lynn,  Waterman, 
Jamison,  Hayman,  and  other  of  these  brave  boys,  George's 
school  fellows,  gave  up  their  lives  in  the  cause  of  their 
country. 

"On  the  fourth  of  July,  the  Seventeenth  Indiana,  in  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Hascall,  passed  through  Cincinnati  on  its 
way  to  Virginia.  Relying  upon  a  slight  acquaintance  formed 
with  Colonel  Hascall  at  the  time  he  was  a  member  of  Gen 
eral  Morris'  staff,  George  asked  permission  to  accompany 
the  regiment  to  the  field,  and  his  request  was  granted.  He 
was  actuated  by  no  boyish  whim,  no  running  after  novelties, 
or  pleasure  in  'the  pride,  the  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  glo 
rious  war,'  but  by  a  deep-seated  conviction  of  duty.  He 
knew  the  sacrifices  he  was  making.  He  was  leaving  home, 
where  his  every  comfort  and  happiness  were  carefully  studied ; 
he  was  leaving  school,  where  two  years  more  would  have 
completed  his  academic  course;  he  was  leaving  friends,  who 
would  gladly  have  assisted  and  encouraged  him  in  whatever 
pursuit  of  life  he  might  have  chosen ;  his  future  shone  brightly 
before  him,  and  promised  abundantly.  All  these  might  be 
lost,  but  he  felt  that  his  country  called  him,  and  that  he  had 
no  right  to  deny  any  service  that  he  was  able  to  render. 

"  Too  young  to  be  regularly  enlisted,  he  accompanied  the 
regiment  as  a  volunteer  aid  to  Colonel  Hascall. 

"During  the  following  winter,  the  Seventeenth  being  then 
in  Tennessee,  parental  anxiety,  perhaps  too  often,  suggested 
the  undesirableness  of  being  in  the  army,  and  set  forth,  prob 
ably  in  too  glowing  colors,  the  pleasures  of  home.  It  was 
no  doubt  in  reply  to  a  letter  of  this  character,  that  he  wrote 
from  Murfreesboro,  St.  Valentine's  day,  1863:  'As  for  com 
ing  home,  much  as  1  love  those  there,  and  as  often  as  they 
are  in  my  thoughts,  I  do  not  permit  myself  to  think  of  it.  I 


MANLY  AMBITION.  747 

like  soldiering.  If  my  present  good  health  continues,  I  want 
to  stay  with  this  army  till  the  Rebellion  is  put  down.  Upon 
the  consummation  of  that  object,  I  could  come  home  and  stay 
contented.' 

"  The  feeling  and  determination  of  the  army  at  that  time  is 
expressed  in  another  part  of  the  same  letter.  While  at  Nash 
ville,  a  short  time  previously,  he  met  a  relative  who  was  a 
resident  of  that  vicinity,  and  a  violent  Rebel.  This  gentle 
man  denounced  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  predicted  the  success  of 
the  Rebel  cause  and  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy  by  the  United  States,  within  six  months.  'I 
told  him,'  he  writes,  'that  the  mass  of  the  army  approved  Mr. 
Lincoln's  message  and  proclamations,  each  and  every  one  of 
them ;  that  it  was  the  firm  determination  of  this  army  to  put 
down  this  rebellion  or  ruin  everything  in  the  South,  and  quite 
probably  we  would  do  both.'  The  dwelling  of  this  same 
Rebel  was  between  the  contending  lines  of  the  battle  of  Nash 
ville,  which  was  fought  afterwards.  His  family  fled  to  gopher 
holes,  and  his  beautiful  and  highly  cultivated  grounds  were 
stripped  of  everything. 

"Receiving  a  letter  from  home  in  which  it  was  suggested 
that  an  effort  would  be  made  to  procure  a  commission  for 
him,  he  wrote:  'Few  persons  anywhere  are  satisfied  with 
their  condition.  Here  I  am  surrounded  by  friends,  and,  so 
far  as  I  know,  with  nothing  to  make  me  feel  unpleasant  or 
uncomfortable.  I  confess  I  have  an  itching  for  a  pair  of 
shoulder  straps;  but  if  I  ever  do  get  them,  I  want  them 
solely  because  I  deserve  them.  I  would  accept  them  only 
upon  being  tendered  on  that  ground,  and  would  refuse  them 
if  obtained  upon  the  application  of  friends,  either  at  home  or 
in  the  army,  because  of  their  political  influence.' 

"At  another  time,  alluding  to  the  gratification  he  received 
from  the  approval  of  his  superiors,  he  said:  'I  would  rather 
be  a  first  lieutenant  raised  from  the  ranks  by  my  own  merit, 
than  a  brigadier  general  appointed  by  political  influence.' 

"As  for  friends,"  he  writes  in  one  of  his  letters,  'I  have 
never  been  without  them.  One  of  my  reasons  for  so  liking 
the  service,  is,  that  where  friendship  does  exist,  it  is  purely 
disinterested,  and  not  sordid  and  grasping  after  money,  such 


748  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

as  we  see  in  civil  life.  I  know  that  I  am  thought  of  and 
talked  of  at  home,  and  that  I  will  never  be  forgotten  there! 
I  know,  too,  that  neither  long  absence  from  home,  nor  any 
associations  I  might  form,  would  banish  the  daily  thoughts 
of  father,  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  from  my  mind.  As 
for  convivialities,  let  me  say  to  mother  that  I  have  never  yet 
taken  a  drink  of  whisky,  and  I  hope  that  I  may  be  able  to 
truthfully  say  the  same  thing  fifty  years  hence." 

His  letters  from  the  front,  as  the  army  advanced  toward 
Chattanooga,  arc  exceedingly  interesting,  but  unfortunately 
must  be  omitted  for  want  of  space.  He  describes  the  pa 
triotism  of  East  Tennessee,  the  shelling  of  Chattanooga,  and 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  for  the  awful  scenes  of  which  all 
that  he  had  ever  heard  or  read  had  not  prepared  him;  and 
speculates  on  the  taking  of  Atlanta  and  the  probability  of  a 
march  to  the  sea. 

"A  majority  of  the  Seventeenth  regiment  enlisted  on  the 
fourth  of  January,  1864,  and  returned  to  Indianapolis.  Hav 
ing  been  remounted,  they  returned  to  the  field,  reaching 
Sherman's  army  at  Atlanta  on  the  tenth  of  May,  where  they 
were  immediately  placed  in  active  and  constant  scouting 
operations.  At  the  reorganization  of  the  regiment,  George 
was  appointed  Adjutant. 

"  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  May,  while  the  regiment  was  en 
gaged  in  scouting,  Adjutant  Covington  was  wounded  by  a 
shot  from  a  Rebel  sharpshooter.  The  wound  was  necessa 
rily  fatal,  but  it  was  hoped  that  he  would  be  able  to  reach 
his  home  before  dying,  and  Colonel  Wilder  immediately 
took  the  necessary  steps  for  that  purpose.  Some  delay  in 
setting  out  was  incurred  by  reason  of  Wheeler's  cavalry 
having  made  a  raid  in  the  rear,  and  he  was  not  started  until 
the  thirty-first.  He  died  on  the  cars,  near  Kingston,  on  the 
first  of  June,  and  was  buried  at  Rising  Sun,  Indiana,  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  on  the  ninth  of  June. 

"As  some  evidence  of  the  respect  entertained  for  him  and 
the  cause  in  which  he  gave  up  his  life,  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  remark  that  on  the  day  of  his  burial  the  Common 
Pleas'  and  Commissioners'  Courts  were  both  in  session  at 
Rising  Sun,  and  both  courts  made  record  of  the  event  in 


"FOR  THE  HOLY  RIGHT  II R  DIED.  '  749 

their  minutes,  and  adjourned  during  the  time  of  the  funeral 
ceremonies. 

"The  many  letters  from  his  comrades  showed  the  estimation 
in  which  he  was  held  as  a  soldier  and  a  friend.  Colonel 
Wilder' s  grief  at  his  death  could  hardly  have  been  greater  if 
it  had  been  his  own  son.  Dr.  Munford,  surgeon  of  the  regi 
ment,  who  gave  him  a  parent's  care  until  he  started  home, 
wrote:  'He  did  not  suffer  much  pain,  was  usually  cheerful, 
and  at  all  times  perfectly  rational.  He  desired  to  reach 
home,  and  often  when  dozing  would  breathe,  'Father/ 
'  Mother,'  and  very  often  when  awake  would  repeat  the  first 
part  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  '  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven.' 
I  told  him  soon  after  he  was  wounded,  that  it  was  mortal. 
He  desired  to  know,  and  implored  me  not  to  keep  the  real 
state  of  his  case  from  him.  He  said  he  did  not  fear  to  die; 
that  he  had  lost  his  life  in  trying  to  do  his  duty.  He  said  to 
me  the  evening  before  we  started  him  home,  that  he  did  not 
hope  to  get  there  alive.  When  Colonel  Wilder  asked  him 
what  message  he  would  send  his  parents  in  case  he  should 
not  see  them  himself,  I  was  by  his  side,  and  heard  his  reply. 
It  \vas  in  a  firm,  manly  voice.  '  Tell  them  I  died  a  Christian 
soldier,  trying  to  do  my  duty.'  What  more  than  this  tells 
can  be  said  of  him?5 

"  While  a  resident  of  Indianapolis,  George  was  a  Sunday- 
school  pupil  of  Wm.  N.  Jackson,  Esq.,  and  always  entertained 
for  that  gentleman  a  feeling  but  little  short  of  filial.  Mr 
Jackson  says:  'When  last  here,  I  saw  him  as  much  as  his 
time  or  sense  of  duty  to  others  would  permit,  and  enjoyed  so 
much  his  modest  description  of  movements  and  events  in  the 
army,  an  account  of  which  I  had  never  had  from  other 
sources — incidents  in  which  he  had  taken  part,  but  that  part 
never  was  mentioned  by  him.  As  we  parted  the  last  time, 
upon  asking  him  to  read  his  Bible  and  pray  to  God,  and  tell 
ing  him  that  I  would  pray  for  him,  he  gave  me  the  kindest, 
tenderest,  saddest  assent  that  I  ever  saw  expressed.  That 
look  is  so  deeply  impressed  upon  my  memory  that  it  seems 
to  me  nothing  can  ever  efface  it.' 

"  The  lifetime  of  Lieutenant  Covington  was  short,  yet  it 
was  long  enough  to  form  many  devoted  friendships,  and  to 


750  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

leave  a  memory  to  be  cherished  in  many  a  fond  and  patriotic 
heart.  Length  of  trus  life  is  not  measured  by  years.  Long 
years  may  be  spent  in  uselessness.  Even  the  full  three  score 
and  ten  may  be  but  a  blank  in  all  that  makes  true  living. 
Barely  nineteen  years  were  granted  him  on  this  earth,  but 
nearly  three  of  those  were  devoted  to  his  country,  and  all  of 
them  were  so  spent  that  in  the  last  hour  he  could  say  that  he 
died  a  Christian  soldier,  trying  to  do  his  duty.  What  more 
could  have  been  said  or  even  desired,  though  the  end  of  the 
full  time  allotted  to  man  had  been  attained? 

"A  neat  monument,  upon  which  is  carved  a  representation 
of  the  flag  he  loved  so  well,  as  if  thrown  carelessly  over  the 
top  of  the  shaft,  in  the  cemetery  at  Rising  Sun,  and  upon 
the  die  of  which  is  the  record,  'Born  in  Rising  Sun,  March 
28,  1845,  entered  the  Union  Army  July  4,  1861,  died  of 
wounds  received  in  action  near  Dallas,  Georgia,  June  1, 
1864,'  marks  the  resting  place  of  Lieutenant  George  B.  Cov- 
ington,  Adjutant  Seventeenth  Indiana  Volunteers." 


TREASON  S  PRISON  HOLD. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

SIX  WEEKS  IN  ANDERSONVILLE. 

David  S.  and  George  M.  Whitenack,  members  of  Com 
pany  F,  Fifth  cavalry,  were  included  in  the  troops  surrendered 
by  General  Stoneman  on  the  thirty-first  of  July,  1864.  David 
gives  the  following  account  of  their  imprisonment: 

"  We  were  taken  to  Andersonville  on  the  second  of  August, 
1864,  and  introduced  into  prison  life  proper  under  the  presi 
dency  of  Prof.  Wirz.  After  we  left  the  cars  we  were  placed 
in  line,  ordered  to  take  off  our  clothing,  and  subjected  to  a 
rigid  search.  Everything  of  value  was  taken  from  us,  money, 
watches,  jewelry,  many  articles  of  clothing,  and  even  the 
photographs  of  our  friends,  while  we  were  threatened  with 
being  shot  or  hung,  and  were  abused  as  thieves  and  robbers. 
After  we  had  been  deprived  of  what  few  comforts  we  pos 
sessed,  we  were  driven,  like  so  many  hogs,  into  the  stockade, 
where  already  thirty-two  thousand  souls  were  confined. 
There  were  four  hundred  and  forty  of  us,  the  rest  of  General 
Stoneman's  command  having  escaped.  What  a  sight  met 
our  eyes!  At  least  fifty  dead  were  lying  near  the  gate,  wait 
ing  for  the  return  of  the  'dead  wagon.' 

"Starvation  was  apparent  in  almost  every  living  man. 
Some  were  almost  entirely  destitute  of  clothing.  Many  were 
unable  to  walk  by  reason  of  scurvy,  while  hundreds  were  in 
a  dying  condition.  The  thought  that  we  were  to  share  a 
like  treatment  made  the  sight  still  more  dreadful. 

"  We  were  left  to  select  our  own  spot  of  earth  where  we 
might  lie  down  and  rest  our  weary  limbs.  Not  a  shed  or 
building  of  any  description  was  in  the  prison  ground.  The 
heavens  were  a  covering  for  us,  and  the  earth  was  our  bed. 
Andersonville  prison  consisted  of  twenty-five  acres  of  ground, 
which  were  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  logs  twelve  or  fifteen 


752  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

feet  long,  put  endwise  into  the  ground.  On  the  top  of  an 
embankment,  thrown  against  the  logs  on  the  outside,  the 
guards  were  placed.  A  branch  ran  through  the  southern 
half  of  the  prison,  taking  up  at  least  five  acres,  on  account 
of  the  low  and  marshy  ground  near  the  stream,  thus  allowing 
us  but  twenty  acres  to  occupy, — making  sixteen  hundred 
men  to  the  acre,  or  ten  to  every  square  rod.  During  the 
month  of  August  and  the  two  weeks  of  September  that  I 
remained  here,  the  deaths  were,  on  an  average,  one  hundred 
per  day,  some  days  reaching  one  hundred  and  fifty,  other 
days  falling  below  a  hundred.  To  add  to  this  fearful  mort 
ality,  I  have  seen  the  Rebel  guards  shoot  quite  a  num 
ber  of  prisoners  who  would  thoughtlessly  cross  the  'dead 
line,'  which  was  twelve  feet  from  the  wall  of  the  prison. 
The  'dead  wagon'  came  round  every  morning  to  remove  the 
dead  to  their  final  resting  place.  The  manner  of  loading  the 
wagon  was  a  novel  one,  at  least  so  far  as  humanity  was  con 
cerned.  Two  men  would  take  hold  of  a  dead  body,  one  by 
the  hands  and  the  other  by  the  feet,  and,  with  a  swing,  would 
send  it  into  the  wagon  m  any  way  it  might  happen  to  light. 
"It  is  impossible  to  give  anything  like  a  full  description  of 
what  I  saw  and  experienced  without  writing  enough  to  fill  a . 
book  of  many  pages.  For  the  first  three  days  of  our  im 
prisonment  we  received  nothing  whatever  to  eat  from  the 
hands  of  the  Rebels,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  a  few  crackers 
in  our  haversacks,  we  should  have  suffered  much  more  than 
we  did.  We  had  been  told  by  the  citizens  of  Macon  that 
when  we  got  to  Andersonville  we  would  be  made  to  feel  the 
power  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America;  and  we  did  feel 
it,  for  they  had  the  power  to  starve  us  to  death,  and  they 
came  well  nigh  doing  it.  Our  rations  consisted  of  one  pint 
of  corn-rneal;  and  this  was  all  we  had  to  live  upon  for  twen 
ty-four  hours.  Occasionally  we  received  a  gill  of  beans  ready 
cooked;  but  such  a  mess!  Hulls,  bugs,  dirt  and  all  manner 
of  filth  mixed  together.  We  were  sometimes  compelled  to 
cat  our  meal  raw,  as  the  wood  given  us  was  not  enough  to 
cook  it.  A  stick  the  size  of  a  piece  of  stove-wood  was  all 
we  had  to  use  for  three  days  at  a  time.  We  had  to  split  the 
wood  with  a  pocket-knife  into  very  small  slivers,  and  use 


THE  ESCAPE  FROM  FLORENCE.  753 

them  with  the  greatest  economy.  It  seemed  as  if  the  Rebels 
were  trying  every  means  in  their  power  to  kill  us  off,  for  there 
was  no  excuse  for  not  giving  us  plenty  of  wood.  We  were 
made  still  more  miserable  by  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
lice,  more  commonly  called  'greybacks.'  The  very  ground 
seemed  to  be  alive  with  them. 

"September  13,  we  were  put  into  freight  cars,  seventy-live 
or  eighty  in  a  car,  so  crowded  that  we  could  not  lie  down, 
and  started  to  Florence  by  way  of  Macon,  Savannah  and 
Charleston.  We  spent  two  days  at  Charleston,  and  reached 
Florence  on  the  seventeenth.  Here  we  received  nothing  but 
a  half  pint  of  rice  for  two  days.  It  seemed  as  if  they  were 
determined  to  starve  us  to  death,  and  I  felt  that  something 
must  be  attempted.  So  I  made  a  proposition  to  my  brother 
that  we  should  make  a  desperate  effort  to  escape,  to  which 
he  consented.  We  had  not  yet  been  placed  in  the  stockade, 
as  it  was  not  quite  finished,  but  were  guarded  in  an  open 
field.  Having  determined  to  take  a  northwesterly  course,  to 
Knoxville,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles,  we  resolved  to 
make  the  hazardous  attempt  on  the  night  of  September  19, 
not  forgetting,  however,  to  offer  up  a  silent  prayer  to  God 
that  he  would  shield  us  in  danger.  When  night  came  on 
we  approached  the  guard  line,  and  when  two  guards  were 
walking  from  each  other  I  passed  out,  and  made  for  a  skirt 
of  woods  on  the  north  of  the  camp,  where  I  was  to  wait  for 
brother  George.  I  expected  every  step  to  hear  the  report  of 
a  musket,  or  the  whizzing  of  a  ball.  After  reaching  the 
woods  I  waited  in  breathless  suspense  for  the  whistle  which 
was  to  indicate  George's  escape;  and  great  was  my  relief 
when  he  joined  me.'' 

The  brothers  wandered  nine  nights,  then  were  recaptured, 
and  after  some  delay  returned  to  the  stockade  at  Florence. 
4  They  fared  no  better  there  than  at  Anderson  ville.  They  ofter 
saw  Lieutenant  Barry,  of  the  Fifty-Fifth  Georgia,  deliber-'t 
ately  and  without  provocation,  fire  among  the  prisoners. 
This  is  but  one  of  the  inhumanities  which  they  record. 


48 


754  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XL1II, 

THE  NASHVILLE  AND  MOBILE  CAMPAIGNS. 

"  He  never  yields  his  life  too  soon, 
For  country  and  for  right  who  dies." 

Sherman  was  no  sooner  encamped  with  a  promise  to  his 
army  of  a  long  month's  rest,  than  Hood  turned  his  desires 
and  devices  northward.  He  crossed  the  Chattanooga  south 
and  west  of  Atlanta,  and  marched  to  Dallas,  whence  his  cav 
alry  went  to  Big  Shanty  and  tore  up  the  railroad,  and  a  di 
vision  of  his  infantry  hastened  to  Alatoona.  He  proceeded 
unmolested  thus  far,  having  been  fairly  on  the  march  before 
a  report  of  his  doings  reached  his  weary  antagonist.  But, 
except  Slocum's  corps,  which  remained  to  hold  Atlanta,  the 
northern  army  was  now  on  his  track.  On  the  morning  of 
the  fifth  of  October,  Sherman  looked  out  from  the  lofty  sum 
mit  of  Kenesaw  on  long  lines  of  soldiers  pointing  toward 
Dallas,  and,  in  the  far  off  distance,  to  Alatoona,  begirt  with 
the  white  smoke  of  the  Rebel  assault.  He  signaled  the  com 
mander  to  hold  out,  and  the  commander  held  out  until  he 
was  relieved  by  the  approach  of  Schofield. 

Hood  pushed  on  threatening  Kingston  and  demonstrating 
before  Rome.  Sherman  pressed  after  him  and  saved  both. 
Hood  hastened  down  the  Coosa  and  crossed  it.  Sherman 
hurried  Garrard's  cavalry  and  Cox's  infantry  up  the  Oostan- 
aula  and  over  it  to  threaten  the  enemy's  right  flank,  while 
with  his  main  force  he  pursued  the  rear.  Hood  halted  before 
Resaca,  summoned  it  and  was  refused,  attacked  it  and  was 
repulsed.  Sherman  having  reinforced  Resaca,  made  no  de 
lay  in  marching  to  the  relief  of  his  reinforcement.  Hood 
went  on  to  Tunnel  Hill,  destroying  the  railroad.  Sherman 
sent  Howard,  with  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  to  Snake 
creek  gap,  and  Stanley,  with  the  Fourth  and  Fourteenth  corps, 


FIGHTING  AND  RUNNING.  755 

to  Tilton  and  Villanow,  in  order  to  strike  simultaneously  the 
left  flank  and  rear  of  the  swift  foe.  Hood's  rear-guard  skirm 
ished  with  Howard's  front,  but  was  gone  before  Stanley 
reached  the  appointed  place.  Sherman  again  divided  his 
forces,  after  a  rapid  day's  march  again  concentrated,  but 
again  grasped  nothing.  Once  more  he  hastened  on,  follow 
ing  traces  and  rumors  as  far  as  Gaylesville,  Alabama.  Here 
he  spent  a  week  in  inquiry  and  observation,  the  result  of 
which  was  the  permanent  division  of  his  forces.  He  sent 
Thomas  to  Nashville  to  assume  command  in  Tennessee,  and 
detached  for  the  protection  of  Tennessee,  Stanley  with  the 
Fourth  corps,  Schofield  with  the  Twenty-Third,  and  all  of 
his  cavalry  but  Kilpatrick's  division.  He  then  turned  his 
back  on  the  north,  and  stripping  the  railroad  as  he  went  of 
the  troops  that  guarded  it,  sending  some  to  Thomas  and  ab 
sorbing  others  in  his  own  column,  he  made  a  leisurely  march 
to  Atlanta. 

Tennessee  was  in  a  turmoil,* not  only  because  Hood  was 
on  its  border,  threatening  an  invasion,  but  on  account  of  the 
actual  presence  of  Wheeler  and  Forrest.  Wheeler  appeared 
first,  whisking  about  like  a  Jack  o'Lantern,  attacking  small 
garrisons,  and  outlying  detachments,  and  running  away  from 
large  forces.  After  the  arrival  of  Forrest  he  was  bolder  and 
less  cautious.  But  at  every  point  after  the  first  few  days, 
the  invaders  were  confronted  by  swift  and  gallant  cavalry. 
There  were  the  Ninth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth  and  Thir 
teenth  Indiana,  which,  during  the  Atlanta  campaign  had 
guarded  the  railroads  in  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  the  Sixth, 
which,  after  M' Cook's  raid,  had  returned  to  Nashville  to  be 
remounted  and  equipped,  the  Seventy-Third,  which  had 
lately  picketed  the  Tennessee  river  near  Triana,  and  a  detach 
ment  of  the  Eighth,  beside  no  small  number  of  regiments 
from  other  States.  * 

At  first  the  Rebels  avoided  battle,  but  as  their  strength  in 
creased,  and  as  the  Union  strength  also  increased,  encounters 
became  frequent.  In  an  engagement  with  Forrest  at  Sulphur 
Branch  Trestle,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  a  detach 
ment  of  the  Ninth,  but  a  small  part  of  the  Union  force,  lost 
one  hundred  and  twenty  killed,  wounded  and  missing.  On 


756  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

the  twenty-eighth  there  was  sharp  fighting  before  Pulaski, 
which  Forest  attacked  just  as  Rousseau  had  succeeded  in 
hastily  concentrating  a  large  force  there.  Colonel  Jones,  of 
the  Eighth,  with  a  command  of  twenty-five  hundred  men  and 
a  six  gun  battery,  was  in  front  of  the  town.  At  daylight 
Captain  Fortner,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  advanced 
a  half  mile  to  a  hill  where  he  was  attacked.  Colonel  Jones 
hastened  to  his  assistance  with  the  Sixth  Indiana,  the  Fourth 
Tennessee  and  detachments  of  the  Fourth  Indiana  and  of 
two  other  regiments.  He  held  the  hill  six  hours,  Rousseau 
sending  him  no  reinforcement,  then  being  over-lapped  on  both 
flanks,  he  took  position  under  shelter  of  the  fort  in  Pulaski. 
The  enemy  followed,  but  at  night  retreated  and  turned  his 
attention  to  the  railroad  near  Tullahoma.  Being  driven  from 
the  road,  Forrest  divided  his  force,  taking  three  thousand 
men  toward  Columbia,  and  sending  four  thousand,  under 
Buford,  to  Athens,  which  was  held  by  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Wade  with  the  Seventy-Third  Indiana  and  two  pieces  of 
artillery.  Early  on  the  second  of  October,  Buford  opened 
from  four  guns  a  lively  artillery  fire,  which  called  out  a  tell 
ing  rejoinder.  After  two  hours  of  cannonading  he  demanded 
a  surrender.  Wade  was  protected  by  excellent  defences,  arid 
he  promptly  declined.  The  artillery  reopened  and  continued 
until  Buford,  toward  evening,  retired.  Forrest  was  also  re 
buffed. 

It  was  now  Hood's  turn  to  enter  the  lists.  When  he  got 
rid  of  Sherman,  he  had  forty-five  thousand  infantry  and 
cavalry,  but  his  number  increased,  and  he  approached  the 
Tennessee  at  Florence  with  a  large  and  sanguine  army.  To 
withhold  attention  from  the  crossing,  he  drew  a  considerable 
force  off  to  Decatur,  where  he  intrenched  within  five  hundred 
yards  of  the  defences.  His  lively  advances  were  met  by  the 
forces  under  General  Granger  with  an  equal  show  of  spirit. 
At  noon  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  about  four  hundred 
men  of  the  Fourteenth  United  States  Colored,  under  Colonel 
Morgan,  charged  an  earthwork  on  the  enemy's  right  near  the 
river,  capturing  it  and  seizing  a  battery  of  four  guns,  of 
which  they  spiked  two.  They  turned  quickly  to  retreat,  but 
the  Rebels  rallied,  followed  closely  and  forced  a  hand-to- 


HOOD  IS  DRIVEN  FROM  DECATUR.          757 

hand  combat.  The  same  day,  the  enemy's  left  was  attacked 
and  driven  back  with  the  loss  of  his  rifle-pits  in  that  quarter 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  men. 

Lieutenant  Gillet,  of  Colonel  Morgan's  regiment,  was 
mortally  wounded  in  the  engagement  on  the  left.  Before 
he  was  carried  from  the  field,  he  gave  his  watch  and  his 
diary  to  his  captain,  and  said,  "  Good  bye,  Captain.  Tell 
the  men  not  to  mind  me,  but  to  stand  fast  and  do  their  duty." 

The  beautiful  monument  which  marks  Frank  Gillet's 
grave  in  Crown  Hill  Cemetery,  is  the  grateful  tribute  of  his 
black  soldiers.  He  had  their  warmest  affection.  And  not 
theirs  alone.  "None  knew  him  but  to  love  him."  "Not 
one  painful  memory  of  that  boy  from  his  babyhood  to  his 
heroic  death  at  Decatur.  Always  gentle  but  brave.  Sun 
shine  in  his  heart  and  on  his  face.  His  honest  gray  eyes 
were  ever  to  me  suggestive  of  crystaline  purity."  These 
words  of  his  mother  are  not  more  tender  or  more  admiring 
than  the  language  of  his  old  comrades  of  the  Seventieth  In 
diana,  as  well  as  of  his  late  associates  in  the  Fourteenth 
United  States  Colored. 

Colonel  Morgan's  regiment  consisted  of  men  who  bore  on 
them  the  terrible  marks  of  the  lash,  but  who  had  shown 
themselves  eager  for  knowledge,  poring  over  their  books  not 
only  in  their  school  rooms,  but  at  moments  snatched  from 
guard  duty,  and  most  eager  for  the  battle-field  on  which 
they  hoped  to  claim  the  dignity  and  the  rights  of  manhood. 
Colonel  Morgan  and  the  larger  number  of  his  subordinate 

O  O 

officers  were  the  indefatigable  teachers  and  friends  of  their 
men.  "All  I  had,  and  was,  and  hoped  to  be,  I  staked  in  the 
success  of  my  regiment,"  writes  Colonel  Morgan.  He  had 
his  reward. 

Finding  his  demonstration  at  Decatur  somewhat  costly, 
Hood  withdrew  rapidly  and  followed  his  main  army,  which, 
in  spite  of  sharp  opposition  offered  by  Croxton's  cavalry,  had 
effected  the  passage  of  the  river.  Forrest  and  Wheeler  co 
operated  with  Hood. 

The  prudent  General  Thomas  meant  to  fight  Hood  at 
Nashville,  and  was  anxious  only  lest  his  fiery  antagonist 
should  force  him  into  a  battle  below  that  point,  Schofield 


758  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

and  Stanley,  who  had  been  temporarily  separated,  reunited 
at  Pulaski,  and  waited  there  a  few  days  for  developments. 
Hood  moved  toward  them,  and  they  fell  back.  Colonel 
Packard  gives  some  account  of  the  retreat,  including  the 
battle  by  which  it  was  interrupted: 

"On  the  morning  of  November  24,  daylight  found  us 
marching  rapidly  for  Columbia.  When  within  ten  miles  of 
the  town,  we  left  the  Decatur  turnpike,  and  crossed  over  to 
the  Mount  Pleasant  turnpike.  The  sound  of  musketry 
warned  us  that  the  cavalry  were  engaged,  and  hastening 
forward  we  were  just  in  time  to  see  our  cavalry  rapidly  re 
tiring,  closely  pursued  by  the  Rebels.  My  regiment  hap 
pened  to  be  in  advance.  Two  companies,  which  were  a 
little  distance  in  its  front,  moved  forward  on  the  double- 
quick,  deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  poured  a  scattering  vol 
ley  into, the  faces  of  the  over-confident  enemy,  killing  and 
wounding  a  number,  among  them  a  Lieutenant  Colonel 
killed.  The  regiment  took  position  in  line  with  the  Sixty- 
Third,  and  threw  up  a  rail  barricade,  but  the  enemy  did  not 
advance. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  thirtieth,  having  reached  Franklin 
at  five  o'clock,  we  lay  down  and  got  just  one  hour's  sleep, 
then  took  position  and  went  to  fortifying.  The  Twenty- 
Third  corps  was  on  the  left,  the  Fourth  corps  on  the  right 
of  our  line,  with  Wagner's  division  occupying  a  position  in 
advance.  There  was  a  range  of  hills  about  two  miles  in 
our  front,  and  on  this  the  enemy  showed  himself  soon  after 
our  force  all  got  in;  and  a  battery  was  placed  in  a  grove 
midway  between  the  two  points,  to  annoy  him  and  prevent 
his  planting  artillery  on  the  ridge.  The  town  of  Franklin  is 
situated  on  a  bend  of  the  Little  Harpeth  river,  which  flows 
around  the  north  side.  Our  line  on  the  south  completed  the 
circle,  resting  the  left  flank  on  the  river  above,  and  the  right 
flank  on  the  river  below  the  town.  The  Third  brigade  of 
Cox's  division  held  the  extreme  left,  and  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-Eighth  was  on  the  right  of  the  brigade,  con 
necting  immediately  with  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
Fourth  Indiana  of  the  Second  brigade.  The  line  of  my 
regiment  passed  through  what  had  once  been  the  yard  of  a 


BATTLE  OF  FRANKLIN.  759 

private  residence,  the  house  having  been  burned  some  time 
ago.  The  stone  cellar  was  used  in  building  the  works,  with 
from  four  to  six  feet  of  earth  thrown  against  the  rocks. 
Covering  the  whole  front  of  the  regiment,  except  the  right 
company,  there  was  a  lot,  of  perhaps  two  acres,  fenced  with 
a  heavy  Osage  orange  hedge,  which  was  untrimmed,  and  had 
grown  up  tall.  The  right  company  rested  across  a  wide 
gravelled  road.  There  being  two  lines  of  the  hedge,  one 
only  a  few  yards  from  my  works,  and  the  other  about  fifty 
yards,  a  reasonable  distance  for  abatis  work,  I  had  the  closer 
line  cut  down,  and  the  brush  piled  in  the  road  on  a  line  with 
the  farther  hedge  row,  so  as  to  check  an  advance  on  my  right 
company.  So  prepared,  we  rested,  and  the  men  got  dinner. 
"About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  was  notified  that 
the  enemy  was  advancing,  and  every  man  stood  to  arms  at 
the  works.  I  should  say  that  in  our  whole  front  there  was 
an  open  field  stretching  away  nearly  a  mile.  At  a  few  min 
utes  to  four  o'clock  their  columns  appeared  moving  upon  our 
left  flank,  the  object  being  to  turn  the  left  of  our  line,  double 
us  up  in  the  town,  seize  the  railroad  bridge,  and  prevent  us 
from  crossing  the  river  in  case  of  defeat.  Hood's  troops 
came  on  in  three  lines  of  battle  confident  of  victory  and  in 
splendid  style.  I  never  saw  a  more  magnificent  sight.  The 
cannon  from  the  fort  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  opened  on 
them,  leaving  great  gaps  through  their  ranks,  but  they  closed 
steadily  up  and  moved  on  as  firmly  as  if  merely  marching 
past  us  for  review.  As  they  came  down  upon  the  left  of 
Wagner's  division,  his  men  fell  back  hastily  behind  our 
works.  The  skirmishers,  two  companies  of  which  were  from 
my  regiment,  stood  till  the  last  moment,  delivering  a  rapid 
and  destructive  fire.  My  line  bent  in  such  a  way  that  they 
struck  the  left  first,  and  Major  Healy  caused  the  companies 
of  the  left  wing  to  open  fire,  and  as  they  came  around  in  full 
view  at  about  one  hundred  yards  distance,  I  ordered  the  com 
panies  of  the  right  wing  to  commence  firing.  Still  they 
never  flinched;  but  defiantly  moved  on  until  they  struck  the 
hedge,  where  they  were  balked  as  completely  as  though  they 
had  run  against  the  Chinese  wall.  They  made  the  most  des 
perate  efforts  to  penetrate  it  without  avail.  Human  nature 


760  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

couldn't  stand  the  destructive  fire  that  was  rained  upon  them, 
and  they  began  to  move  quickly  by  the  flank  so  as  to  pass 
round  the  hedge.  When  they  reached  the  road  they  tried  to 
force  an  entrance  through  the  brush  that  had  been  cut  down. 
Seeing  their  exertions,  I  directed  the  fire  of  two  companies 
full  upon  them  right  down  the  road,  and  they  were  compelled 
to  flank  again.  Having  passed  the  brush,  they  came  back  in 
one  grand  rush,  and  struck  the  regiment  near  the  centre,  clos 
ing  up  rapidly  along  my  right,  and  down  upon  the  One  Hun 
dred  and  Twenty-Fourth.  One  color-bearer  sprang  upon  the 
works,  and  was  instantly  shot.  His  death  grasp  tightened 
upon  the  flag  staff  and  it  fell  outwards  with  his  body.  There 
was  a  section  of  artillery  in  my  works,  and  the  colors  fell 
almost  under  the  guns.  At  'that  moment  both  pieces  were 
discharged,  the  smoke  enveloped  the  combatants,  and  under 
its  cover  the  colors  were  seized  and  borne  away. 

"Another  color-bearer  was  shot  in  front  of  companies  A 
and  F,  in  the  road,  and  the  colors  fell,  but  were  also  carried 
off  under  cover  of  the  smoke.  One  daring  fellow  attempted 
to  enter  at  the  embrasure,  and  a  battery  man  struck  him  full 
in  the  breast  with  a  hatchet.  He  stayed  outside.  Another 
was  attempting  to  climb  the  wall  when  Lieutenant  Brown 
of  company  F  dealt  him  a  blow  over  the  head  with  his  sword, 
and  he  did  not  come  in.  Their  field  officers  and  several 
captains  were  either  killed  or  wounded,  and  they  broke  and 
fled  in  confusion.  It  was  a  terrible  assault,  and  most  terribly 
was  it  punished.  I  never  before  saw  such  slaughter,  nor  ever 
heard  such  groans  and  cries  as  carne  from  that  field  when 
the  fight  was  ended.  It  was  all  over  at  dark  on  our  part  of 
the  line,  but  continued  at  intervals  till  nine  o'clock  in  the 
night.  Altogether  our  victory  was  complete  and  decisive. 

"  I  lost  three  captains,  brave,  noble  men,  all  of  them,  and 
good  officers.  Captain  James  Bissell,  company  A,  Captain 
James  G.  Staley,  company  F,  and  Captain  Frank  M.  Hen- 
ton,  company  K. 

"The  two  first  were  shot  through  the  head.  Captain 
Henton  was  on  the  skirmish  line,  and  never  returned.  I 
fear  he  was  either  killed,  or  too  severely  wounded  to  come 
in,  and  was  taken  prisoner.  In  other  respects  my  loss  was 


HOOD  FORMS  HIS  LINES  BEFORE  NASHVILLE. 

wonderfully  small, — only  one  enlisted  man  killed  and  three 
wounded." 

Captain  Heuton  was  taken  prisoner  and  held  about  a 
month,  when  he  made  his  escape  from  the  Rebels,  and  re 
turned  to  the  regiment  at  Columbia,  after  the  retreat  of  Hood. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  day,  Hood's  assaults  were  di 
rected  against  Kimball,  who  held  the  right.  Near  midnight, 
he  drove  off.  Schofield,  leaving  his  dead  and  wounded,  re 
sumed  the  march.  He  was  not  pursued  until  daylight 
Forrest  then  fell  in  his  rear,  and  dogged  his  steps  to  Nash 
ville. 

The  Ninety-First  and  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Third 
Indiana  reached  Nashville  at  the  same  time.  They  had 
been  guarding  Duck  river  since  the  sixteenth  of  November, 
and  had  escaped  the  enemy  only  by  a  continuous  march  of 
sixty  miles,  much  of  it  within  sound  and  almost  within  sight 
of  Forrest's  cavalry.  The  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Fourth 
in  a  fight  with  cavalry  between  Columbia  and  Franklin,  lost 
a  whole  company  by  capture.  December  2,  Hood  took  his 
position  before  Nashville  with  his  army  reduced  by  exposure 
and  battle  to  forty  thousand,  and  proportionally  diminished 
in  courage.  However,  it  was  not  yet  a  contemptible  force ; 
and  on  a  series  of  hills,  five  miles  south  of  Nashville,  from 
the  river  on  one  side  to  the  river  on  the  other  side  of  the  city, 
it  was  defended  by  excellent  fortifications.  No  immediate 
advance  was  made,  but  large  detachments  reconnoitred  the 
vicinity,  skirmishing  with  troops  of  Union  cavalry. 

On  the  fourth,  a  division  under  Bate  attacked  a  block 
house  which  defended  the  railroad  at  Overall's  creek,  five 
miles  above  Murfreesboro.  It  made  no  headway,  and  was 
driven  off  by  Milroy,  who  hastened  up  from  Murfreesboro 
with  three  or  four  regiments.  Reinforced  by  another  division 
of  infantry  and  by  two  or  three  thousand  cavalry,  Bate  shortly 
after  threatened  Fortress  Rosecrans;  but  was  again  discom 
fited.  The  Rebel  cavalry  then  departed  on  an  excursion  to 
ward  the  north,  while  the  infantry  halted  on  the  Wilkerson 
turnpike.  Here  it  was  attacked  and  put  to  flight  by  General 
Milroy. 


THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

Meantime  Hood,  apparently  under  the  delusion  that  he 
could  starve  Thomas  out,  would  not  be  persuaded  to  venture 
an  assault.  Consequently  Thomas  took  the  initiatory  steps 
toward  a  meeting.  A.  J.  Smith's  command,  which  had  ar 
rived  from  Missouri,  was  posted  on  his  right;  the  Fourth 
corps,  under  Wood,  because  Stanley  was  wounded  at  Frank 
lin,  and  Schofield's  had  the  centre;  Steedman,  with  his  or 
ganization  of  white  and  black  troops,  had  the  left.  The 
flanks,  resting  on  the  river,  were  covered  by  gunboats,  and  by 
cavalry.  On  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  Colonel  Morgan, 
in  command  of  a  black  brigade,  his  own  regiment,  the  Four 
teenth,  deployed  in  front,  and  with  a  section  of  Osborn's  In 
diana  battery,  moved  out  upon  the  Murfreesboro  turnpike, 
carried  the  advanced  intrenchments,  and  pushed  forward 
against  heavy  resistance  to  an  impassable  railroad  cut,  from 
the  further  and  higher  side  of  which  a  Rebel  battery  poured 
out  a  destructive  fire.  Under  heavy  loss  his  troops  behaved 
with  great  gallantry.  Steedman  advanced  the  remainder  of 
his  force,  but  was  compelled  to  withdraw  his  front.  His  ob 
ject,  however,  which  was  simply  to  draw  the  enemy's  atten 
tion  from  the  right,  was  gained. 

Smith  went  down  the  hills  on  which  he  had  lain,  up  the 
Rebel  hills,  over  the  breastworks  and  upon  the  batteries  with 
an  impetus  which  defied  equivalent  action  on  the  part  of  the 
foe.  While  he  doubled  back  the  Rebel  left,  Wilson's  cavalry, 
on  his  right,  approached  the  Rebel  rear,  and  Wood  and  Scho- 
field  pressed  upon  the  centre,  Kimball's  division  gaining 
Montgomery  hill.  Hood  hastened  reinforcements  to  this  en 
dangered  point,  compelling  Wilson  to  draw  rein,  and  check 
ing  Smith,  Wood  and  Schofield. 

Endeavors  to  renew  the  forward  movement  were  without 
success,  though  at  dark  Wood  captured  a  battery. 

During  the  night  Hood  withdrew  two  miles  to  a  wooded 
ridge,  which  covers  the  Granny  White  and  Franklin  turn 
pikes,  and  which  protected  his  retiring  trains,  compressed  his 
line  within  three  miles,  straightened  it,  and  arranged  a  for 
midable  front. 

Early  on  the  sixteenth  Thomas'  army,  preceded  by  clouds 
of  skirmishers,  advanced,  passing  over  the  abandoned  works, 


CHASING  HOOD  OUT  OF  TENNESSEE.  753 

and  only  halting  when  it  was  close  to  the  enemy.  At  this 
point  hour  after  hour  wore  away  in  vain  efforts  at  progress. 
At  three,  Post's  and  Morgan's  brigades  made  an  unsuccessful 
assault.  The  Fourteenth  Colored,  deployed  as  skirmishers 
in  front  of  the  artillery,  (Osborne's  and  an  Ohio  battery,)  al 
lowed  the  disordered  retiring  column  to  pass  through  it  with 
out  being  shaken.  "What  regiment  is  this?"  asked  the 
Sixty-Eighth  Indiana  as  it  struck  the  line.  "The  Four 
teenth,"  answered  the  blacks.  "Bully  for  you!"  cried  the 
Sixty-Eighth,  "we'll  stay  with  you!"  And  they  did.  The 
batteries  meantime  kept  up  their  fire. 

At  nearly  four  o'clock  prolonged  firing  on  the  Rebel  flank 
and  rear  indicated  that  the  cavalry  had  gained  ground.  In 
stantly,  Schofield  and  Smith,  with  fixed  bayonets  and  with 
cheers,  and  scarcely  later,  Wood  and  Steedman,  marched  out 
in  assault,  up  to  blazing  musketry  and  roaring  artillery,  and 
over  the  works.  The  enemy  fled  wildly,  and  continued  all 
night  in  flight.  A  body  of  cavalry  set  out  in  hope  of  gaining 
Franklin  in  advance  of  the  fugitives,  but  meeting  with  strong 
opposition,  it  made  little  progress.  The  next  day  all  the 
cavalry  and  nearly  all  the  infantry  joined  in  the  pursuit. 
Knipe's  division  captured  four  hundred  and  thirteen  of  a  rear 
guard  at  Hollow  Tree  Gap.  Wilson  and  Johnson  put  to 
flight  a  force  which  guarded  the  Harpeth,  and  captured  the 
hospitals  in  Franklin,  in  which  were  eighteen  hundred  Pvebel 
and  two  hundred  Union  wounded.  Four  miles  below  Frank 
lin  the  cavalry  had  a  sharp  though  short  encounter.  Below 
Pulaski  occurred  a  severe  fight,  in  which  Forrest  captured  a 
gun  from  Harrison's  cavalry  brigade;  although  Harrison  im 
mediately  regained  the  ground  from  which  he  had  been 
driven.  The  weather  was  inclement,  the  only  change  being 
from  cold  and  heavy  rains  to  biting  frost;  the  streams  were 
swollen;  the  country  was  flooded;  the  bridges  were  burnt; 
and  Thomas  had  no  pontoons.  The  pursuit  was  no  holiday 
affair,  even  though  the  pursuers  were  chiefly  veterans,  and 
the  fugitive  was  Hood. 

From  Franklin,  Steedman  crossed  to  Murfreesboro,  and 
went  to  Stevenson  and  Decatur,  with  the  expectation  of  inter- 


764  TnF'  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

cepting,  or  in  some  way  of  annoying  Hood,  while  the  main 
army  went  on  to  Lexington,  Alabama.     But  Hood  escaped. 
After  all  the  fighting  and  racing  were  over  the  following 
letter  was  written: 

"HuNTsviLLE,  ALABAMA,  FORTIETH  REGIMENT,  ) 

January  9,  1865.          ) 

"  You  will  readily  pardon  my  long  silence  when  you  re 
member  that  since  the  last  of  October  we  have,  save  the 
short  time  spent  at  Pulaski,  been  constantly  on  the  go.  Be 
sides  it  is  but  poor  business  writing  letters  when  you  are  liv 
ing  in  the  open  air,  without  shelter  of  any  kind,  in  the  winter 
at  that,  with  the  ground  for  a  seat,  and  your  knee  for  a  desk, 
while  your  eyes  have  become  fountains  of  tears,  as  the  smoke 
from  burning  fence  rails  compels  them  to  the  outward  show 
of  grief  for  the  destruction  worked.  Now,  however,  we  have 
been  in  that  Potomacian  condition  known  as  'winter  quar 
ters,'  for  several  days,  (about  three,)  and  having  built  a  chim 
ney  to  my  tent,  which  has  arrived,  much  to  my  satisfaction, 
from  the  hearth  of  said  chimney  there  is  dispensed  a  genial 
glow  which,  despite  the  warning  winds  and  dashing  rain,  al 
most  convinces  one  that  he  is  enjoying  'comfort.'  'Tis  true 
the  ground  on  which  my  feet  rest,  is  wet  and  cold,  and  occa 
sional  droppings  here  and  there  remind  me  that  at  best  tents 
are  leaky  things,  and  not  over  warm,  (except  in  the  summer 
time,)  but  in  that  spirit  of  cheerful  philosophy  which  urges 
one  to  be  thankful,  not  that  things  are  so  well  as  they  are, 
but  that  they  are  no  worse,  I  accept  the  situation,  and  shall 
undertake,  by  most  vigorous  efforts  of  the  imagination,  to 
persuade  myself  that  there  might  be  something  more  misera 
ble  than  'comfortable  winter  quarters/  and  therefore  be  most 
thankful  that  the  unknown  possibility  had  not  fallen  to  our 
lot.  As  usual  my  good  fortune  did  not  desert  me,  and  I 
came  out  of  all  the  fights  without  any  holes  through  my  llesh. 
I  had  a  horse  killed  under  me  as  quick  as  lightning  could 
have  done  it,  and  a  ball  cut  a  strap  from  my  saddle,  directly 
in  my  front,  not  two  inches  from  where  it  ivould  have  hurt 
me,  if  it  had  hit,  making  the  farther  digestion  of  hard-tack 
and  fat  pork  impossible. 


1U3VTEW  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN.  7(55 

"  By  the  way,  Hood  was  terribly  thrashed  in  those  same 
battles,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  greatest  battle 
was  that  of  Franklin.  There  his  army  was  ruined.  When 
we  came  back  over  the  ground,  we  could  see  by  the  graves 
the  fearful  destruction  of  our  fire.  I  met  no  prisoners  of  any 
rank  who  did  not  agree  that  their  repulse  there  was  most  un 
expected  and  disastrous.  They  largely  outnumbered  us,  and 
our  works  were  very  hastily  put  up,  and  not  finished  when 
the  attack  was  commenced ;  yet  their  loss  was  numerous,  and 
their  repulse  complete.  We  fought  three  corps  with  three  of 
our  divisions.  Our  regiment  captured  a  battle  flag,  the  man 
who  took  it  running  the  bearer  of  it  through  the  body  with 
his  bayonet. 

"At  Nashville,  where  we  outnumbered  the  Rebels,  and  they 
had  the  advantage  of  position  and  defences,  we  took  them 
squarely  out  of  their  works,  and  completely  routed  them. 
'Tis  true  they  used  but  little  artillery  at  Franklin,  and  we  an 
enormous  amount  at  Nashville,  still  it  was  not  in  the  killed 
or  wounded  by  cannon  shots,  or  in  their  moral  effects  that 
the  difference  lay,  but  in  the  growing  conviction  in  rebellious 
minds,  that  they  are  now  paying  for  a  very  dead  horse,  and 
that  a  life  as  an  individual  concern  is  rather  a  big  price  to 
pay.  Sixteen  general  officers  and  any  quantity  of  smaller 
fry  were  killed  or  wounded  at  Franklin.  It  is  well  known 
that  generals  do  not  expose  themselves  usually  on  either  side, 
save  in  some  desperate  emergency.  General  Adarns  was 
killed  right  on  our  breastwork,  and  so  were  some  others.  Do 
you  not  see  how  difficult  it  must  have  been  to  bring  the  men 
to  the  scratch,  when  it  became  necessary  to  urge  them  for 
ward  by  the  generals  themselves  leading  them?  When  we 
assaulted  their  works  at  Nashville,  and  began  to  go  over 
them,  I  never  saw  more  abject  terror  than  among  those  we 
captured.  It  was  real,  genuine  fright.  '  What  would  we  do 
with  them  ? '  <  Would  anybody  hurt  them  ? '  '  Do  give  me  a 
guard,'  &c.,  &c.,  they  were  constantly  saying — in  fact  a  badly 
thrashed  set  of  rascals. 

"The  country  is  now  full  of  deserters.  Hood  and  his 
army,  who  were  to  go  to  the  Ohio  river,  are  completely 
played  out,  and  quiet  reigns  in  Tennessee.  Thus  it  happens 


766  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

that  we  go  into  winter  quarters.  The  men  are  now  busy  as 
bees,  cutting  and  hewing  logs  for  their  huts.  Soon  the  men 
will  settle  down  to  daily"  drills  and  the  consumption  of 
rations,  and  the  officers  to  the  reception  of  orders  to  do  or 
leave  undone  this,  that  and  everything  under  Heaven  that 
somebody  else  can  think  of  when  having  nothing  else  to  do 
but  to  devise  and  issue  orders.  Reports,  returns,  tri-weekly, 
tri-monthly,  monthly,  weekly,  daily  and  hourly,  are  called  for, 
and  the  grand  aggregate  carefully  filed  away  at  Washington, 
never  more  to  be  seen  by  eye  of  man.  The  paper  wasted 
on  all  these  things  would  each  day  freight  a  large  ship,  and 
Satan  himself  would  yield  to  despair  at  the  task  of  making 
head  or  tail  of  them.  The  idea  is  beginning  to  force  itself 
upon  me  that,  as  it  is  after  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  I  had 
better  stop  writing,  and  go  to  bed,  '  To  sleep — perchance  to 
dream"  of  home,  and  wife,  and  chicks,  and  then  to  wake 
homesick  beyond  expression.  Eheu! 

"  The  war  is  playing  out  fast.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of 
that  now.  Sherman  and  Grant  will  prove  too  heavy  for  Lee; 
and  the  Rebel  plan  of  arming*  niggers' will  only  give  us  so 
many  more  of  that  sort  of  soldiers.  'Tis  folly  in  them,  but 
so  was  the  Rebellion  an  insane  piece  of  folly.  » Dem  vult 
perdere  prius  dementat? 

"HARRY  LEAMING." 

The  total  Union  loss  in  the  battle  of  Franklin  was  two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-six.  The  Rebel  loss 
was  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-two,  including  Major 
General  Cleburne  and  four  Brigadier  Generals  killed. 

In  Milroy's  fight  on  the  Wilkerson  turnpike  the  Rebels 
lost  four  hundred  and  twelve  men  and  two  guns,  while  the 
Union  loss  was  small. 

In  the  two  days  battle  of  Nashville,  Thomas  took  four 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-two  men,  fifty-three  guns, 
and  nearly  all  the  small  arms  of  the  Rebel  army. 

In  addition  to  the  Indiana  cavalry  already  mentioned, 
twenty-one  infantry  regiments  and  seven  batteries  were  en 
gaged  in  the  campaign,  although  some  of  these  organizations 
were  mere  fragments.  Lieutenant  Baker,  a  very  gallant  sol- 


FORCES  LEAVE  TENNESSEE  FOR  SOUTHERN  ALABAMA. 

dicr  of  the  Eighth  cavalry,  was  killed,  and  Lieutenant  Left- 
wich,  of  the  Tenth,  was  mortally  wounded  at  Pulaski.  Lieu 
tenant  Cole  was  mortally  wounded  at  Columbia.  Captain 
Dunn,  of  the  Fifty-Seventh,  was  killed,  and  Lieutenant  Groen- 
endyke,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Fourth,  was  mor 
tally  wounded  at  Franklin.  The  Twelfth,  and  half  of  the 
Thirteenth  cavalry,  were  in  the  engagements  on  Overall's 
creek  and  Wilkerson's  turnpike.  Captain  Leslie  was  killed. 
At  Nashville,  Captain  Schell,  of  the  Eighty-First,  fell  in  the 
van  of  an  assault  on  a  hill  east  of  Hillsborough  turnpike,  sac 
rificing  a  young  and  noble  life  to  the  country  he  devotedly 
loved.  Captain  Heckathorn  and  Lieutenant  Rees,  of  the 
Eleventh  cavalry,  were  killed,  and  Lieutenant  Secrest,  of  the 
Hundred  and  Twenty-Third,  was  mortally  wounded  at 
Nashville.  The  Ninth  cavalry  lost  at  Franklin,  in  the  pur 
suit,  twenty-six,  including  Captain  Hobson  and  Lieutenants 
Burroughs,  Watts  and  Bristow,  who  were  all  killed. 

Jacob  Hoops,  a  private  of  the  Thirty-First,  one  of  those 
men  who  seem  dogged  yet  never  are  daunted  by  misfortune, 
was  severely  wounded.  He  received  a  severe  scalp  wound 
in  the  siege  of  Fort  Donelson.  At  Shiloh  his  leg  was  frac 
tured,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  discharged.  In  less 
than  three  months  he  returned  to  his  regiment,  as  a  recruit. 
He  went  through  the  battles  of  Stone  river  and  Chickamauga 
without  hurt,  except  that  in  the  last  his  old  wound  in  the  leg 
broke  out  in  consequence  of  fatigue.  He  was  in  the  pest 
house  with  small-pox  during  the  Atlanta  campaign.  He  was 
supposed  to  be  mortally  wounded  at  Nashville,  but  in  less 
than  three  months  he  was  on  his  feet  again  and  with  his  regi 
ment.  Winter  quarters  were  broken  up  long  before  the  open 
ing  of  spring,  by  the  necessity  of  sending  forces  south  toward 
Mobile  and  northeast  to  the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  defences  of  the  bay  of  Mobile  were  captured  by  Ad 
miral  Farragut,  seconded  by  General  Granger  with  the  Thir 
teenth  corps,  in  August,  1864.  In  the  following  December, 
a  demonstration  was  made  against  the  city,  Granger  moving 
from  Pascagoula  with  infantry,  Davidson  from  Baton  Rouge, 
and  Grierson  from  Memphis  with  cavalry,  but  it  was  a  mere 
demonstration,  nothing  being  effected  but  destruction  of  Con- 


768  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

federate  stores  and  roads,  by  Grierson.  No  determined  ad 
vance  was  attempted  until  the  last  of  February,  1865.  On 
the  eighteenth  of  March,  heavy  rains  having  delayed  the 
crossing  of  the  Tennessee  until  that  date,  nearly  fifteen  thou 
sand  of  Thomas'  cavalry,  under  the  command  of  General 
Wilson,  set  out  from  Eastport,  Mississippi,  on  an  extended 
raid,  which  was  to  serve  as  a  diversion  during  an  advance 
made  by  General  Canby  upon  what  was  now  almost  the  last 
Confederate  seaport.  At  one  time  traveling  in  a  compact 
body,  at  another  with  a  widely  extended  and  scattered  front, 
Wilson's  force  rode  rapidly  through  northern  and  entered 
central  Alabama.  At  Montevallo,  on  the  thirty-first,  he  met 
and  routed  Roddy  and  Crossland.  Further  on  he  met  and 
routed  them  again.  The  next  day  he  encountered  Forrest 
with  five  thousand  men,  strongly  posted  near  Ebenezer 
Church,  with  Boyle's  creek  on  his  right  and  a.  wooded  ridge 
on  his  left.  Long's  division  of  Wilson's  force  arrived  first, 
dismounted,  and  assaulted  the  Rebel  left,  breaking  the  line. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Frank  White,  with  four  companies  of 
the  Seventeenth  Indiana,  then  made  a  charge  on  the  guns, 
capturing  one  gun  and  one  hundred  men,  with  a  loss  of 
twenty-six  men,  among  them  Captain  Taylor,  killed.  "Upton's 
division  assailing  the  enemy's  right,  completed  his  defeat. 
April  2,  Wilson  met  Forrest  with  seventeen  thousand  men 
strongly  intrenched  in  front  of  Selma.  Long  assaulted  on 
the  right,  going  straight  over  the  Rebel  defences,  while  Up 
ton  had  equal  success  on  the  left.  Of  the  Seventeenth  Indi 
ana,  twelve  were  killed  and  eighty  were  wounded  at  Selma. 
Colonel  Miller,  of  the  Seventy-Second,  was  severely  wounded. 

Wilson  crossed  the  Alabama  on  the  sixth,  and  building 
bridges  and  driving  the  enemy  as  he  went,  pushed  on  east 
ward  through  Montgomery.  He  gained  Columbus  and  West 
Point  after  sharp  fighting.  Major  Hill,  of  the  Second  Indi 
ana,  lost  a  leg  while  leading  a  charge  at  West  Point, 

On  the  twenty-first,  Wilson  received  the  surrender  of  Ma- 
con  with  three  thousand  prisoners. 

General  Canby's  movements  were  not  so  rapid  and  sweep- 
ing,  but  in  the  end  were  also  completely  successful.  His  ad 
vance  was  made  toward  the  eastern  side  of  Mobile.  Rain 


THE  DEFENCES  OF  MOBILE  CAPTURED. 

falling  iii  torrents  added  to  the  difficulties  of  the  low  region 
which  his  troops  were  compelled  to  traverse.  Steele,  with 
two  brigades  of  the  Thirteenth  corps,  two  batteries,  Hawkins' 
black  division,  and  Lucas'  cavalry  brigade,  made  his  laboring 
and  devious  way  from  Pensacola  through  Florida  swamps  to 
Blakely,  pushing  back  bodies  of  the  enemy  the  latter  part  of 
the  route.  Granger,  with  the  Thirteenth  corps,  toiled  through 
quicksand  and  swamp  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  miles  a 
day  from  Mobile  Point,  round  Bon  Secours  bay  to  the  mouth 
of  Fish  river,  thence  with  A.  J.  Smith's  corps,  clearing  the 
road  of  skirmishers  and  torpedbes,  to  Spanish  Fort.  The 
fleet  moved  up  the  bay  parallel  with  the  army.  Torpedoes 
planted  thickly  in  the  river  and  on  the  land  gave  every  move 
ment  a  peculiar  danger. 

The  siege  of  Spanish  Fort  opened  on  the  twenty-seventh 
of  March,  the  first  artillery  shot  being  fired  that  day  by 
Morse's  battery,  about  eight  hundred  yards  from  the  works. 
It  was  pressed  vigorously  and  steadily  until  the  eighth  of 
April,  when  a  concentric  fire  from  gunboats,  from  siege  guns 
and  field  pieces  in  battery,  and  from  skirmishers  and  sharp 
shooters,  lasting  from  close  of  day  until  midnight,  brought 
the  stronghold  to  terms. 

Forts  Tracy  and  Huger  fell  as  a  consequence;  and  the 
gunboats,  after  picking  up  thirty-five  torpedoes,  were  able  to 
complete  the  investment  round  Blakely,  before  which  Steele 
had  lain  four  days.  At  half-past  five  the  evening  of  the 
ninth,  Garrard  on  the  left,  and  a  little  later  Smith  in  the 
centre,  and  Hawkins,  with  the  black  division,  on  the  right, 
moved  out  to  storm  the  works,  which  were  immensely  strong 
and  manned  by  a  force  of  three  thousand.  They  struggled 
through  abatis,  scrambled  over  palisades,  leaped  a  deep,  wide 
ditch,  and  gained  the  defences,  all  under  a  tempest  of  fire. 
At  seven  the  assault  was  ended,  and  the  Union  flag  was 
flying  over  the  works.  | 

Mobile  was  evacuated  the  next  day.  Veatch's  division 
was  first  to  enter  the  city.  The  operations  against  Mobile 
required  the  exercise  of  every  soldierly  quality.  The  troops 

49 


770  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

acquitted  themselves  nobly.  In  the  assault  on  Blakely,  after 
they  were  once  under  headway,  their  ardor  was  irrestrainable. 

The  Twenty-First  Indiana,  or  First  heavy  artillery,  was 
engaged  with  its  usual  efficiency.  Jacoby's  and  Ginn's,  as 
well  as  Morse*'s  batteries,  were  also  prominent  The  Twenty- 
Fourth,  which  included  the  Sixty-Seventh;  the  Twenty- 
Sixth,  Forty-Seventh,  Fiftieth,  Fifty-Second,  Sixty-Ninth, 
Eighty-Ninth  and  Ninety-Third  infantry,  and  the  Tenth, 
Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  cavalry,  endured  the  toil  of  the 
march,  engaged  in  the  fighting,  and  had  each  an  honorable 
share  in  the  victory. 

Canby  and  Hawkins  are  Indianians,  as  well  as  Benton, 
Veatch  and  a  long  string  of  other  noble  names,  which  are 
written  among  the  victors  of  Mobile. 


SHERMAN  ISOLATED  IN  THE  HOSTILE  TERRITORY.         77 j_ 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

SHERMAN'S  GREAT  MARCH. 

I  have  seen  Him  in  the  vratchfires  of  a  hundred  circling  camps; 
I  have  read  His  righteous  sentence  by  the  dim  and  flaring  lamps: 
His  day  is  marching  on. — J.  TF.  Howe. 

Sherman,  on  his  return  from  escorting  Hood  to  the  borders 
of  Tennessee,  halted  his  troops  at  Kingston  and  Rome,  while 
he  prepared  to  cut  off  his  dependence  upon  and  connection 
with  the  North.  He  sent  back  to  Chattanooga  wagons,  ar 
tillery,  provisions,  forage,  stores,  machinery,  and  all  his  sick 
and  wounded. 

On  the  twelfth  of  November,  when  the  last  train  was  gone, 
and  the  last  message  was  sent,  he  cut  the  telegraph  wire,  and 
began  such  a  work  of  destruction  as  no  Union  army  had  yet 
attempted,  ripping  the  rails  from  the  sleepers,  and  twisting 
them  by  the  application  of  heat  and  wrenches,  so  that  even  a 
rolling  machine  could  not  have  straightened  them,  and  burn 
ing  every  building  and  every  structure  which  was  not  private 
property.  When  the  troops  looked  back,  after  crossing  the 
Chattahoochie,  the  very  river  seemed  on  fire,  pillars  of  smoke 
and  flame  from  countless  bridges  and  mills,  marking  its 
winding  course  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  The  numer 
ous  and  immense  store-houses,  machine-shops  and  depot- 
buildings  of  Atlanta  were  kindled  on  the  night  of  the  fifteenth, 
and  having  been  previously  undermined,  were  consumed  with 
an  unexampled  fury,  the  sullen  howl  of  flames  drowning  every 
sound  but  the  roar  of  exploding  shells  and  magazines. 

Thus,  while  his  sometime  antagonist,  far  beyond  the  Ten 
nessee,  was  promising  Kentucky  to  his  followers,  the  intrepid 
Sherman,  in  the  heart  of  the  hostile  territory,  cut  himself  off 
from  tidings,  from  return,  and  from  giving  or  receiving  help. 


772  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

Cortez,  with  his  ships  stranded  on  the  Mexican  coast,  was 
not  more  isolated. 

"  "We  may  safely  predict  that  Sherman's  march  will  lead 
him  to  the  'Paradise  of  Fools,'  and  that  his  magnificent 
scheme  will  hereafter  be  reckoned  with  all  the  grand  deeds 
that  never  were  done,"  sneered  the  Richmond  Enquirer. 
?  The  London  Herald  said:  "The  name  of  the  captor  of 
Atlanta,  if  he  fails  now,  will  become  the  scoff  of  mankind, 
and  the  humiliation  of  the  United  States  for  all  time.  If  he 
succeeds,  it  will  be  written  on  the  tablet  of  fame  side  by  side 
with  that  of  Napoleon  and  Hannibal." 

The  London  Times  was  tempted  to  admire:  "Since  the 
great  Duke  of  Marlborough  turned  his  back  upon  the  Dutch, 
and  plunged  heroically  into  Germany,  military  history  has 
recorded  no  stranger  marvel  than  the  mysterious  expedition 
of  General  Sherman,  on  an  unknown  route,  against  an  un- 
discoverable  enemy." 

The  Twentieth  corps  folded  the  tents  which  had  whitened 
the  beautiful  hills  about  the  Gate  City  during  six  autumnal 
weeks,  and  joining  the  Fourteenth  corps,  formed  the  left 
wing  of  Sherman's  army.  The  Fifteenth  and  the  Seven 
teenth,  between  which  were*  divided  two  divisions  of  the  Six 
teenth  corps,  composed,  under  General  Howard,  the  right 
wing.  The  army  numbered  fifty  thousand  picked  men, 
newly  clothed,  thoroughly  armed,  and  as  nearly  unencum 
bered  as  it  is  possible  for  soldiers,  in  any  circumstances,  to  be. 
Not  a  doubtful  nor  suspicious  horse  was  in  artillery  or 
cavalry. 

While  the  smoke  of  Atlanta  darkened  the  sky,  Sherman 
moved  out  toward  the  east  and  south  of  east,  gradually  di 
verging  until  his  front  spread  over  fifty  miles,  then  sweeping 
on,  slowly,  steadily  and  destructively,  his  cavalry  now  on  the 
extreme  right,  now  on  the  extreme  left,  now  covering  the 
wings,  the  front  and  rear,  until,  within  a  week,  Slocum's  wing 
concentrated  at  Milled geville,  and  Howard  drew  up  at  Gor 
don.  The  former  had  encountered  but  few  and  small  bodies 
of  cavalry. 

Howard  had  met  with  considerable  opposition,  the  troopers 
on  his  front  and  flank  having  skirmished  with  Wheeler  from 


SHERMAN  MARCHES  TOWARD  THE  SEA.  773 

the  hour  they  left  Atlanta.  At  Lovejoy's,  at  Bear  creek  and 
at  Barnes ville,  they  put  him  to  rout.  They  held  him  at  Ma- 
con  to  enable  the  infantry  to  cross  the  Ocmulgee. 

Howard's  rear,  however,  under  Wolcott,  was  attacked  at 
Griswoldsville  by  a  force  of  five  thousand.  A  sharp  action 
ensued,  in  which  the  Twelfth,  Ninety-Seventh  and  One 
Hundredth  Indiana  participated.  Wolcott  being  wounded, 
Colonel  Catterson  assumed  command.  The  Rebels  were 
repeatedly  repulsed,  and  the  rear  succeeded  in  crossing. 

During  a  halt  at  Milledgeville  two  or  three  regiments  were 
detailed  to  destroy  public  property.  They  found  scarcely 
any  but  prisoners  of  war  in  the  penitentiary,  the  Governor 
of  Georgia  having  lately  released  a  hundred  criminals  to  put 
them  in  the  Rebel  army. 

Resuming  the  march,  the  troops  continued  to  destroy  all 
property  that  appertained  to  the  Confederate  Government, 
that  conduced  to  the  advantage  of  the  Rebel  army,  or  that 
was  apparently  abandoned.  They  tore  to  pieces  unoccu 
pied  houses  in  order  to  make  fires  to  boil  their  coffee  or 
cook  their  chickens.  A  brigade  would  demolish  a  big  house 
in  ten  minutes.  They  lived  on  the  milk  and  honey  with 
which  the  land  flowed.  When  they  dug  for  potatoes  they 
sometimes  found  gold,  and  silver,  and  silk,  which  they  appro 
priated  as  lawful  spoils,  and  which  they  then  made  the  chief 
object  of  their  search.  Joyful  negroes  invited  them  into  barn 
and  cellar,  and  betrayed  hidden  stores. 

Cattle  trains  were  no  encumbrance,  as  the  wagons  packed 
with  provender  served  for  the  day,  and  inviting  cornfields  of 
a  hundred  or  a  thousand  acres  furnished  both  food  and  inclo- 
sure  for  the  night.  Mud-holes  and  swamps,  of  which  there 
were  not  a  few,  were  corduroyed  by  pioneer  regiments,  (of 
which  our  Fifty-Eighth  was  one,)  often  at  the  rate  of  a  quar 
ter  of  a  mile  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

The  cavalry  had  frequent  skirmishes,  chiefly  on  the  left, 
Kilpatrick  moving  in  force  toward  the  northeast,  and  threat 
ening  Augusta.  Near  Waynesboro  the  engagements  were 
severe.  On  the  twenty-ninth,  with  his  staff,  the  Eighth  In 
diana  and  Ninth  Michigan,  Kilpatrick  was  nearly  surrounded 
apart  from  his  main  force,  but  was  extricated  from  his  dan- 


774  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

gerous  situation  by  the  gallantry  of  the  two  regiments. 
Wheeler  shortly  after  made  an  attack  in  force,  but  found,  to 
his  disappointment  and  loss,  that  Kilpatrick  was  also  in  full 
force  and  behind  earthworks.  During  several  days,  Baird's 
division  supported  the  cavalry,  and  the  latter  continued  to 
make  demonstrations  toward  Augusta,  partly  in  the  hope  of 
deceiving  the  enemy  into  a  neglect  of  the  prison  pen  at  Mil- 
len,  and  partly  in  order  to  concentrate  and  retain  his  forces 
at  the  important  point  threatened. 

Meantime,  infantry  and  artillery  quietly  pursued  their  way. 
passing  from  fertile  farms  into  comparatively  sterile,  but  ma 
jestic  savannahs.  Between  the  lofty  pines,  whose  straight 
trunks  are  eighty  or  ninety  feet  without  a  branch,  wagons 
and  troops  moved  easily  in  double  lines. 

Could  the  haughty  Hood,  now  before  Franklin,  lavishing 
upon  his  army  golden  promises,  have  cast  his  eye  backward 
five  hundred  miles,  to  Sherman's  winding  columns;  or  to  his 
spreading  encampments,  lighted  up  by  pitch-pine  fires;  or  to 
the  night  crossing  of  the  Ogeechee,  where  each  soldier,  as  if 
in  a  triumphal  procession,  bore  a  flaring  torch,  his  heart 
would  have  died  within  him. 

Eight  days  after  leaving  Milledgeville,  the  army,  except  the 
cavalry,  concentrated  at  Millen,  to  find,  with  deep  and  uni 
versal  grief,  that  the  prison  pen  was  empty,  and  to  see,  with 
futile  indignation,  proofs  of  the  inhumanity  to  which  the  pris 
oners  had  been  subjected. 

December  2,  the  march  was  continued,  and  directed  to 
ward  the  southeast,  between  broad  rivers,  which,  serving  as 
a  defence  for  the  flanks,  rendered  cavalry  unnecessary  except 
in  front  and  rear.  On  the  seventh,  the  Fifteenth  corps 
crossed  to  the  east  bank  of  the  Ogeechee,  near  Eden.  The 
next  day  Corse's  division  pushed  on  to  the  canal  which  con 
nects  the  Ogeechee  with  the  Savannah,  and  after  bridging  the 
canal,  intrenched  on  the  south  side.  On  the  ninth,  a  detach 
ment  moved  forward  to  the  Savannah  and  Gulf  railroad,  cap 
tured  a  train  of  eighteen  cars  with  many  prisoners,  and, 
destroying  the  track,  cut  off  all  communication  between  Sa 
vannah  and  the  South.  The  Fourteenth,  Twentieth  and 
Seventeenth  corps  meantime  moved  through  forests  which 


SHERMAN  APPROACHES  SAVANNAH.  775 

were  intersected  by  swollen  creeks,  swamps  and  quicksands, 
They  made  miles  and  miles  of  corduroy  road,  the  labor  in 
creasing  as  the  woods  gave  place  to  a  naked  country,  where 
swamps  were  relieved  only  by  low  rice  fields. 

One  day,  General  Davis  was  obliged  to  wait  for  a  bridge, 
the  construction  of  which  was  supervised  by  a  slender,  pale- 
faced  young  Captain.  The  General  became  exceedingly  im 
patient,  and  at  length,  with  curses  on  his  laziness,  ordered 
the  superintendent  to  pull  off  his  coat  and  fall  to  work  with 
his  men.  The  young  Captain,  looking  in  the  face  of  his 
commanding  officer,  said  slowly:  "I  have  known  a  Major 
General  shot  for  using  such  language  to  a  subordinate." 
Davis'  eye,  an  eye  which  knows  little  of  fear,  quailed.  He 
turned  his  horse  and  waited  at  a  distance  for  the  completion 
of  the  work. 

The  left  wing  struck  the  Savannah  and  Charleston  railroad 
where  it  crosses  the  Savannah  river,  arid  destroyed  the  track 
from  that  point  southward.  The  Fourteenth  and  Seven 
teenth  corps  sustained  some  loss  in  skirmishing,  and  by  the 
bursting  of  shells  and  torpedoes  concealed  in  the  road.  De 
cember  12,  the  army  formed  a  semi-circle  from  the  Savannah 
river  to  the  Savannah  and  Gulf  railroad,  about  ten  miles 
long.  The  Twentieth  corps,  on  the  left,  was  three  miles 
from  the  city;  the  Fifteenth  corps,  on  the  right,  rested  on  the 
railroad,  eleven  miles  off. 

Savannah  was  defended  by  a  strong  line  of  earthworks, 
by  four  forts,  and  by  wide  stretches  of  flooded  swamps  and 
rice  fields.  Fort  McAllister,  the  strongest  point  on  the  line, 
and  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Great  Ogeechee,  about 
six  miles  from  Ossabaw  Sound,  commanded  every  approach. 
Along  its  front  extended  a  ditch  forty  feet  wide,  of  great 
depth,  and  driven  full  of  palisades.  Outside  the  ditch  was 
a  formidable  line  of  abatis.  Beyond  the  abatis  the  ground 
was  thickly  planted  with  torpedoes.  Two  hundred  and 
fifty  men  held  the  fort.  The  whole  force  in  Savannah  was 
fifteen  thousand,  and  was  under  the  command  of  General 
Hardee.  At  daylight  of  the  thirteenth,  Hazen's  division 
crossed  the  Great  Ogeechee,  on  a  bridge  eighteen  hundred 
feet  long,  which  had  been  built  during  the  night,  and  invested 


776  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

Fort  McAllister.  It  advanced  to  assault  in  single  line  over 
an  open  space  of  six  hundred  yards,  the  greater  part  of 
which  was  a  rice  swamp.  Regardless  of  torpedoes  at  their 
feet,  and  artillery  in  their  faces,  the  assailants  surmounted 
the  abatis,  cleared  the  ditch,  swarrned  over  the  parapet,  shot 
or  bayonetted  the  gunners  who  refused  to  surrender,  and 
planted  their  colors  on  the  rampart,  without  a  waver  from 
first  to  last.  They  lost  one  hundred  men.  The  Rebels  lost 
a  little  more  than  forty.  The  Eighty-Third  and  Ninety- 
Ninth  Indiana  were  in  the  assault. 

Sherman  immediately  went  down  the  Ogeechee  in  a  row- 
boat  to  the  fleet  in  Ossabaw  Sound,  and  concerted  measures 
for  the  co-operation  of  the  fleet  with  the  army;  but  before 
these  were  completed,  on  the  sixteenth,  he  demanded  the 
surrender  of  the  city.  Hardee  refused,  declaring  that  he 
could  stand  a  siege;  but  when  a  substantial  corduroy  road 
traversed  the  swamps  and  rice-fields  between  King's  bridge 
and  the  city;  when  heavy  siege  guns  were  in  position,  and 
the  causeway  which  crossed  the  swamp  between  Savannah 
and  Charleston  was  threatened;  when  the  Ogeechee,  the  Sa 
vannah  and  the  sea  swarmed  with  armed  vessels;  he  changed 
his  mind,  and  taking  advantage  of  a  dark  night  and  a  roar 
ing  wind,  to  which  he  added  the  clamorous  fire  of  two  iron 
clads,  he  transported  his  troops  by  boats  to  the  causeway, 
whence  he  hurried  them  to  Charleston. 

On  the  twenty-first,  Sherman  sent  a  dispatch  to  the  Presi 
dent,  "  I  beg  to  present  you,  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the  city  of 
Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns  and  plenty 
of  ammunition,  and  also  about  twenty-five  thousand  bales 
of  cotton."  A  later  and  more  careful  computation  showed 
that  he  underestimated  his  captures. 

While  Sherman's  stalwart  army  was  entering  the  city  by 
the  sea,  followed  by  all  the  laborers  of  the  region,  nearly 
three  hundred  miles  in  extent,  through  which  it  had  passed, 
the  troops  of  Hood,  having  come  to  grief  at  the  hands  of 
Thomas,  were  fugitives  in  the  mountains,  dismayed,  forlorn, 
and  scattered,  never  again  to  be  united. 

The  sun  of  the  Confederacy  was  fast  sinking  into  ever 
lasting  night. 


"DIESIR/E."  777 

"CAMP  SEVENTIETH,  FOUR  MILES  FROM  SAVANNAH, 

December  15,  1864. 

"A  month  ago  to-day,  we  pushed  out  from  Atlanta  into 
the  enemy's  country,  entirely  ignorant  of  our  destination. 
Our   night-long  journey   was   gloomily   enlivened    by   the 
(lames  of  burning  houses,  and  the  distant  explosions  beneath 
the  ruined  city  in  our  rear.     Nothing  I  have  ever  seen,  but 
this  terrible  night,  is  worthy  of  being  compared  to  that 
"  Day  of  Wrath,  eventful  day, 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away." 

"Dies  iree!  Dies  irse!"  filled  the  air,  and  fell  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  inhabitants  of  doomed  Georgia.  As  we  had 
only  three  days7  rations,  our  subsistence  had  to  be  taken  en 
tirely  from  the  country ;  and  as  the  region  through  which  we 
passed  was  a  wealthy  one,  we  obtained  meal,  flour,  pork, 
beef,  chickens,  turkeys,  honey,  preserved  fruits,  sweet  pota 
toes,  rice,  and  indeed  everything  you  can  think  of. 

"I  think  I  have  eaten  more  fowls  and  honey  in  this  trip 
than  in  all  my  life  before,  and  sweet  potatoes — well,  I've  al 
most  had  enough. 

"As  we  passed  along  the  road  near  Madison,  the  men 
found  an  outhouse  containing  several  casks  of  molasses. 
Hungry  stragglers  swarmed  round  like  bees,  swearing  and 
pushing  and  overturning  the  barrels.  A  beautiful  black- 
eyed  boy  of  four  years  sat  on  the  gate-post,  calling  out, 
4  Come  out  of  there,  you  old  mean  Yanks,  you!  Oh  goody! 
goody!  you  can't  get  the  chickens,  for  they're  under  the 
house!' 

"  While  we  were  entering  Milledgeville  an  old  black  wo 
man  cried,  'God  bless  you!  You've  come  at  last.  We've 
been  waitin'  for  you  all  for  more'n  four  years!' 

"The  usual  invitation  of  our  boys,  'Come  on,  Sambo!' 
1  Come  on,  Dinah!'  was  responded  to  in  one  case  by  an 
ebony  female  rushing  into  the  ranks  with  a,  '  Yes,  I'se  gwine, 
but  some  of  you  uns  must  marry  me.' 

"A  fat  old  fellow  stood  by  his  lady  on  the  fence.  As  his 
eye  caught  me,  he  cried  out,  'Oh,  dar's  de  Capting!'  winding 
up  with  a  locomotive  yell,  and  a  backward  tumble  from  the 
fence. 


778  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

"A  woman  greeted  us  with,  'Lawsee,  Massas!  I  can't  larf 
enough,  1'se  so  glad  to  see  you!' 

"It  was  very  touching  to  see  the  vast  numbers  of  colored 
women  following  after  us  with  babies  in  their  arms,  and  little 
ones,  like  our  Anna,  clinging  to  their  tattered  skirts.  One 
poor  creature,  while  nobody  was  looking,  hid  two  boys,  five 
years  old,  in  a  wagon,  intending,  I  suppose,  that  they  should 
«ee  the  land  of  freedom,  if  she  couldn't. 

"Babies  tumbled  from  the  backs  of  mules,  to  which  they 
had  been  told  to  cling,  and  were  drowned  in  the  swamps, 
while  mothers  stood  by  the  roadside,  crying  for  their  lost 
children,  and  doubting  whether  to  continue  longer  with  the 
advancing  army. 

"  The  houses  of  the  wealthy  in  our  route  were  pillaged, 
their  clothes  and  beds  torn  to  pieces,  their  barns  and  gins 
given  to  the  flames. 

"An  old  planter  was  walking  back  and  forth,  wringing  his 
hands,  and  exclaiming  over  and  over,  '  Oh,  I'm  a  ruined  man! 
I'm  a  ruined  man!'  when  one  of  the  soldiers,  weary  of  his 
noise,  consoled  him  with,  'Who  in said  you  wasn't?' 

"It  was  melancholy  to  watch  the  books  disappear  from  the 
shelves  of  the  State  library,  recalling  the  Vandalism  of  the 
Arabs  in  Egypt.  Ghost  of  Hannah  More!  Think  of  my 
stealing  Ccelebs  in  search  of  a  Wife! 

"  In  many  of  the  houses  the  ladies  sat  amid  the  ruins  of 
their  furniture,  and  the  tattered  contents  of  their  drawers  and 
trunks,  smiling  as  if  they  took  all  things  joyfully.  Yet  now 
and  then  an  old  lady  would  have  to  be  reproved  by  her 
calmer  daughter,  'Please  Mamma,  don't  rar  so!' 

"A,  General  Harrison  was  accosted  by  one  of  the  men: 
4  Well,  old  man,  they're  handling  you  rather  roughly!  '  Yes,' 
was  the  reply, 'they  have  done  about  all  they  can.'  'No.' 
said  the  other  angrily,  'we'll  burn  your  house  for  you,  and 
make  a  desert  of  your  plantation!'  The  discovery  of  blood 
hounds,  which  always  exasperates  the  men,  and  the  fact  that 
his  son  had  charge  of  a  prison  pen,  occasioned  special  vin- 
dictiveness. 

"  Our  men  showed  more  sympathy  for  an  unfortunate  dog, 
which  appeared  underneath  a  burning  house  in  Springfield, 


THE  LIVE  OAKS  OF  SAVANNAH.  779 

sending  forth  most  dismal  howls.  He  succeeded,  by  the 
help  of  the  flames,  in  breaking  the  strap  which  bound  him, 
but  only  to  find  himself  caged  by  blazing  palings  that  fringed 
the  basement  of  the  building.  The  boys  stood  breathlessly 
watching  the  frantic  efforts  of  the  poor  fellow,  and  burst  into 
welcoming  cheers  as  he  seized  the  red  bars  with  his  teeth, 
and  tore  his  way  toward  them.  One  of  the  boys  in  Com 
pany  K  found  five  thousand  dollars  in  Confederate  money 
concealed  in  a  well,  beside  gold,  silver  and  clothing  of  the 
finest  quality.  I  have  no  doubt  that  fifty  thousand  dollars 
worth  of  silk  dresses  were  found  buried,  and  exhumed,  and 
torn  to  pieces  by  the  men.  Vast  amounts  of  silverware,  hid 
away  in  the  ground,  fell  into  their  hands  through  information 
derived  from  the  negroes. 

"  Now  and  then  stragglers  were  guilty  of  outrages,  such  as 
hanging  a  citizen  until  he  would  confess  where  his  silver 
was,  but  such  disgraceful  acts  were  of  rare  occurrence.  I 
gave  orders  to  our  foragers,  and  doubtless  other  regimental 
commanders  did  the  same,  to  shoot  down  anything  in  the 
form  of  man  engaged  in  unsoldieiiike  deeds. 

"  On  a  plantation  about  seven  miles  above  Savannah  is  a 
magnificent  forest  of  live  oaks,  festooned  with  Spanish  moss. 
Some  of  the  trees  are  ten  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  distance 
across  from  tip  to  tip  of  the  branches  is  nearly  two  hundred 
feet,  far  surpassing  in  grandeur  anything  of  the  kind  I  have 
ever  seen.  The  English  oaks  are  but  dwarfs,  and  that  elm 
at  home,  near  Virginia  avenue,  dwindles  in  my  memory 
until  it  assumes  a  size  not  a  third  as  large  as  these  glorious 
creations,  each  one  in  itself  a  forest  and  a  temple. 

"A  little  incident  at  a  river  crossing  made  me  laugh,  per 
haps  it  will  amuse  you.  Three  of  us,  Charley  Cox,  my  man 
Jerry  and  myself  were  going  from  our  camp  on  Hardee's 
plantation,  to  Savannah,  with  the  remains  of  the  regimental 
banners,  which  were  to  be  sent  home.  Jerry  carried  the 
flags,  which,  notwithstanding  all  our  care,  are  reduced  to  a 
few  tattered  stripes,  a  tassel  or  two,  and  broken  staves. 
Flags  couldn't  look  more  forlorn.  'What  regiment's  this?' 
said  a  sentinel  who  kept  solitary  guard  at  the  head  of  the 
pontoon  bridge.  'The  Seventieth  Indiana,'  answered  Charley. 


780  THG  BOLUIEK  OF  INDIANA. 

'My  God!' exclaimed  the  man,  raising  his  hands,  *  and  this 
is  all  there  is  left  of  yon!' 

"BEFORE  SAVANNAH,  MONDAY,  December  19. 
"All  the  boys  seern  to  be  in  excellent  health.  It  could 
scarcely  be  otherwise,  as  the  march  has  been  easy,  the  food 
excellent,  and  the  weather  delightful.  The  days  are  as  sunny 
and  the  air  as  mild  as  if  it  were  summer  instead  of  winter. 
The  favorite  hymn  with  the  men  is,  i  December's  as  pleasant 
as  June.' 

"  SAVANNAH,  SATURDAY,  December  24. 

"All  the  way  from  Atlanta  to  the  ocean  without  a  fight 
Some  portions  of  our  army  have  had  skirmishing,  but  our 
regiment  has  not  lost  a  man. 

"Before  daylight  on  the  twenty-first  we  discovered  that 
the  Rebels  had  deserted  their  lines,  so  we  immediately  pushed 
into  the  city,  finding  over  three  hundred  pieces  of  artillery, 
beside  thousands  of  bales  of  the  king  of  the  South,  and  vast 
quantities  of  rice  and  corn. 

"  It  was  a  glorious  sight,  the  entering  of  our  steamers  into 
the  harbor  day  before  yesterday. 

"  The  city  is  much  more  beautiful  than  either  Atlanta  or 
Nashville.  Almost  every  other  square  is  a  park,  ornamented 
in  many  instances  with  beautiful  monuments  and  sparkling 
fountains.  I  had  a  delightful  ride  a  day  or  two  ago  along 
the  river  to  Fort  Jackson,  some  four  miles  below  the  city. 
Our  horses  went  like  the  wind  along  the  dikes,  which  sepa 
rate  rice  fields;  under  brave  old  oaks  snowed  over  with  Span 
ish  moss;  through  thicketed  ravines,  more  beautiful  than 
Scotland's  lovely  Hawthornden ;  over  the  drawbridge,  across 
the  moat,  beneath  the  arch,  and  into  the  fortress  so  lately  de 
serted  by  the  foe. 

"  One  of  the  streets  of  the  city  is  very  wide,  adorned  with 
four  rows  of  shade  trees,  and  bordered  with  magnificent  resi 
dences,  calling  to  mind  the  loveliness  and  grandeur  of  Unter- 
den-Linden.  S.  M." 

Incessant  rains  detained  Sherman  south  of  the  Savannah, 
and  he  was  not  fairly  on  the  march  again  until  the  first  of 


MARCH  THROUGH  THE  CAROLINAS.  7gj 

February.  Rains,  swamps  and  swollen  streams,  the  opposi 
tion  of  a  hostile  people  and  the  gradual  concentration  of 
large  forces  in  his  front,  kept  him  long  on  the  way,  and  he 
did  not  arrive  at  Goldsboro  until  the  last  of  March.  The 
campaign,  however,  was  a  complete  success.  Sherman's 
policy  remained  unchanged.  Covering  a  wide  extent  of 
country,  he  kept  the  enemy  anxiously  divided  between  dis 
tant  points.  Attacking  the  front  of  opposing  forces,  he  made 
them  retreat  by  moving  on  their  flanks.  Systematically  de 
molishing  public  property,  especially  railroads,  in  order  to 
keep  supplies  and  troops  from  Richmond,  he  ruthlessly  laid 
waste  the  estates  and  farms  of  men  who  sheltered  partisan 
rangers,  or  who  in  any  way  showed  active  hostility.  South 
of  Columbia,  which  both  the  right  and  left  approached,  How 
ard,  by  fighting  and  flanking,  gained  Rivers'  bridge  over  the 
Salkehatchie,  Binnaker's  bridge  over  the  South  Edisto,  the 
Orangeburg  bridge  over  the  North  Edisto,  and  the  Congaree 
bridge  across  Congaree  creek;  while  Slocum,  having  no  op 
ponent  but  Wheeler,  allowed  Kilpatrick  to  do  all  his  fighting. 

After  leaving  the  vicinity  of  Columbia,  Sherman  again 
spread  his  wings,  and  swept  on  until  he  approached  Fayette- 
ville,  where,  on  the  twelfth  of  February,  he  again  concen 
trated.  Meantime  Kilpatrick  had  much  ado  to  keep  out  of 
the  enemy's  hands.  At  Soldmon  Grove,  while  trying  to  ac 
complish  a  surprise,  he  was  himself  surprised.  He  barely 
escaped  capture,  but,  though  on  foot  and  in  a  swamp,  he  ral 
lied  his  men,  and  recovered  all  that  he  had  lost. 

After  resting  three  days  at  Fayetteville,  the  army  moved 
with  a  less  divergent  front,  as  forces,  which  had  been  gather 
ing  from  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina,  from  Charleston 
and  Columbia,  now  forty  thousand  strong,  and  under  John 
ston,  threatened  serious  resistance.  Near  Averysboro,  Ward's 
division  met  a  brigade  of  Hardee's  behind  works  on  a 
swampy  neck  of  land  between  Cape  Fear  and  South  rivers. 
The  brigade  withdrew  on  being  outflanked.  The  meeting 
was  the  precursor  of  a  sharper  and  equally  successful  en 
gagement  between  larger  forces. 

Near  Bentonville  a  sanguinary  battle  occurred  between 
Slocum  and  Johnston.  It  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty 


782  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

that  the  former  held  his  ground.  His  left  wing  withstood 
six  heavy  assaults,  and  made  the  enemy  suffer  severely  under 
artillery.  At  night  Johnston  was  compelled  to  decamp  by 
the  approach  of  Howard  toward  his  flank  and  rear. 

Sherman's  loss  was  sixteen  hundred  and  forty-three.  He 
buried  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven,  and  captured  sixteen 
hundred  and  twenty-five  of  the  enemy. 

Captain  Moser  of  the  Twenty-Second  Indiana,  Lieuten 
ant  Deweese  and  Captain  Low  of  the  Thirty-Eighth,  Lieu 
tenants  Rutledge  and  Steele  of  the  Forty-Second,  Lieuten 
ants  Seeleye  of  the  Eighty-Eighth,  and  Lieutenant  Webb  of 
the  Nineteenth  battery,  were  killed  at  Bentonviile.  Captain 
Sherman  of  the  Twenty-Fifth  was  mortally  wounded.  He 
was  a  scarred  veteran.  In  the  Mexican  war,  at  Chapultepec, 
he  was  wounded.  He  also  received  wounds  in  the  battle  of 
the  Hatchie  and  at  Snake  creek  gap.  Captain  Lennan,  of 
the  Eighth  cavalry,  was  killed  at  Averysboro. 

Nearly  all  the  Indiana  troops  in  Sherman's  army  were  en 
gaged  in  fighting  during  some  part  of  the  campaign,  and 
many  of  them  were  efficient  in  road  and  bridge-making,  to 
say  nothing  of  destroying.  The  Eighty-Fifth  boasts  that  it 
could  thoroughly  destroy  a  half  mile  of  railroad  in  forty 
minutes. 

Sherman  met  with  no  further  opposition.  His  troops 
tired,  shoeless,  hatless,  ragged,  and  swarthy  with  the  smoke 
of  the  pine  woods,  in  which  they  had  so  long  marched  and 
encamped,  found  rest  and  clothing  in  Goldsboro. 

A  broad,  black  belt  marked  the  course  of  the  army  through 
the  Carolinas,  the  blacker  because  tar  being  the  chief  pro 
duction  of  much  of  the  country,  tar  factories  were  often  a 
prey  to  fire.  The  devastation  was,  of  course,  chiefly  effected 
by  our  troops,  to  whom  South  Carolina,  as  the  originator  of 
secession,  was  peculiarly  obnoxious,  and  who  were  provoked 
by  the  lively  enmity  of  the  inhabitants.  But  Confederate 
authorities  did  not  hesitate  to  apply  the  torch.  Hampton  set 
fire  to  Columbia,  and  Hardee  kindled  the  flames  which 
burned  Charleston. 

One  of  our  officers,  who  had  occasion  to  visit  the  latter 
city,  writes  the  following  in  regard  to  its  appearance: 


THE  MASTERS  IN  GRIEF,  THE  SLAVES  JUBILANT. 

"Here  I  am,  Marius  like,  sitting  amid  the  ruins.  At  least 
half  the  city  is  in  ruins.  The  stillness  and  dreariness  sur 
pass  anything  you  can  imagine.  Block  after  block  of  mgni- 
ficent  buildings,  without  an  inhabitant,  and  square  after 
square  of  roofless  edifices,  ruined  by  fire.  We  roam  through 
fallen  Babylon,  or  sit  musing  in  some  crumbling  palace,  in 
mournful  semi-satisfied  mood,  such  as  Macaulay  might  have 
ascribed  to  his  New  Zealander,  viewing  the  ruins  of  the  great 
city  from  London  bridge. 

"Ravens,  whose  dolorous  voices  and  sable  wings  are  in 
harmony  with  the  desolation,  look  down  from  unfallen  chim- 
nies  on  deserted  hearthstones,  sagely  shaking  their  crests  as 
if  they  meant  to  impress  the  dreaming  stranger  with  the  ev 
anescent  nature  of  homes,  built  by  wringing  the  hard  earn 
ings  from  widows  whose  husbands  are  still  toiling  a' thousand 
miles  away,  from  childless  parents,  whose  offspring  are 
shackled,  God  only  knows  where. 

"  Sunday,  Captain  Culver  and  I  attended  service  at  the 
Methodist  church,  and  as  it  was  communion  Sabbath,  and 
the  invitation  did  not  seem  to  exclude  us,  we  went  forward 
with  the  members,  and  kneeling  round  the  altar,  partook  of 
the  sacrament.  The  members  appeared  fearfully  broken 
down,  as  if  the  Heavens  were  clothed  in  sackcloth  and  their 
hearts  were  crushed  beneath  the  blackened  embers  of  their 
blasted  homes.  I  think  they  were  glad  to  have  us  there,  and 
yet,  clad  as  they  were  in  mourning,  and  overwhelmed  by  the 
thought  that  all  they  valued  in  life  was  lost,  they  seemed  to 
personify  woe.  Some  may  rejoice  in  the  desolation  of  this 
people,  but  I  feel  as  the  Israelites  did  over  the  extermination 
of  Benjamin. 

"  On  our  return  we  went  into  an  empty  house  in  search  of 
something  to  read.  After  finding  a  book  that  suited  me  I 
remarked  to  a  lone  African  who  had  gladly  welcomed  us, 
4  My  man,  it's  rather  hard  to  be  stealing  things  this  way, 
isn't  it?'  ' La,  Massa,  dat's  not  stealin.'  Dey's  yours.  If 
dey  hadn't  fout  you,  dey  wouldn't  loss  nuffin'. 

"  The  negroes  furnish  a  comic  side  to  the  melancholy  pic 
ture,  though  there's  tragedy  enough  in  their  comedy. 

"  Yesterday,  while  we  were  singing,  a  gray-headed  darkey, 


784  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

with  saw  and  buck  on  his  shoulders,  as  he  passed  by,  struck 
up  a  daace  in  spite  of  age  and  encumbrances,  inspired  by  the 
music,  or  the  thought  of  broken  chains. 

'"God  bress  you!'  'God  bress  you!' is  the  language  of 
every  crooked-legged,  wrinkled-faced,  white-haired,  black  rag- 
arnuffinas  he  pulls  off  his  hat  and  paws  the  ground  with  his 
right  foot,  '  I'se  been  prayin'  for  you  dese  many  years,  and  I 
knowed  you's  gwine  to  come,  and  now  you's  done  come, 
thank  the  good  Lord.' 

"Everywhere  you  hear  old  women  muttering,  'O  how  I 
love  'em!'  'But  de^  is  purty!  Dey  isn't  yaller,  scrawny  lit 
tle  fellers  like  dem  Rebels.'  'God  bress  you,  dear.'  'He 
opened  de  door,  He  take  de  yoke  off  our  necks,  He  turn  us 
loose!'  '  O  Lord!  Massa,  my  young  missus  tole  me  de  Yan 
kees  had  horns  on  der  head,  and  dey  would  bore  holes  tru 
our  shoulders  for  de  ropes,  and  hitch  us  in  wagons,  and  all 
dose  what  couldn't  work  dey'd  send  off  to  Cuba.' 

"While  we  were  singing  'John  Brown'  and  the  'Year  of 
Jubilo'  this  morning,  a  great  crowd  of  tattered  women  gath 
ered  from  the  streets  into  the  hall,  waving  their  hands,  shout 
ing,  throwing  their  arms  round  each  other,  kneeling  and  pray 
ing,  '  God  bress  you,  and  take  you,  Massa,  and  all  dat  you 
love  to  Heaven,  whar  you  will  shine  like  a  star  in  glory! 
We  owe  it  all  to  you!  Bress  God!'" 


ASSAULT  ON  FORT  FISHER. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

IN  EASTERN  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

Heaven  lays  upon  some  the  burden  of  yielding  their  lives  for  the  great 
interests  of  humanity. —  C.  II.  Marshall. 

Fort  Fisher  fell  into  the  hands  of  General  Grant  in  Janu 
ary,  1865.  It  is  situated  on  the  point  of  a  sandy  and 
swampy  peninsula  formed  by  Cape  Fear  River  and  the  At 
lantic  ocean,  and  was  the  main  defense  of  Wilmington, 
which  was  the  main  seaport  of  the  Confederacy.  A  failure 
under  General  Butler,  in  the  preceding  December,  had 
shown  that  the  position  was  one  of  extraordinary  strength. 

January  13,  under  cover  of  a  heavy  bombardment  from 
Porter's  fleet,  about  eight  thousand  troops  under  General 
Terry  effected  a  landing  through  a  heavy  surf,  the  sea  rolling 
upward  in  what  sailors  call  the  "breathing  of  the  ocean," 
and  breaking  in  foaming  billows  over  the  beach.  Two  miles 
above  the  fort,  they  threw  up  two  lines  of  defensive  works 
from  sea  to  river,  one  line  facing  north  to  prevent  reinforce 
ments  from  Wilmington.  Sunday  the  fifteenth,  while  five 
thousand  troops  held  the  works,  a  simultaneous  advance 
was  made  by  a  body  of  sailors  on  the  north-east  bastion,  and 
Ames*  division  on  the  western  half  of  the  land  face.  The 
sailors,  rushing  along  the  beach,  attracted  the  chief  attention 
of  the  enemy,  but  were  able,  under  the  protection  of  the 
fleet,  to  reach  the  fort,  where  they  were  cut  down  in  wind 
rows  and  were  signally  repulsed.  Preceding  Ames'  division 
were  a  hundred  sharpshooters  and  diggers  from  the  Thir 
teenth  Indiana,  half  carrying  shovels,  the  other  half  with  two 
guns  to  a  man,  in  order  that  at  every  halt  the  digger  might 
become  a  combatant  as  soon  as  he  had  a  hole  large  enough 
50 


7SC  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

for  himself  and  his  comrade.  The  rest  of  Curtis7  brigade 
followed,  moving  through  quagmire  and  marsh,  under  an 
enfilading  fire,  slowly  at  first  and  cautiously,  then  swiftly, 
and  regiment  by  regiment,  until  the  troops  were  all  on  the 
run.  They  gained  the  palisades,  and  the  parapet  between 
the  fort  and  the  river;  fired  from  hollows  in  the  sand,  behind 
ruins  of  barracks  and  storehouses;  made  their  way  at  last 
within  the  wall,  and  after  three  more  hours  of  furious  fight 
ing  gained  the  whole  series  of  fastnesses  which  form  Fort 
Fisher.  The  Rebels  sought  shelter  in  Fort  Buchanan,  but 
only  to  delay  surrender.  More  than  t\vo  thousand  prisoners 
were  taken,  including  the  commander,  General  Whiting, 
who  was  mortally  wounded.  The  next  morning  the  chief 
magazine  exploded,  killing  and  wounding  three  hundred 
Union  troops.  The  following  night,  Fort  Caswell  and  other 
works  on  the  further  side  of  the  river  were  abandoned  and 
blown  up. 

A  young  Lieutenant  in  the  Thirteenth,  writing  from  Fort 
Fisher  a  day  or  two  after  its  capture,  gives  some  additional 
details : 

u  Sunday,  about  noon,  we  packed  up  and  started  in  the 
direction  of  Fort  Fisher,  while  the  gunboats  kept  up  a  lively 
firing.  About  a  half  mile  from  the  fort,  we  laid  off  our 
knapsacks.  Previous  to  this,  the  Spencer  rifles  had  been 
called  out  to  go  forward  and  skirmish.  This  took  away 
every  one  of  the  old  soldiers  but  Captain  Stepp  and  me,  the 
orderly  and  one  file  closer,  leaving  none  but  drafts  who  had 
never  before  been  under  fire,  and  who  had  not  been  drilled. 
You  can  hardly  imagine  how  I  felt  at  the  idea  of  starting  on 
a  charge  upon  a  fort  which  mounted  any  number  of  guns, 
each  one  easily  throwing  a  half  bushel  of  grape.  Our  bri 
gade  formed  about  a  third  of  a  mile  from  the  fort,  the  Thir 
teenth  occupying  the  post  of  honor,  the  right.  I  was  stand 
ing  on  a  stump,  looking  at  the  fort,  when  a  grape-shot  came 
ringing  along  and  struck  me  over  the  left  eye,  knocking  me 
off  the  stump  in  a  hurry.  It  raised  a  bump  on  my  forehead, 
about  as  big  as  an  egg,  and  was  at  first  painful.  I  sat  down, 
and  a  spent  ball  struck  the  top  of  my  boot.  It  took  the  skin 
off  and  brought  the  claret,  but  did  not  cut  my  pants.  ] 


ASSAULT  ON  FORT  FISHER.  737 

picked  it  up  and  shall  keep  it  as  a  memento  of  the  charge 
on  Fort  Fisher. 

"When  the  signal  to  charge  was  given  we  started  in  good 
order;  but  ditches,  ponds  and  bushes  soon  destroyed  every 
sign  of  a  line,  and  we  rushed  on  pell  rnell,  a  regular  mob. 
Nobody  could  have  kept  line.  When  we  got  to  the  fort,  I 
tried  to  form  as  many  of  my  company  as  I  could  find.  I 
had  just  got  ten  files  together,  when  Stepp's  'Forward, 
Company  E!'  sent  them  all  ahead  in  a  pile.  I  gave  up  all 
hope  of  keeping  a  line,  and  directed  my  attention  to  getting 
the  men  up  to  the  front. 

"The  fort  is  very  formidable.  Neither  gunboats  nor  in 
fantry  alone  could  take  it  in  a  thousand  years.  There  is  any 
number  of  bomb  proofs  in  it,  with  sand  thrown  on  top, 
about  thirty  feet  high.  The  more  iron  thrown  on  them,  the 
stronger  they  are.  Inside  of  them  the  gunners  were  as  safe 
as  if  they  were  a  thousand  miles  from  the  scene  of  action ; 
but,  as  the  guns  were  not  sheltered,  it  was  almost  impossible 
to  work  them.  Toward  us  there  was  a  palisade  about  fifteen 
feet  high,  made  of  logs  stuck  in  the  ground.  There  was 
but  one  way  of  getting  in,  and  that  was  across  a  bridge 
which  led  to  a  gate.  But  the  planks  had  been  taken  up, 
and  several  pieces  bore  directly  on  it.  The  grape  more  than 
whistled  as  we  passed  here.  Every  man  fought  to  suit  him 
self.  To  add  to  our  confusion,  the  gunboats  kept  up  a  fierce 
fire  on  the  centre  of  the  fort,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to 
advance,  while  it  was  almost  impossible  to  stay  where  we 
were.  Shells  were  exploding  right  in  our  midst.  Colonel 
Zent,  who  was  the  senior  officer  on  the  ground,  sent  word  to 
General  Ames,  that  unless  he  had  the  firing  stopped,  we 
should  be  compelled  to  retire.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  we 
should  have  entered  first,  and  the  fort  would  have  surren 
dered  to  Colonel  Zent. 

"After  we  got  into  the  fort,  we  found  a  great  number  of 
mounds,  which  served  the  purpose  of  breastworks.  At  the 
foot  of  these,  between  them  and  the  palisades,  was  a  space 
of  some  twenty  to  forty  feet,  raked  by,  probably,  a  half  dozen 
guns,  from  twelve  to  one  hundred  pounders.  Two  fine  brass 
pieces,  which  were  about  a  hundred  feet  from  me,  I  thought 


788  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

would  be  better  in  possession  of  Uncle  Sam  than  of  Mr. 
Whiting;  so  I  proposed  to  a  half  dozen  soldiers  that  we 
take  them.  They  were  getting  ready  to  charge  on  the 
mounds;  so  Lieutenant  Kinnear,  of  company  B,  and  I  got 
as  many  of  our  men  together  below  as  we  could  find,  and 
^when  they  started  on  the  mound,  with  a  ;  Forward,  boys!' 
away  we  went.  I  was  so  intent  on  the  guns,  that  I  didn't 
look  back.  I  was  within  about  twenty  feet  of  them,  when 
out  stepped  about  a  dozen  Rebels.  On  looking  back  for  my 
support,  what  was  my  horror  to  find  myself  almost  alone. 
The  party  charging  on  the  mounds  had  stopped.  My  sup 
port  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  I  dropped  into  a  hole  made 
by  the  explosion  of  a  shell  at  the  foot  of  the  palisade,  and 
Kinnear  dropped  into  another  on  the  side  of  the  mound.  I 
was  quite  overjoyed  to  find  this  shelter.  But  my  hole  was 
barely  sufficient  to  screen  me  from  the  Rebels  in  front  of  me. 
Every  time  I  raised  my  head  I  could  see  one  or  more  John 
nies  standing  at  the  mouth  of  the  bomb  proof,  with  his  gun 
pointed  at  me;  and  an  occasional  bullet  within  an  inch  or 
two  of  my  head  would  warn  rne  to  keep  silent.  To  add  to 
my  dismay,  my  gun  was  full  of  sand,  and  wouldn't  work; 
and  every  now  and  then  a  gunboat  shell  would  cover  me 
with  sand.  While  I  was  thinking  over  my  prospects,  which 
looked  gloomy  enough,  I  heard  voices  near  me,  and  thought 
our  men  were  coming  up,  but  on  looking  back  I  saw  a  num 
ber  of  Rebels  not  over  twenty  feet  from  me.  They  did  not 
see  me,  but  were  likely  to  do  so  any  minute,  and  could  shoot 
me  like  a  dog,  without  exposing  themselves  in  the  least.  To 
attempt  to  retreat  was  certain  death.  For  a  while  I  could 
do  nothing  at  all.  But  I  thought,  'while  there's  life  there's 
hope;'  so  I  took  my  big  spoon  out  of  my  haversack,  which 
I  fortunately  had  with  me,  and  went  to  work  for  dear  life  to 
try  to  bury  myself.  I  got  my  hole  dug  deep  enough  at  last, 
then  took  my  gun  apart  and  took  out  the  sand.  I  soon 
made  my  friend  Johnny  go  in  his  bomb-proof  and  stay  there. 
"  Then  came  another  charge  on  the  mounds.  Lew.  Mor- 
rill,  Kinnear,  Sherrow  and  I  started  for  the  guns,  and  took 
them  and  thirty  prisoners  out  of  the  bomb-proof.  After 


THE  FADED  AND  TATTERED  FLAG.  739 

that  it  was  pretty  easy  work.    We  took  mound  after  mound 
with  scarcely  any  opposition. 

"Among  our  prisoners  was  a  little  boy  not  over  ten  years 
old  I  asked  what  they  were  doing  with  such  things  as  that 
in  the  army.  <O,'  said  one,  'they  have  to  take  everything 
they  can  get,  but  I  reckon  we  are  about  played  out  now!' 

"The  explosion  of  the  magazine  the  next  day  carne  very 
near  covering  us  up  in  the  sand.  It  was  perfectly  horrible; 
though  our  regiment,  being  separated  from  the  rest,  did  not 
suffer.  The  next  night  we  were  lying  asleep,  when  there 
was  an  explosion  at  Fort  Caswell.  It  was  about  half-past 
two.  So  intensely  frightened  were  we  by  the  other  explo 
sion,  that  this  one,  though  miles  away,  woke  men  who-can 
sleep  soundly  under  the  worst  kind  of  shelling.  The  first  I 
knew  I  was  fifty  yards  from  where  I  had  been  sleeping,  look 
ing  around  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  My  hands,  arms 
and  legs  were  all  scratched  up  getting  over  the  stockade. 
How  I  ever  got  there  is  a  mystery  to  me.  But  pretty  near 
all  the  regiment  was  there  too.  You  can't  imagine  the  terror. 
Men  who  think  it  only  fun  to  face  the  grape,  canister  and 
musketry  in  a  charge,  were  for  days  afraid  to  go  in  the  fort 

"We  are  now  encamped  on  the  beach,  within  a  few  hun 
dred  yards  of  the  sea.  The  solemn  roar  is  heard  at  all  hours. 
I  tell  you  it  is  grand.  I  love  to  lie  awake  at  night  and  listen 
to  it. 

"  WILLIAM  KKTCIIAM." 

Colonel  Zent  took  possession  of  two  naval  flags,  which 
had  been  abandoned  near  the  foot  of  the  parapet  by  the 
sailors  at  the  time  of  their  repulse.  The  Thirteenth  had 
long  been  without  a  flag.  When  the  splendid  charge  of  the 
night  of  the  sixteenth  of  June,  1864,  was  made  on  the  Rebel 
works  at  Petersburg,  as  the  line  stood  ready  to  make  the 
rush,  General  Curtis  gave  the  order,  "Unfurl  your  colors!" 
For  six  months  the  colors  of  the  Thirteenth  had  not  been 
shaken  out  from  the  flag  staff.  "It  is  impossible,"  rejoined 
Major  Zent,  "they  are  in  tatters."  The  reply  thrilled  his 
men,  and  they  proudly  followed  their  furled  and  faded,  but 
illustrious  banner.  Shortly  afterward,  an  officer  whose  term 


790  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

of  service  had  expired,  took  the  old  flag  home,  promising  to 
send  back  a  new  one.  But  through  many  a  hot  day,  and 
until  the  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  the  Thirteenth  fought  with 
out  colors. 

The  arrival  of  Schofield,  with  Cox's  division  of  the  Twenty- 
Third  corps  from  Tennessee,  raised  the  forces  to  twenty 
thousand.  Schofield  assumed  command,  and  pushed  out  to 
ward  Wilmington  on  the  ninth  of  February.  Failing  in  an 
attempt  to  flank  the  Rebel  left,  by  the  aid  of  navy  boats  and 
pontoons,  he  essayed  to  flank  the  right,  and  envelope  Fort 
Anderson,  which  was  west  of  Cape  Fear  river  and  was  held 
by  a  large  force  under  Hoke.  He  aecomplished  the  move 
ment,  but  found  the  fort  deserted.  He  followed  the  enemy 
rapidly,  attacked  him  front,  flank  and  rear,  on  Town  creek, 
and  routed  him.  Still  advancing,  and  the  Rebels  still  reced 
ing,  the  army  marched  into  Wilmington  unopposed  on  the 
twenty-second  of  February. 

Schofield's  total  loss  was  about  two  hundred.  Hoke  lost 
about  a  thousand  men. 

Schofield  was  now  ordered  to  advance  to  Goldsboro. 
Accordingly  he  dispatched  Cox  to  Newbern,  to  move  out 
with  forces  which  had  landed  at  that  point;  and  directed 
troops,  which,  as  they  arrived  from  the  north,  had  disem 
barked  at  other  points,  to  take  up  the  line  of  march  and 
concentrate  on  the  way.  He  also  sent  forward  Cox's  divi 
sion,  under  General  Reilly,  and  Couch's  division.  On  the 
eighth  of  March,  he  joined  Cox,  who,  having  just  received 
an  unexpected  blow  from  the  enemy,  was  drawn  up  at  Wise's 
forks,  near  South- West  creek,  waiting  for  further  develop 
ments.  The  enemy  advanced  in  force,  and  Roger' ^  division 
checked  him.  After  a  day  spent  in  skirmishing,  the  enemy 
again  advanced,  and  with  great  spirit  Ruger  s  division  again 
effected  a  repulse,  and  inflicted  heavy  loss.  The  enemy's 
loss  was  sixteen  hundred,  and  Schofield's  was  not  more  than 
three  hundred.  Captain  Neff,  of  the  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
Fourth  Indiana,  was  killed  in  the  battle  at  Wise's  forks. 

Schofiold  was  not  able  to  cross  the  Neuse  until  the  four 
teenth,  the  enemy  having  burned  the  bridge  in  his  retreat. 
On  the  twenty-first,  he  reached  Goldsboro,  where  he  wel- 


PAROLED  PRISONERS.  791 

corned  Sherman  two  days  later.  Sherman's  smoky  veterans 
in  their  toil  and  time-worn  blue,  or,  more  questionably  ar 
rayed, — in  high  old  hats,  swallow-tailed  coats  and  butternut 
pantaloons,  or  something  equally  unmilitary, — looked  with 
good-natured  but  undisguised  and  unrecognizing  contempt 
on  the  neat  warriors  whose  new  clothes  had  not  yet  had  the 
shine  taken  off*  them.  They  hailed  their  old  comrades  of  the 
Atlanta  campaign  with  the  laughing  query,  "Well,  boys,  do 
they  issue  butter  to  you,  regularly,  up  here?"  "Oh,  yes," 
was  the  ready  rejoinder  of  the  Twenty-Third,  "but  we  trade 
it  off  for  soap." 

Shortly  after  the  capture  of  Wilmington,  more  than  nine 
thousand  paroled  prisoners  arrived,  and  were  immediately 
consigned  to  hospitals.  They  were  mere  wrecks  of  men.  "  I 
could  not  keep  from  crying  when  they  began  to  come  in," 
writes  one  of  our  Indiana  soldiers.  It  was  not  possible  to 
imagine  them  the  robust  soldiers  they  had  been.  Their 
begrimed,  blackened  and  stiffened  skin  hung  loosely,  like 
parchment,  upon  their  bones.  Their  putrid  sores,  and  the 
disgusting  rags  which  could  not  cover  their  nakedness,  pol 
luted  the  air.  Some  had  lost  their  feet  by  freezing.  Some 
had  lost  their  minds  in  long-continued  suffering.  Providen 
tially,  a  large  amount  of  supplies  which  had  been  shipped 
from  New  York  for  Sherman's  army,  and  were  not  needed 
for  their  original  purpose,  were  already  in  Wilmington.  A 
deputation  from  the  Sanitary  Commission  was  also  at  hand. 
Mrs.  Eliza  E.  George,  of  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  was  included 
in  the  deputation.  March  9,  she  writes:  "We  read  of  the 
condition  and  sufferings  of  our  brave  soldiers  in  Southern 
dens,  but  like  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  we  now  say  the  half 
hath  never  been  told  us!  To  realize  it,  you  must  see  what 
I  have  seen.  If  you  were  here,  I  doubt  not  we  should  agree 
in  our  views  of  Southern  chivalry.  Since  the  capture  of 
Atlanta,  our  prisoners  have  been  marched  and  driven  from 
one  point  to  another,  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  wea 
ther,  starved  and  bayoneted  when  they  could  not  keep  in 
ranks.  When  the  Rebels  were  so  closely  pressed  by  Sher 
man,  that  it  was  impossible  to  keep  them  any  longer,  they 
hastily  paroled  and  turned  them  loose.  Now,  I  will  tell  you 


792  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

the  condition  of  these  men."  But  here  Mrs.  George's  letter 
ends.  Her  sympathy  and  her  strength  were  engrossed  by 
her  patients,  and  she  seems  to  have  had  neither  time  nor 
heart  to  write,  even  to  her  family,  a  word  more  than  was 
necessary.  Her  time  was  indeed  short.  The  poor,  piteous 
objects  of  her  tender  care,  soon  missed  her  from  their  bed 
sides.  She  was  ill  five  weeks  with  typhoid  fever.  She  lay 
as  patient  as  a  lamb,  saying,  when  attentions  were  offered 
her,  "Wait  on  the  rest;  I  am  very  comfortable;  I  do  not 
wish  to  trouble  you."  She  grew  better.  She  became  able 
to  walk  about  and  ride  out.  She  even  made  arrangements 
to  return  home,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Wishard,  who  had 
been  sent  from  Indiana  to  attend  her.  But  on  the  ninth  of 
May,  the  day  before  she  was  to  start,  she  gently  closed  her 
eyes  and  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  So  passed  away  from  earth  a 
sweet,  true,  brave  life. 

Mrs.  George  was  an  army  nurse  two  years  and  several 
months,  serving  most  acceptably  to  soldiers  and  surgeons,  in 
the  hospitals  of  Memphis,  Pulaski  and  Nashville,  and  with 
the  Fifteenth  corps  on  the  Atlanta  campaign.  Many  a  night 
she  was  too  tired  to  undress  herself;  and  on  the  march  over 
the  mountains  she  more  than  once  bivouacked  under  a  tree, 
with  a  blanket  around  her.  She  was  the  only  woman  in  the 
force  which  advanced  to  Jonesboro.  After  the  battle,  as  she 
was  at  work  in  a  field  hospital,  a  shell  exploded  within  a  few 
feet  of  her,  killing  two  men  who  were  beside  her  in  the  hos 
pital  ;  yet  she  calmly  remained  at  her  post. 

She  fed  the  hungry,  relieved  the  suffering,  soothed  the 
sorrowful,  consoled  the  dying,  admonished  the  living.  Her 
gentle  voice  often  hushed  the  hospital  with  prayer,  or  rose 
on  the  hillside  in  exhortation. 

While  she  loved  all  mankind,  she  bore  two  great  loves  in 
her  heart:  her  country  and  her  children.  A  few  very  short 
passages  from  her  letters  may  show  her  character  better  than 

words  of  description: 

"  MEMPHIS,  May  18,  1863. 

"  My  dear  ones,  it  would  make  your  hearts  ache  to  go 
through  the  long  wards,  and  see  the  pale  faces,  the  sad  and 
sorrowful  eyes  that  follow  you  every  step." 


cs 


MRS.  GEORGE.  793 

*4  MARIETTA. 

"Our  soldiers  are  becoming  exhausted  physically,  but  their 
spirit  is  stronger  and  more  defiant  than  ever.  I  am  perfectly 
astonished  to  hear  them  talk,  even  while  they  are  writhing 
with  the  pain  of  crushed  and  amputated  limbs." 

"  My  dear  children,  strive  above  all  petty  considerations,  to 
make  your  home  happy,  to  make  it  what  it  should  be,  a 
holy,  happy  place." 

"  I  want  you  should  kneel  down  together  every  night,  and 
pray  for  your  absent  mother  and  your  suffering  country." 

"NASHVILLE,  December  8,  1864. 

"The  wind  is  whistling  round  the  house,  the  cannon 
booming  in  the  distance,  and  my  heart  is  aching  for  the 
houseless,  homeless,  destitute  women  and  children  driven  in 
by  Hood's  army, — women  whose  husbands  are  in  the  Union 
army,  fighting  for  their  country's  life.  Oh,  my  children! 
turn  your  thoughts  away  from  every  vain  and  superficial 
wish,  that  you  may  have  at  least  a  mite  to  give  to  the  needy. 
Suffering  is  no  name  to  apply  to  the  many  I  see  destitute  of 
home  and  place  where  to  lay  their  head." 

"  You  know  how  like  a  cool  draught  of  water  to  a  thirsty 
soul,  is  a  letter  to  me  from  home;  and  you  know  I  would 
write,  if  I  could,  but  my  time  is  not  my  own." 

Passages  showing  that  she  was  easily  moved  to  mirth 
might  be  quoted.  She  laughs  at  the  mules,  and  the  negroes, 
and  at  herself,  with  her  old  bonnet,  on  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
She  has  had  "such  a  handshaking  as  General  Harrison  had, 
without  being  killed  by  it." 

This  fresh,  happy,  loving,  untiring  worker,  was  sixty  years 
old  when  she  died. 


794  THE    SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

THE  LAST  DAYS. 

"And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  ti-iumph  doth  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave! 

The  Twentieth  Indiana,  in  Mott's  division  of  the  Second 
corps,  accompanied  the  Fifth  corps  early  in  December,  in  an 
expedition  the  object  of  which  was  to  destroy  the  Weldon 
railroad;  and  pushed  out  in  February  with  the  whole  of  its 
own  and  the  Fifth  corps  to  Ream's  Station  and  to  Dinwid- 
die  Court  House.  The  first  expedition,  with  little  loss,  was 
but  partially  successful.  The  second  necessitated  hard 
marching  in  cold  and  stormy  weather,  brought  the  enemy 
out  in  force,  and  occasioned  the  loss  of  two  thousand  Union 
men  to  but  one  thousand  Rebels;  nevertheless,  by  the  brave 
persistence  of  the  Second  corps,  it  accomplished  the  perma 
nent  extension  of  the  line  to  Hatcher's  Run.  With  these 
exceptions,  the  winter  passed  in  quiet,  as  Grant's  object  was 
now  to  defer  action  until  the  approach  of  Sherman  from  the 
south-west,  and  of  Sheridan  from  the  north-west,  should  en 
able  him,  by  encircling  the  Confederate  forces  in  Virginia, 
to  cut  off  from  them  all  hope  of  salvation  or  escape. 

Activity  was  renewed  by  Lee,  who  looked  toward  the 
abandonment  of  Richmond,  a  union  with  Johnston,  and 
either  a  combined  attack  on  Sherman  or  a  retreat  to  the 
mountains.  March  25,  he.  made  an  assault  on  the  centre  of 
Grant's  front,  at  dawn,  the  hour  for  surprises,  hoping  to  cut 
the  army  in  two,  and  by  compelling  a  withdrawal  of  the  left 
flank  to  the  centre,  to  open  a  way  for  his  retreat  southward. 
For  the  first  hour  he  was  successful;  but,  as  usual  in  sur 
prises,  the  reserves,  twenty  thousand  men  massed  in  the  rear 
of  the  storming  force,  by  delay  lost  the  advantage.  The 


THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  BEGINS.  795 

surprised  troops  had  time  to  comprehend  the  situation.  They 
rallied  and  rushed  upon  the  intruders,  capturing  and  killing 
nearly  five  thousand.  At  the  same  time,  Grant's  left,  in 
stead  of  hastening  to  the  disturbed  centre  as  Lee  had  antici 
pated,  seized  the  opportunity  for  advance,  and  wrested  the 
first  line  of  works  from  the  now  confused  enemy.  The 
Twentieth  Indiana  was  prominent  in  this  movement. 

Two  days  later,  Sheridan,  with  his  cavalry,  joined  Grant. 
He  had  ridden  swiftly  up  the  valley,  and  demolished  Early, 
whom  he  found  still  clinging  to  the  mountains;  had  spent 
two  days  at  Charlottesville,  destroying  roads,  bridges  and 
manufactories;  had  continued  his  destructive  course  to  the 
James,  whence  he  had  been  impelled  by  high  waters  in  a 
north-eastward  direction;  had  crossed  the  North  Anna  and 
the  South  Anna,  followed  the  Pamunkey  to  the  White 
House,  where  he  had  rested  four  days,  and  had  then  moved 
on  across  the  peninsula. 

March  29,  long  before  break  of  day,  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  set  out  on  the  first  march  of  its  last  campaign,  leaving 
in  the  intrenchments  before  Richmond  and  Petersburg  but 
a  show  of  force.  The  cavalry,  under  Sheridan,  on  the  left, 
reached  Dinwiddie  Court  House  with  little  opposition. 
Warren's  corps,  on  the  right  of  the  cavalry,  was  obliged  to 
fight  part  of  its  way,  but  drew  up  at  night  in  front  of  Rebel 
intrenchments  which  covered  the  White  Oak  road.  The 
Second  corps,  on  Warren's  right,  marched  through  a  difficult 
and  puzzling  country,  but  met  only  skirmishers.  Rain  dur 
ing  the  night  rendered  movement  the  next  day  impossible, 
except  on  the  part  of  Lee,  who  succeeded  in  throwing  fifteen 
thousand  infantry  into  the  intrenchments  on  the  White  Oak 
road.  On  the  morning  of  the  thirty-first,  Warren  endeav 
ored  to  seize  the  road  directly  beyond  the  termination  of  the 
works;  and  Sheridan  tried  to  get  hold  of  Five  Forks,  four 
miles  west,  an  invaluable  position,  being  the  focus  of  several 
roads,  and  commanding  the  whole  region  which  Lee  was 
trying  to  cover.  Warren  was  assailed  in  such  numbers  and 
with  such  impetuosity,  that  his  two  advanced  divisions  were 
thrown  into  disorder.  They  were  saved  from  destruction, 
only  by  the  firmness  of  his  rear  division  and  the  readiness  of 


790  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

Humphreys,  who  hastened  to  the  scene  of  disaster.  Coun 
ter  charges  drove  the  enemy  within  his  works,  where  he  was 
in  vain  assailed  by  one  division  after  another  of  Humphreys' 
corps. 

Sheridan's  troopers  gained  Five  Forks  without  much  trou 
ble,  but  they  were  scarcely  within  the  intrenchments  when 
they  were  driven  out.  They  were  pursued  to  near  Dinwid- 
die  Court  House,  but,  being  there  reinforced,  were  able  to 
gain  slight  intrenchments  already  prepared,  and  to  check 
their  assailants.  The  next  day,  being  reinforced  by  Warren's 
corps,  they  pushed  their  late  pursuers  back,  and  appeared 
again  before  the  works  at  Five  Forks.  Sheridan  skirmished 
lightly  until  four,  then  began  a  series  of  assaults  which 
gained  the  position,  with  five  hundred  prisoners. 

The  battle  of  Five  Forks  was  a  mortal  blow,  and  Grant 
was  warranted,  if  only  as  a  demonstration  of  triumph,  to 
open  all  the  guns  in  his  army.  He  had  another  purpose, 
however,  as  was  evidenced  by  the  stir  which  prevailed 
throughout  his  lines.  At  dawn  of  the  next  day,  the  clamor 
and  the  blazing  of  artillery  ceased,  while  the  army  from  the 
Appomattax  to  Hatcher's  Run  advanced  to  a  general  as 
sault.  Despair  offered  a  fierce  but  short  resistance.  The 
whole  length  of  the  outer  line  and  a  hold  on  the  second  line 
were  gained.  Every  outwork  was  captured.  Two  divisions 
of  Humphreys'  corps,  the  Twentieth  Indiana  included, 
stormed  a  redoubt.  At  ten  the  last  sally  made  in  defence 
of  Richmond  was  beaten  back,  and  A.  P.  Hill,  its  leader, 
was  shot  dead. 

It  was  Sunday,  April  2,  a  calm,  bright,  still  day  in  Rich 
mond,  which  was  beyond  the  sound  of  battle.  At  eleven  o'clock, 
as  the  President  of  the  Confederacy  sat  in  church,  he  re 
ceived  from  Lee  a  dispatch,  and  read:  "My  lines  are  broken 
in  three  places.  Richmond  must  be  evacuated  this  evening." 
Davis  went  out  without  a  word.  The  congregation  seemed 
to  understand  that  the  end  had  come;  it  followed  in  silence. 
Afternoon  and  night  witnessed  the  flight  of  the  Rebel  gov 
ernment  and  forces  from  the  capital ;  the  burning  of  stores, 
shops,  ships  and  dwellings;  and  the  quarreling  and  cursing 


••ESCAPE  TO  THE  MOUNTAINS."  797 

of  an  exasperated  rabble,  which  had  believed  until  this  mo 
ment  in  success. 

The  next  day,  a  black  brigade  was  the  first  Union  force 
to  march  into  the  fallen  citadel  of  the  slave  power. 

Sheridan  threw  his  troops  across  the  Danville  road  at  Je- 
tersville.  He  was  not  in  time  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
Rebel  government,  which  fled  to  Danville;  but  he  swept  the 
country,  north  and  south,  of  Rebel  cavalry,  stopped  the  march 
of  Lee's  hungry  army,  whose  rations  coming  up  from  Dan 
ville,  had  gone  on  to  Richmond,  and  had  there  been  con 
sumed  in  the  conflagration,  and  captured  succeeding  trains 
of  provisions.  On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  he  was  joined  by 
Meade  with  the  Second  and  Sixth  corps.  That  night  a 
strong  cavalry  reconnoissance  struck  Lee's  train  moving  di 
rectly  before  his  infantry,  and  captured  a  large  portion  at 
the  expense  of  a  spirited  fight.  The  next  morning,  April  0, 
another  body  of  cavalry,  facing  eastward,  charged  into  Lee's 
marching  column  at  Deatonville,  and  detained  it,  though  re 
pulsed  in  the  end.  Meantime,  still  another  cavalry  force 
struck  the  column  at  another  point,  made  large  captures  of 
wagons,  guns,  and  prisoners,  and  held  Ewell  until  the  Sixth 
and  the  Second  corps,  which  were  close  at  hand,  were  ready 
for  attack.  A  severe  battle  resulted  favorably.  The  Third 
Indiana  cavalry  capturecTfive  stands  of  colors.  While  Sheri 
dan,  Wright  and  Humphreys  were  thus  engaged,  a  squad  of 
cavalry  and  two  infantry  regiments  under  General  Theodore 
Read,  threw  themselves  on  the  head  of  Lee's  army  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Appomattox,  determined  to  detain  it  until 
Ord's  corps  could  come  up.  A  short  but  bloody  conflict 
hurled  the  handful  of  assailants  out  of  the  Rebel  road,  with 
the  loss  of  their  gallant  young  leader.  The  next  morning 
the  Second  corps  followed  so  close  in  the  rear,  that  it  saved 
High  bridge  over  the  Appomattox,  and  crossed  it  at  the 
enemy's  heels.  Four  or  five  miles  north  of  the  river,  Hum 
phreys  came  in  front  of  Lee,  strongly  intrenched  on  the  crest 
of  an  open  slope  of  half  a  mile,  and  extending  right  and 
left.  Humphreys  extended  his  right,  and  threw  three  regi 
ments  against  the  enemy's  left.  They  were  inadequate,  and 
were  thrown  back  with  loss.  The  next  day  pursuit  was  vig- 


798  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

orously  continued,  Humphreys  and  Wright  moving  close 
behind  the  enemy,  north  of  the  Appomattox;  and  Sheridan, 
the  Fifth  corps,  and  the  Army  of  the  James,  south  of  the 
river,  making  all  speed  to  gain,  in  advance,  the  narrow  neck 
of  land  between  the  Appomattox  and  the  James,  the  only 
outlet  for  Lee.  At  Appomattox  Station,  Sheridan  captured 
four  trains  just  arrived  from  Lynchburg  with  food  for  Lee's 
starving  army.  Five  miles  further  on,  at  Appomattox  Court 
House,  he  confronted  Lee.  In  the  ensuing  fight  many  wa 
gons,  guns  and  prisoners  were  captured,  the  Third  Indiana 
capturing  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and  the  Rebel  van  was 
driven  back  on  the  main  body.  About  daylight  the  next 
morning,  Sunday,  April  9,  just  a  week  after  the  evacuation 
of  Richmond,  the  Rebels  pushed  forward  to  cut  their  way 
out.  Sheridan's  troopers  fell  back,  but  in  their  place  ap 
peared  a  wall  of  infantry, — the  Fifth  corps  and  the  Army  of 
the  James,  which  had  reached  the  ground  barely  an  hour  be 
fore.  The  cavalry  retired  from  the  front,  to  take  position  on 
the  Rebel  right.  The  Rebel  army  was  surrounded.  It  could 
do  no  less  than  display  the  white  flag. 

During  the  last  few  days  of  the  flight  and  pursuit,  Grant 
and  Lee  had  been  negotiating.  Lee,  on  the  seventh,  in  reply 
to  a  note  from  Grant,  said:  "Though  not  entertaining  the 
opinion  you  express  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  I  reciprocate 
your  desire  to  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood."  On  the 
evening  of  the  eighth,  while  his  army,  now  dwindled  down 
to  ten  thousand,  staggered  on  toward  the  mountains,  though 
hopeless  of  gaining  their  shelter,  and  men  and  horses  fell 
dead  and  dying  from  fatigue  and  hunger  by  the  roadside, 
and  he  was  hemmed  in,  with  no  loop-hole  of  escape,  he 
wrote:  "To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think  the  emergency  has 
arisen  to  call  for  a  surrender  of  the  army."  However,  with 
out  waiting  for  such  an  emergency,  he  condescended,  on  the 
morning  of  the  ninth,  to  deliver  up  his  arms  and  flags,  and 
to  disband  his  melancholy  and  heart-sick  followers. 

The  delight  of  the  widely-scattered  forces  of  the  United 
States  on  the  announcement  of  the  fall  of  Richmond,  and  so 
soon  afterward  of  the  surrender  of  Lee,  was  beyond  intelligi* 


ROBBERY,  PERJURY,  CRUELTY  AND  ASSARSINATFON.     799 

ble  expression,  and  surpasses  description.  The  words  RICH* 
MOXD,  LEE,  PEACE,  HOME,  however  they  might  be  spoken, 
called  out  cheers,  which  again  excited  cheers,  swelling  up  at 
each  renewal,  with  the  vivacity  and  vigor  of  the  first  shout. 

The  assassination  of  the  President  was  like  night  upon 
noon,  defeat  upon  victory.  Grief  pierced  every  heart.  Si 
lence  fell  upon  the  clamorous  camps.  "Our  joy  is  changed 
to  sorrow;  our  friendship  toward  the  vanquished  to  bitter 
hatred,"  writes  a  soldier,  who  yet  doubts  if  so  black  a  deed 
can  have  been  committed.  "  If  our  beloved  President  is 
thus  cruelly  murdered,  it  seems  to  me  that  Providence  per 
mits  it  because  he  has  been,  and  would  be,  too  lenient  to 
these  proud,  overbearing,  ignorant  Southern  'gentlemen!' 
and  that  Johnson  will  crush  their  cruel,  wicked  spirit,  with 
his  iron  heel.  I  must  confess,  I  begin  to  hate  the  scoundrels 
for  the  first  time." 

"Alike  in  the  joy  of  triumph,"  writes  the  chaplain  of  the 
Sixty-Third,  speaking  of  the  men  of  his  regiment,  "and  in 
their  deep,  unutterable  sorrow  at  the  death  of  our  beloved 
President,  they  manifested  a  sense  of  dependence  upon  the 
Almighty  Ruler  of  nations  and  of  men,  which  astonished  as 
much  as  it  gratified  me.  Nor  was  the  feeling  peculiar  to 
my  own  immediate-  circle  of  comrades  and  fellow-soldiers. 
The  whole  army  seemed  to  ascribe  to  the  Lord  the  glory  due 
unto  his  name,  and  even  in  that  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death  to  still  trust  that  a  light  would  arise." 

A  private  in  the  Tenth  cavalry  writes  from  Fort  Blakely, 
"We  were  almost  crazy  with  joy,  when  suddenly  and  to  our 
horror,  it  was  whispered  that  our  President  was  murdered." 
And  he  goes  on  to  tell  how  the  men  sat  in  groups  and  talked 
low,  and  how  some  muttered  deep  and  bitter  curses.  From 
the  Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande  the  swift  wave  of  grief  fol 
lowed  the  tumultuous  joy. 

The  Confederacy  was  not  quite  dead,  but  its  epitaph  was 
written:  "Robbery  of  the  Public  Treasury,  and  Violation 
of  sacred  Oaths;  Cruelty  to  the  helpless  Captive,  and  Assas 
sination." 

General  Thomas  found  much  occasion  in  Tennessee  for 
activity  during  the  latter  part  of  winter  and  in  the  early 


800  THE  SOLDIER  OF  INDIANA. 

spring.  Ill  January,  he  attempted  to  send  a  cavalry  expedi 
tion  from  East  Tennessee,  to  cooperate  with  Sherman  in  the 
destruction  of  railroads  in  South  Carolina,  and  to  release 
the  prisoners  in  Salisbury,  North  Carolina;  but  it*was  under 
General  Stoneman,  and  he  could  not  get  it  started  until 
March.  The  expedition  effected  immense  destruction  of 
Confederate  property,  in  which  was  included  the  last  railroad 
remaining  to  Lee  and  Johnston,  for  supplies  and  retreat. 

Sherman,  already  advanced  from  Goldsboro,  was  pressing 
Johnston  from  different  quarters,  at  the  time  of  Lee's  surren 
der.  That  event  added  weight  and  speed  to  the  pressure, 
and  on  the  fourteenth  of  April,  Johnson  was  driven  to  make 
overtures.  Sherman  accepted  the  propositions  of  his  antag 
onist,  but,  the  Government  requiring  more  stringent  terms,  the 
surrender  was  not  formally  completed  until  the  twenty-sixth* 

General  Taylor  surrendered  his  forces  to  General  Canby 
on  the  fourth  of  May,  at  Citronelle,  Alabama. 

Generals  Roddy  and  Polk  surrendered  to  the  One  Hund 
red  and  Forty-Ninth  Indiana,  which  garrisoned  Decatur. 
The  One  Hundred  and  Forty-Ninth  regiment  was  one  of 
fourteen  which  were  organized  for  one  year's  service,  in  Jan 
uary  and  February,  1865.  They  were  numbered  from  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-Three  to  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-Six, 
(the  last  was  a  mere  battalion,)  and  were  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonels  Grill,  Riddle,  Adams,  Welsh,  Peden, 
Ruckle,  Fairbanks,  Taylor,  Healy,  Griswold.  Carey,  Wilcox, 
Wilson,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Smith.  They  did  good 
service  in  post,  garrison  or  guard-duty  in  Tennessee,  Georgia, 
Kentucky,  the  Shenandoah  valley,  in  Maryland  or  Delaware. 
Companies  D,  G  and  H  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifty- 
Third  were  at  different  times  engaged  in  fighting  guerillas 
in  Kentucky,  and  lost  five  men  in  killed  and  wounded. 

Kirby  Smith,  in  Texas,  determined  to  continue  hostilities. 
Sheridan  was  sent  with  a  large  force  to  that  quarter,  but, 
before  his  arrival,  the  last  engagement  of  the  war  had  been 
fought*  Colonel  Barret,  with  several  hundred  men,  includ 
ing  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  Thirty-Fourth  Indiana, 
went  out  from  Brazos  Santiago  fifteen  miles,  and  captured 
and  burned  a  camp  at  Palmetto  Ranche,  driving  the  enemy, 


CAPTURE  OF  THE  REBEL  CHIEF.  QQt 

who,  however,  rallied  under  cover  of  artillery,  turned  the 
pursuit  into  a  retreat,  and  killed,  wounded  or  captured  eighty- 
two  men  of  the  rear-guard,  companies  B  and  E  of  the 
Thirty-Fourth. 

The  engagement  occurred  on  the  thirteenth  of  May.  At 
clawn  of  the  same  day,  in  the  woods  near  Irwinsvillc,  Geor 
gia,  the  fugitive  President  of  the  dissolving  Confederacy  fell 
into  the  hands  of  a  detachment  of  Wilson's  cavalry,  which 
had  set  out  from  Macon  in  search  of  him.  At  the  moment 
of  his  capture,  he  was  dressed  in  a  long  gown,  with  a  shawl 
over  his  head,  and  was  going  from  the  tent,  in  which,  with 
his  family,  he  had  spent  the  night,  down  to  a  spring,  to  get 
a  bucket  of  water.  He  was  the  chief  of  a  Rebellion  which 
had  cut  down  the  flower  of  the  land;  which  had  brought 
poverty  and  ruin,  mourning,  desolation  and  ashes  upon  the 
southern  portion  of  his  country,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  to 
all  the  North;  and  it  was  a  strange  freak  of  retributive  just 
ice  which  led  his  blind  ambition,  his  cruel  lust  of  power,  to 
a  farcical  end.  It  is  not  possible  to  describe  the  ccstacy  of 
mirth  with  which  the  tale  was  heard,  nor  the  shrieks  of 
laughter  which  greeted  engravings  and  photographs  of  "Jeff 
Davis"  in  woman's  attire. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  May,  the  chief  officers  of  Kirby 
Smith's  army  capitulated  to  Canby,  the  troops  having  al 
ready,  for  the  most  part,  betaken  themselves,  with  such  Con 
federate  property  as  they  were  able  to  appropriate,  to  their 
homes. 

The  armies  of  the  United  States  now  began  to  turn  their 
faces  homeward.  Sherman  marched  from  Raleigh  to  Rich 
mond,  two  hundred  and  forty  miles,  in  six  days.  The  de 
fences  of  the  Virginia  capital  did  not  seem  to  the  army  of 
Georgia  more  formidable  than  the  works  round  Atlanta. 

"Our  way  led  us,"  writes  an  officer,  "through  the  Spott- 
sylvania  battle-ground.  Everywhere  were  visible  the  terrible 
signs  of  the  struggle, — trees  mowed  down  by  artillery,  lowly 
mounds  with  nothing  to  testify  whose  was  the  resting  place, 
and,  sadder  still,  unburied  remains.  Bones  lay  by  the  road 
side;  and  in  a  yard  where  a  woman  stood  and  discoursed 
51 


802  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

about  the  struggle  to  inquirers,  lay  two  skulls,  silent  evi 
dences  of  her  inhumanity.  In  a  thicket  near  by,  where  the 
appalling  stillness  seems  never  to  have  been  broken,  except 
by  owl,  or  bat,  or  raven,  lie  hundreds  of  skeletons.  Some 
had  collected,  as  they  lay  wounded,  such  sticks  as  were 
within  their  reach,  and  had  striven  to  erect  a  barrier  to  pro 
tect  them  from  further  injury.  Some  had  taken  the  straps 
from  their  knapsacks  to  bind  a  severed  artery,  and  now  the 
leather  lying  loosely  about  the  bone  told  pathetically  of  the 
vain  effort. 

"  We  encamped  on  the  field  of  Chancellorsville.  Orders 
prohibiting  rail-burning  have  been  very  strict;  but  in  this  vi 
cinity,  where  contending  armies  have  destroyed  everything, 
they  are  superfluous.  A  former  member  of  the  Twenty- 
Seventh,  now  of  the  Seventieth,  amused  his  comrades  by  in 
forming  them  that,  for  old  times'  sake,  he  meant  to  boil  his 
coffee  that  night  by  a  rail  fire;  for,  two  years  before,  he  had 
crossed  a  little  stream  by  the  aid  of  a  rail.  Sure  enough  the 
rail  was  found,  the  coffee  boiled,  and  listeners  gathered  round 
the  blaze  to  hear  once  more  the  oft-repeated  story  of  Hooker's 
victory  and  defeat. 

"  Some  of  us  visited  the  Wilderness  battle-ground,  and  saw 
there  the  same  sad  scenes.  The  commingled  bones  of  horse 

o 

and  rider,  all  the  possessions  of  the  soldier,  from  the  envel 
ope  with  its  faint  address  in  a  woman's  hand,  to  the  broken 
gun,  lie  scattered  over  the  ground.  Knapsacks,  placed  to 
gether  by  companies  before  they  made  a  charge,  and  for 
which  the  owners  never  returned,  remain  in  decaying  heaps. 
'Tis  a  gloomy  sepulchre,  where  the  trees,  in  tenderly  covering 
with  leaves  the  remains  of  the  patriots,  alone  perform  the 
last  sad  offices.  The  wind  moans  through  the  pines,  tears 
fall  at  home  for  them,  but  they  sleep  on,  unconscious  of  a 
weeping  nation. 

"An  old  gray-haired  man  leaned  upon  his  hoe-handle,  try 
ing  to  quiet  his  trembling  head,  as  he  said,  'Ah,  sir,  there  are 
thousands  of  both  sides  lying  unburied  in  the  Wilderness.''' 

On  the  twenty-second  and  twenty-third  of  May,  the  stal 
wart  Army  of  Georgia,  which  had  never  known  defeat,  and 
which  had  made  the  "grand  rounds"  of  the  country;  and 


COMING  HOME.  $93 

the  stately  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which,  only  by  defeat,  had 
mounted  to  victory,  and  which  had  scarcely  marched  beyond 
the  limits  of  Virginia,  passed  in  review  before  the  new  Pre 
sident,  It  is  not  probable  that  a  single  soldier's  heart  in  all 
the  vast  assemblage  failed  to  pay  a  silent  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  good  and  gentle  Lincoln. 

On  the  second  of  June,  1865,  peace  was  formally  pro 
claimed.  The  troops  returned,  and  were  mustered  out,  regi 
ment  by  regiment.  The  last  to  leave  the  field  was  Colonel 
Packard's  regiment.  It  was  mustered  out  in  January,  1866. 
The  summer  and  fall  of  '65  were  a  continued  jubilee,  each 
body  of  troops  receiving,  on  its  arrival  at  the  Capital,  a  sort 
of  ovation.  Yet  while  warm  hands  were  clasped,  and  beam 
ing  eyes  were  met,  cold  hands  and  ashy  lips,  and  dim  eyes 
were  remembered. 

As  the  Forty-Eighth  marched  up  from  the  Union  depot  in 
Indianapolis,  along  Illinois  street,  an  old  man  stood  on  the 
corner  by  the  Palmer  House,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
fluttering  flag,  and  tears  pouring  over  his  furrowed  face. 
Deaf  to  the  shouts  of  welcome,  blind  to  the  crowd,  to  the  re 
spectful  glances  which  fell  upon  him,  and  even  to  the  return 
ing  soldiers,  he  saw  a  shadowy  figure  following  the  flag,  or, 
it  may  be,  a  pale  hand  clasping  the  staff.  When  the  regiment 
had  passed,  he  dropped  his  head  and  walked  slowly  away. 

Indiana  troops  took  part  in  three  hundred  and  eight  bat 
tles.  The  first  regiment  to  open  fire  on  the  enemy  was  the 
Indiana  Seventh,  at  Phillippi,  the  third  of  June,  1861.  The 
first  man  who  fell  on  the  field  was  an  Indianian,  William  T. 
Gerard,  of  the  Ninth,  killed  at  Laurel  Hill,  West  Virginia, 
the  seventh  of  July.  It  is  believed  that  John  J.  Williams 
of  company  B,  Thirty-Fourth  Indiana,  killed  at  Palmetto 
Ranche,  was  the  last  man  slain  in  the  war. 

The  total  number  of  troops  furnished  by  Indiana,  for  all 
terms  of  service  in  the  United  States  armies,  exceeded  two 
hundred  thousand  men.  In  addition  not  less  than  fifty  thou 
sand  were  called  from  time  to  time  into  active  service,  to 
repel  troops  of  invaders  and  to  defend  the  southern  border. 
The  number  includes  drafted  men,  who  made  as  good  sol 
diers  as  volunteer  recruits. 


804  THE  SOLDIER  OP  INDIANA. 

Twenty-four  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixteen  Indiana 
soldiers  died  in  the  service.  Their  death  was  reported. 
Thirteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-nine  disappear 
from  the  records,  unaccounted  for.  What  their  fate,  or  where, 
or  how  they  met  it,  will  be  known  only  in  that  day  when  the 
southern  swamp  and  prison-pen,  jungle  and  gorge  and  river, 
t^hall  give  up  their  dead. 

According  to  the  reckoning  of  the  eminent  statistician  Dr. 
B.  F.  Gould,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  the  Indianians 
were  the  tallest  soldiers  in  the  army;  and  native  Americans 
are  the  tallest  soldiers  in  the  world.  They  had  not  only  a 
line  physical  development.  They  were  men  of  marked  in 
telligence  and  excellence  of  character.  In  all  respects  they 
were  the  best  stuff  in  the  State.  They  returned  to  their 
homes  vastly  improved  by  the  stern  teachings  of  experience — 
graver,  stronger,  wiser  men.  Yet  they  lacked  to  an  unusual 
extent  the  acknowledgment  of  promotion,  and  the  distinction 
and  prominence  which  high  position  gives.  Ohio  and  Illi 
nois  boast  more  than  ten  times  Indiana's  number  of  Major 
Generals.  But  our  soldiers  need  no  titles.  Highest  honors 
and  priceless  memories  are  theirs. 

One  who  died  at  Stevenson,  Alabama,  the  tenth  of  June, 
1864,  and  who,  had  been  but  twenty  days  in  the  service,  Charles 
W.  Moores,  in  uttering  his  own  noble  sentiments,  a  short  time 
before  he  left  home,  unconsciously  spoke  for  all  loyal  hearts: 

"  When  I  was  a  boy,  the  books  I  read  at  different  periods 
kindled  a  flame,  an  enthusiasm,  an  ambition  to  be  a  great 
general,  orator,  poet,  scholar.  The  increasing  cares  and 
happiness  of  life  dissipated  or  modified  these  ambitions  till 
place  and  honor  came  to  be  esteemed  wonderfully  lower  than 
desert,  and  no  man's  success  disturbed  me. 

"  Now,  there  is  but  one  man  I  envy.  I  meet  him  on  the 
street,  his  armless  sleeve  hanging  by  his  side,  or  a  wooden 
leg  replacing  the  one  he  left  at  Vicksburg  or  Antietam.  I 
esteem  that  mutilation  a  more  honorable  badge  than  all  the 
stars,  garters  and  crosses  of  the  old  world's  nobilit}^.  It  is 
the  badge  of  Nature's  nobleman.  It  tells,  and  will  always 
tell  that  he  loved  his  country,  and  gave  so  much  of  his  hap 
piness  to  preserve  her  existence,  I  envy  that  man." 


IISTDEX 


Abbott,  Captain  E.  F.,  743. 

Abbott,  Sergeant  William,   151. 

Alexander,  Captain  A.  II.,  1G9. 

Alexander,  Lieutenant  Edwin,  562. 

Alexander,  Colonel  Jesse  I.,  292,  404. 

Alfont,  Captain  Robert,  742. 

Anderson,  Sergeant,  573. 

Anderson,  Colonel  Ed.,  402. 

Anderson,  Captain  Marion  T.,  222. 

Andsrsonville,  357,  751. 

Andrews,  Lieutenant  Abram  C.,  432. 

Andrews,  Captain,  10. 

Antictam,  30. 

Antrim,  Corporal  L.  C.,  112. 

Apple  Peter,  320. 

Aransas  Pass,  516. 

Archer,  Lieutenant  William,  709. 

Arkansas  Post,  283. 

Athens,  756. 

Atkisson,  Lieut.  Col.  H.  N.,  277,  533. 

Atlanta,  700,  772. 

Aveline,  Captain  F.  II.,  17,  480. 

Avcrysboro,  781. 


B. 


Bachman,  Lieut.  Col.  A.  0.,  33,  39. 
Bacon,  Rev.  H.  M.,  799. 
Baker,  Colonel  Conrad,  247. 
Baker,  Captain  G.  W.,  432. 
Baker,  Lieut.  Colonel  Myron,  743. 
Baker,  Lieutenant  Wilcj^,  707. 
Baircl,  Col.  John  P.,  10,  193,  203,  209. 
Baldwin,  Lieut.  Colonel  E.  D.,  17. 
Baldwin,  Lieutenant  George,  310. 
Baldwin,  Colonel  Philemon  P.,  147, 

149,  405,  422,  428. 
Baldey,  Captain  J.,  40. 
Balfo,  Lieut.  Colonel  Jqhn  E.,  13G. 
Ballcnger,  Lieutenant  Ed.,  39. 
Barnctt,  Lieutenant  H.  G.,  430. 
Barter,  Col.  R.  F.,  249,  310,  402,  515. 
Bartholomew,  Lieutenant  S.  E.,  629. 


BATTERIES    OF    ARTILLERY. 

First,  246,  298,  525,  533,  770. 

Second,  241,  244,  535,  538. 

Third,  241,  530,  560,  770. 

Fourth,  145,  149,  170,  422,  433,  479. 

Fifth,  145,  149,  170,  404,  433,  705. 

Sixth,  145,  322,  570. 

Seventh,  180,  149,  434,  479,  741. 

Eighth,  144,  158,  165,  170,  423,  483. 

Ninth,  225,  2G6,  521,  530,  560,  570. 

Tenth,  149,  158,  170,  456,  479. 

Eleventh,  433,  479,  741. 

Twelfth,  131,  132,  454,  479. 

Thirteenth,  133,  134. 

Fourteenth,  276,  560,  769. 

Fifteenth.  30,  39G,  401,  484,  490,  493, 

741. 

Sixteenth,  25,  51. 
Seventeenth,  683. 
Eighteenth,  5,  133,  179,  200,  407, 

411,  415,  433,  502,  705,  724,  734. 
Nineteenth,  5,  179,199,408,  433,479, 

741. 

Twentieth,  18,  741,  762. 
Twenty-First,  10,  133,  433,  479. 
Twenty-Second,  18,  401,  741. 
Twenty-Third,  18,  394,  401,  741. 
Twenty-Fourth,    18,    401,    484,    490, 

493,  741. 

Twenty-Fifth,  606. 
Twenty-Sixth,  30,  493. 

Beans  Station,  497. 
Beeson,  Captain  H,  477. 
Bell,  Captain  C.  A.,  677. 
Bennett,  Lieutenant  F.  H.,  432. 
Bennett,  Captain  J.  P.,  743. 
Bennett,   Brevet  Brigadier   General 

Thomao  W.,  295,  513. 
Benton,   Brigadier  General  William 

P.,  251,  254,  300,  317. 
Bcntonvillc,  781. 
Beshears,  Andrew,  107. 
Bcthesda  Church,  634. 


806 


INDEX. 


Beverly  Ford,  98. 
Biddle,  Colonel  James,  18,  394. 
Bierce,  Lieutenant  A.  G.,  428. 
Bigelow,  Surgeon  J.  K.,  335. 
Billows,  Captain  Alfred,  227. 
Bissell,  Captain  James,  7GO. 
Black,  Lieut,  Col.  J.  B.,  616,  683,  693. 
Black  River  Bridge,  battle  of,  313. 
Black  River,  bridging  of,  254. 
Blackford,  Lieutenant  P.  B.,  1G9. 
Blackvfater,  fight  on,  584. 
Blake,  Colonel  John  W.,  149, 160,  719. 
Blake,  Colonel  William  H.,  149. 
Blankenship,  Capt.  William  H.,  346. 
Blinn,  Captain  John  P.,  122. 
Bloss,  Captain  J.  M.,  706. 
Blountsville,  489. 
Bobbs,  Dr.  John,  175. 
Bodenhamer,  Captain  L.  F ,  569,  579. 
Bodkin,  Captain  W.  A.,  561. 
Boley,  Lieutenant  W.  E.,  709. 
Bodley,  Lieutenant  Thomas,  430. 
Bond,  J.  D.,  477. 
Boone,  Captain  N.  B.,  431. 
Boonsboro  Gap,  28. 
Boncbrake,  Major  G  H.,  519. 
Bostwick,  Lieutenant  L ,  39. 
Bough,  Captain  William,  346. 
Bowman,  Captain  George,  477. 
Bowman,  Lieutenant  George  H.,  742. 
Boyd,  Lieut,  Colonel  W.  A.,  702,  744. 
Brady,  Colonel  Thomas  J.,  402,  498. 
Bragunier,  Daniel,  594. 
Brakeman,  Rev.  N.  L ,  350. 
Brickett,  Lieutenant  Thomas.  428. 
Bringhurst,  Colonel  T.  II.,  252,  270, 

292,  305,  323,  337,  513,  539. 
Bristow  Station,  598. 
Brouse,  Captain  C.  W.,  477. 
Brown,  Lieutenant  Elisha,  432 
Brown,  Lieutenant  George,  288. 
Brown,  James,  310. 
Brown,  Colonel  Thomas  M.,  568. 
Brown,  Captain  George  II.,  530. 
Brown,  Captain  Watt  E.,  760. 
Brown's  Ferry,  455. 
Bruce,  Captain  C.  II.,  430. 
Bryant,  Captain  F.  M.,  479. 
Buchanan,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  25. 
Buchanan,  Captain  J.  M.,  431. 
Buckles,  Lieut.  Abram  J.,  64,  97. 
Buchler,  Lieut.  Colonel  T.  E.,  513. 
Bucll,  Major  General  D.  C.,  2,  128. 
Bucll,  Colonel  George  P.,  149,  430. 
Bullard,  Dr.  Talbot,"l4,  336. 
Burgess,  E.  G.,  256. 
Burgess,  Colonel  James,  402, 
Burkham,  Colonel,  399. 
Burnside,  General  A.  E.,  24,  53,  63, 

71,  484,  616,  661,  669. 


Burton,  Major  J.  C.r  639. 
Bush,  Captain  Asahel  K.,  151. 
Busick,  Lieutenant  R.  H.,  433. 
Butler,  Lieutenant  S.  D.,  433. 
Butler,  Col.  Thomas  II.,  398,  497,  733. 
Butler,  Lieutenant  William,  429. 


C. 


Cache,  battle  of  the,  247. 
Caldwcll,  Lieutenant  H.  J.,  629. 
CaldwelL  Colonel  William  W.,  5. 
Callalian,  Lieutenant  Daniel,  408. 
Callaway,  Major  J.  E.,  431. 
Cameron,  Brigadier  General  Robert 

A,  300,  312,  513. 

Campbell,  Lieut.  Colonel  C.  B.,  428. 
Campbell  Henry,  187,  200,  407,  412, 

415,  438. 

Campbell's  Station,  492. 
Camp  Ford,  54-1. 
Camp  Groce,  545. 

Canby,  Maj.  Gen.  E.  R.  S.,  768,  800. 
Carey,  Colonel  0.  II.  P.,  429. 
Carr,  James  H.,  56. 
Carroll,  Colonel  William  B.,  422. 
Carothers,  Captain  Isaac,  278. 
Carsc,  Drummond,  235,  267. 
Carse,  John,  588. 
Carson,  Rev.  Lewis  E.,  169. 
Carson,  Captain  Parker  S,  730. 
Carter,  Colonel  Scottr  25. 
Carter,  Lieut,  Col.  William  L.,  477. 
Case,  Colonel  Ch.,  402. 
Cassady,  Captain  John  A.,  92. 
Castetter,  II.  D ,  572. 
Caston,  Lieutenant  David,  709. 
Cathcart  Robert,  102. 
Cattcrson,  Brig.  Gen.  R,  F.,  18,  267r 

773. 
Gavins,  Lieutenant  Colonel  E.  II.  C.r 

39,  62,  68,  92. 
Cedar  Creek,  692. 
Champion  Hill,  309. 
Chanccllorsville,  85,  802. 
Chapman,  Colonel  C.  W.,  5. 
Chapman,  Brev.  Maj.  Gcn'l  Gco.  H., 

25,  46,  59,  79,  594,  632,  664,  683, 

688. 

Charles,  Lt.  Col.  W.  S.,  300,  685,  697. 
Charleston,  siege  of,  589. 
Chattanooga,  419,  452. 
Chauncey,  Capt.  J.  D.  P.  A.  M..  635. 
Chapin,  Lieutenant  George,  706. 
Check,  Lieutenant  Colonel  J.  F.,  61. 
Chickama'uga,  421. 
Chickasmo  Bluff,  271. 
Cincinnati,  siege  of,  7. 
City  Point,  662. 
Clark,  Lieutenant  George  W.f  43K 


INDEX, 


807 


Clark,  Colonel  Jolm  G.,  242. 
Clark,  Captain  John  II.,  28. 
Clayton,  Captain  George  P.,  629. 
CIcndenin,  Major  R.  E  ,  247. 
Coburn,    Brevet    Brigadier    General 

Jolm,  179,  199,  210,  723,  740. 
Cold  Harbor,  G35. 
Cole,  Lieutenant  George  W.,  310. 
Cole,  Captain  L.  A.,  428. 
Colcscott,  Lieut.  Col.  Wm.  II.,  157. 
Colestock,  Lieutenant  Ed  B.,  709. 
Colgrove,   Brevet  Brigadier  General 

Silas,  40,  82,  92,  123,  708. 
Collins,  Lieut,  Col.  Jo.  P.,  424. 
Collins,  Captain  R.  K.,  519. 
Colliersville,  458. 
Colvin,  Lieutenant  S.  D.,  429. 
Connelly,  Major  J.  W.,  344. 
Conner,  Captain  A.  F,  743. 
Conover,  Colonel  Robert,  513. 
Conran,  Lieutenant  Bernard,  587. 
Conspiracy  against  the  State,  607. 
Cook,  Sergeant  Major  V.  A.,  170. 
Coons,  Col.  John,  39,  82,  92,  617,  028. 
Cooper,  Corporal  Jacob,  471. 
Copperheads,  78,  99,  181,  180. 
Corinth,  battle  of,  228. 
Courvoiser,  Captain  F.  L.,  569. 
Covington,  Adjutant  George  B.,   745. 
Cox,  Captain  Clayton,  344,  348. 
Cox,  Captain  J.  R.  S.,  521. 
Craig,  Lieutenant  Thomas  S.,  709. 
Cramer,  Captain,  139. 
Craner,  Captain  John,  428. 
Craven,  Lieut.  Colonel  Hervey,  5. 
Creviston,  Captain  D.  B.,  428. 
Criswell.  Lieutenant  W.  II.,  428. 
Crittenden,  Brig.  Gen.  Thos.  T.,  405. 
Cronkhitc,  Sergeant  Stephen,  471. 
Crousc,  Sorg't  AVm.  0.,  734,  735,  736. 
Crowe,  Captain  John,  1GG. 
Cruft,   Brevet  Major  Gen'l  Charles, 

149,  154,  171,  428,  466,  479,  505. 
Cummings,  Captain  W.  A.,  743. 
Cunningham,  Corporal,  100. 
Curnutt,  William,  742. 
Curry,  Corporal  Richard,  302. 
Cutler,  Captain  John,  424. 


D. 


Dandridyc,  504. 
Daniels,  Captain  L.  II.,  671. 
Danneman,  Lieutenant  C.  E.,  247. 
Darnell,  Lieut.  Col.  W.  W.,  270,  312. 
Daughcrt.y,  Thomas  J.  107. 
Davis,  Lieutenant.  A.,  430. 
Davis,  Lieutenant  Dennis,  25. 
Davis,    Major   General  Jeff.   C.   147, 
151,   171,  423,  4(50. 


Davis,  Lieutenant  Lcvi  B.,  278. 
Davis,  Lieut.  Colonel  Wm.  P.,  712. 
Davis,  Lieutenant  William,  651. 
Davis'  Mills,  275. 
Dawdy,  Lieutenant  Alfred,  639. 
Day,  Theodore,  411. 
Dccatur,  Hood  attacks,  756. 
DcIIart,  Colonel  R.  P.,  402,  744. 
Doming,  Captain  Charles  R.,  61. 
Denby,  Colonel  Charles,  10. 
Denning,  Captain  B.  F.,  744. 
Depcnbrock,  Bennett,  170. 
DCS  Arc,  expedition  to,  285. 
Descried  House,  battle  of,  585. 
Dcvol,  Adjutant  G.  II.,  169. 
Dick,  Brev.  Brig.  Gen.  G.  F.,  428,  472, 

711. 

Dick,  Lieutenant  Colonel  J.  C.,  432. 
Dick,  James,  470. 
Dillon,  Jonathan,  259. 
Doan,  Colonel  Thomas,  199,  433. 
Dobbs,  Colonel  J.  C.,  583. 
Dodge,  Colonel  J.  B.,  149,  423. 
Donncll,  Sergeant  Orion,  680. 
Downey,  Major  William  A.,  1G9. 
Doxey,  Captain  E.  0.,  534. 
Doyle,  Captain  Peter,  157. 
Dresser,  Lieut.  Colonel  J.  M.,  170. 
Dudley,  Lieut.  Col.  W.  W.,  107,  123. 
Dufflcy,  Major  J.  P.,  713. 
Dumont,  Brigadier  Gen'l  E,  5,  135. 
Dunham,  Colonel  Cyrus  L.,  277. 
Dunbar,  Captain  J.  G.,  742. 
Dunn,  Col.  David  M.,  149,  150,  429. 
Dunn,  Captain  A.  M.,  767. 
Dunn,  Capt,  N.  P.,  169,185,  423,,  443. 
Dunn,  W.  M'K.,  19 
Dunning,  Paris  C.,  3GG. 
Dunwoody,  Lieutenant  J.  A.,  454. 


East,  Lieutenant  C.  T.,  107. 
Eberly,  Lieutenant  J.,  429. 
Eddy,  Rev.  J.  N.,  407. 
Eddy,  Colonel  Norman,  226,  292,  310. 
Edsall,  Captain  Ed.  P.,  184. 
Ellcr,  J.  W.,  799. 
Eller,  Mrs.,  742. 

Elliott,  Lieut.  Colonel  II.  C.,  490. 
Elliott,  Captain  J.  II.,  568. 
Elliott,  Captain  C.  T.,  743. 
Ellis,  Captain  John  II.,  432. 
Emerson,  Colonel  Frank,  4,  513,  524. 
Emery,  Captain  William  S.,  709. 
Englchart,  Martin,  729. 
Erdelmeycr,  Colonel  Frances,  429. 
Espy,  Lieutenant  Colonel  IT.  J.,  430. 


808 


F. 


Fair  Garden,  505. 

Fallis  Lcroy,  451. 

Farminjton.,  450. 

Farrow,  Lieut.  Col.  Wm.  L.,  249. 

Feet,  256,  281,  302,  482,  500,  502. 

Fcntress,  Lieutenant  W.  H.,  742. 

Fesler,  Captain  George  L.,  92. 

Finlcy,  Major  John  II.,  319. 

Fisher's  Hi'll,  G88,  092. 

Fisher,  James,  G76. 

Fitch,  Colonel  G.  N.,  248. 

Fitch,  Joseph,  310. 

Fitlcr,  Lieutenant  Jacob  C.,  56. 

Five  Forks,  795. 

Flansburgh,  Captain  David,  433. 

Flesher,  Henry,  440. 

Fletcher,  Adjutant  S.  K,  208. 

Flinn,  Captain  John,  221. 

Flory,  Lieut  Colonel  A.  M  ,  539. 

Ford,  Sergeant  John,  310. 

Fortncr,  Captain  A.  J.,  756. 

Foster,  Colonel  John  W.,  5.  485,  48G. 

Foster,  Lieutenant  J.  D.,  430. 

Foster,  Brevet  Maj.  Gcn'l  Robert  S., 

583,  GGG. 

Fort  DcRussey,  521. 
Fort  McAllister,  775. 
Fort  F/'shcr,  785. 
Fort  Wcgncr,  590. 
Fonts,  Captain  James  C.,  169. 
Fowler,  Col.  Alc.\'ander,  18,  2G7,  322. 
Franklin,  Tcnn.,  203,  208. 
Franklin,  battle  of,  758,  766. 
Frederichsburg,  55. 
Frederick  City,  22,  25. 
Frccland,  Captain  Ben.  H.,  208,   212. 
Fuller,  Lieutenant  Robert,  348. 
Furgason,  James,  107. 


G 


Gageby,  Lieutenant  D.  11.,  633. 

Gallatin,  131. 

Garboden,  Lieutenant  W.  H.,  433. 

Gapcn,  Robert,  56. 

Garrctson,  Captain  George  C.,  296. 

Garver,  Surgeon  H.  F.,  123. 

Gavin,  Colonel  James,  5,  10,  Cl. 

George,  Mrs.  Eliza  E.,  792. 

George,  Captain  J.  E.,  430. 

Gerard,  William  T.,  803. 

Gettysburg,  104. 

Gibraltar  brigade,  39. 

Gibson,  Lieutenant  Charles,  67. 

Gibson,  Lieutenant  J.  L.,  743. 

Gifford,  Captain  B.  W.,  530,  533. 

Gillct,  Lieutenant  Frank,  757. 

Glass,  Lieut  Colonel  Jacob,  479. 


Gleason,  Brev.  Br.  Gen.  Newell,  432. 
Glover,  Major  J.  B.,  169. 
Glover,  Lieutenant  Win.  B.,  346. 
Godown,  Lieutenant  J.  M.,  742. 
Goclzcr,  Colonel  Augustus,  513. 
Good,  F.,  41,   78,   104,  109,  599,  676. 
Goodcriow,  Lieut.  Col  James,  322. 
Gooding,  Colonel  Michael,  149. 
Gordon,  Captain  L.  F.,  G29. 
Graham,  Col.  F.  W.,  489,  49G. 
Graham,  Lieutenant  Wm.  M.,  478. 
Grand  Coteau,  514. 
Grant,  General  U.  S.,  225,  266,  293, 

304,  314,  327,  454,  616. 
Gray,  Colonel  Isaac  P.,  5. 
Gray,  Surgeon  John  M.,  169. 
Graves,  Sergeant  Thomas  J.,  471. 
Graves,  Captain  Georgo  M  ,  429. 
Graydon,  James  W  ,  564,  566,  570. 
Grcathouse,  Lieut.  F.  M.,  509,  535. 
Gresham,  Lieut.  Col ,  Ben.  Q    A  ,  84. 
Grcsham,  Brig.  Gen.  W.  Q.,  322,  712. 
Grill.  John  F.,  515. 
Griffin,  Colonel  Dan.  F.,  149,  109,  713. 
Grimslcy,  Major  James,  844,  346. 
Groencndyke,  Lieut.  A.,  707. 
Grose,   Brevet   Major   General,    149, 

154,  166,  171.  425,  4GG,  479. 
Grovcr,  Col.  Ira  P.,  27,  82.  G17,  620. 
Gunsenhouser.  Captain  Jchn,  430. 
Gun! own,  battle  of,  5'37, 
Guthridge,  Captain  Albert  J,  227. 
Gwin,  Lieut.  Com'r  Wm.,  263,  272. 


II. 


Hackhiscr,  Captain  J.  C.,  604. 
Hacldcmau,  Brig.  General  P.  A.,  224, 

229. 

Iladdcn,  Captain  Jesse,  346. 
Haines,  Surgeon  A.  B.,  124. 
Hall,  Lieutenant  H.  B.,  345. 
Hall,  Lieutenant  R.  H  ,  430. 
Hamilton,  Col.  0.  S,  149,  177,  178. 
Hammond,  Colonel  J.  W.,  743. 
Hamrick,  Captain  James  W.,  344. 
Harnrick,  Captain  Simpson,  92. 
Hannaman,  William,  140,  141. 
Harding,  Sergeant  G.  W.,  G7G. 
Harland,  Captain  J.  M.,  477. 
Harrip,  Lieutenant  George,  431. 
Harris,  Captain  Thomas'll.,  237. 
Harrison,  Brevet  Brig'rGen'l,  4,  728. 
Harrow,  Brig.  Gen.  Wm.,  39,  712,  738. 
Harrovrcr,  Captain  Ben.  S.,  848. 
Harryraan,  Lieut.  Samuel  K.,  730. 
Hartley,  Lieutenant  Samuel,  347. 
Hartper.ce  Walter,  478. 
Hascall,   General  Milo  S,  If. 7,  165, 

493,  701,  713. 


INDEX. 


809 


Hatehie,  battle  of  the,  233. 
Hatfield,  Lieutenant  G.  C.,  432. 
Hathaway,  Col. Gilbert,  149, 157,  207. 
Havens,  Noah,  299. 
Ifaydcn,  Adjutant  Marshall  P.,  271. 
llealcy,  Colonel  Joshua,  428,  759. 
Heath,  Colonel  Albert,  477. 
Hecka thorn,  Captain  H.  H.,  7G7. 
Helena,  248,  339. 

Hendricks,  Lieutenant  Mahlon,  742. 
Hendricks,  Lieutenant  Thomas,  515. 
Henry,  Major  Samuel,  533. 
Tien  ton,  Captain  F.  M.,  760. 
Herron,  Lieutenant  W.  H.,  570. 
Hill,  David,  310. 
Hill,  Captain  G.  W.,  478. 
Hill,  Major  Samuel,  134,  135. 
Hilligoss,  Captain  Joseph,  429. 
Hinklc,  Captain  William  S.,  340. 
Hodge,  Lieut,  Col.  W.  G.,  497,  743. 
llodson,  Captain  S.  P.,  743. 
Holler,  Lieutenant  J.  F.,  92. 
llolliday,  Captain  J.  M.,  432. 
Hollis,  Joseph,  310. 
Jlolman,  Lieut.  Jesse  B.,  1G9. 
Hoiman,  Lieut.  Col.  Jesse  L.,  252. 
HolUngs worth  Wra.,  310. 
Holmes,  Lieutenant  David,  G7G. 
Horaan,  Major  J.  B.,  743. 
Home  Legion,  10,  894. 
Hoops,  Jacob,  707. 
Hoover's  Gap,  200,  40^3. 
Hough  ton,  Major  William,  92. 
Hovey,  Maj.  General  A.  P,  250,  206, 
29(3,  300,  309,  384,  013,   702,  705. 
Howard,  Captain  T.  A.,  10. 
Hoyt,  Sergeant  B.,  259. 
Hubbard,  Lieutenant  William,  92. 
Hughes,  Captain  Lewis,  432. 
Hull,  Colonel  J.  S.,  149,  153,  109. 
Humphrey,  Colonel  George,  149,  1G8. 
Humphreys,  Andrew,  391. 
Humphrey,?,  Phraortes,  74. 
Hunter.  General  Morton,   147. 
Hunter  s  Retreat,  G57. 
Hupfaup,  Lieutenant  Max.,  743. 
Huvbert,  Lieutenant  William  S.,  410. 
Ilurcl,  Lieut.  Col.  O.  D..  136,  150,  429. 
Huston,  Captain  James,  477,  742. 
Huston,  Lieutenant  0.  T.,  743. 

I. 

luka,  battle  of,  225. 
J. 

Jackson,  battle  of,  308. 

Jackson,  Col.  G.  W.,  297,  402,  490. 

Jamison,  Captain  Hugh,  G29. 


Jencks,  Maj,  John  C.,  319. 
Jenkins1  Ferry,  537. 
Jcrger,  Captain  Stephen,  93. 
Johnson,  Colonel  Thomas,  7-13. 
Johnson,  Colonel  G.  M.  L.,  402,  423. 
Johnson,  Lieut.  Col.  R.  M.,  477,  704. 
Jones,  Col.  F.  A.,  149,  151,  109,  750, 
Jones,  Lieutenant  R.  A.,  1-1 9,  1'JO. 
Jones,  Colonel  11.  B.,  513. 
Jones,  Major  W.  T.,  450. 
Jones,  Lieutenant  J.  II.,  533. 
Jones, Lieut.  Colonel  Win.,  233,  743. 
Jones,  Lieutenant  M.  T.,  428. 
Joncsboro,  789. 
Jordan,  Colonel,  395. 
Judkins,  Captain  Wm.  A.,  227. 
Judy,  Lieutenant  John,  277. 


K. 


Kalley,  Captain  Francis  M.,  G7. 
Keck,  Captain  Mclicwet,  274. 
Keigwin,  Colonel  James,  273. 
Kempton,  Lieut,  Col.  Sol.  D ,  322. 
Kempcr,  Serg't  Major  J.  Wesley,  CO. 
Kennedy,  Lucicn  W.,  579. 
Keith,  Colonel  John  A.,  344. 
Kcnesaw,  713. 

Kestcr,  Lieutenant  Hoary,  170. 
Kempton,  Colonel  Solomon  D.,  267. 
Ketcham,  Captain  J.  Lewis,  137,  188, 

190,  70G,  728,  799. 

Ketcham,  Capt,  W.  A.,  671,  G77,  786. 
Key,  Major  John  J.,  43. 
Kilroy,  Lieutenant  William,  1GG. 
Kimball,  Brevet  Major  Gen'l  Nathan, 

21,  So,  50,  57,  02,  321,  710,  719,  727. 
King,  Captain  James  II.,  165. 
King,  Colonel  Edward  A.,  4,  430. 
Kinnear,  Lieutenant  J.  II.,  738. 
Kialcy,  Major  Isaac,  149,  170. 
Kirkpatrick,  Captain  A  ,  743. 
Kirk  wood,  Adam,  511. 
Kise,  Colonel  William  C.,  402. 
Klein,  Lieut,  Colonel  Robert,  143. 
Kneller.    Brcv.    Brig.   Gen.    F.,    149, 

467,  711. 
Knoxvillcj  485 
Kop,  Captain  Peter,  40. 


L. 


Lackey,  Lieutenant  R.  J.,  433. 
Lahuo,  Lieutenant  Marshall,  25. 
Lassclle,  Lieut.  Col.  W.  P.,  428. 
Learning,    Colonel  Henry,    159,    45G, 

473,   720,  764. 

Lease,  Captain  William  J.,  429. 
Lee,  Lieutenant  Jacob  A.,  40. 
Lee,  General  R.  L '.,  surrender  of,  798, 


810 


INDEX. 


LcFevre,  Captain  I.  II.,  432. 
Lcflcr,  Lieutenant  Samuel,  339. 
Lcftwich,  Lieutenant  J.  F.,  7G7. 
Legislature,  79,  305. 
Lcmnon,  A.  E  ,  320. 
Lemon,  Major  Ch.,  123. 
Lornon,  Robert,  430. 
Lennard,  Colonel  G.  W.,  159,  708. 
Leslie,  Captain  Fred.,   767. 
Leslie,  Lieutenant  Colonel  J.  P.,  505. 
Lilly  Prison,  218,  223. 
Liberty  Gap,  404. 

Lincoln,  President,  1,  20,  43,  44,  45, 
GG,  72,   73,   114,  126,  294,  304,  799. 
Lindson,  Lieutenant  D.  C.,  743. 
Link,  Colonel  Wm.  IL,  4,  17. 
Linvillc,  Captain  John.  519. 
List,  Samuel,  70,  77,  78,  670. 
Little  Rock,  507. 
Lookout,  403. 

Logan,  Lieut,  Colonel  T.  H,  604. 
Loughry,  Lieutenant  Roger  S.,  92. 
Lowes,  Lieutenant  J.  E  ^  720. 
Lucas,  Brig.  Gen.  T  J.,  513,  533.  769. 
Lundy,  Lieutenant  P.  B.,  39. 
Lyon,  Captain  G.  W.,  395. 

M. 

McAllister,  Captain  Harrison,  432. 
Macaulcy,  Brcv.  Brig.  Gen.  Daniel, 

252,  310,  513,  633. 
M'Carty,  Captain,  392. 
M'Clclland,  J.  A.,  477. 
M'Clurc,  Major  \Ym.  S.,  26,  594. 
M'Cole,  Brevet  Lieut  Col.  C.  J.,  431. 
M'Crea,  Captain  Ed.  T.,  208. 
M'Cray,  Lieutenant,  J.  R.,  G77. 
M'Cucn,  Arthur,  180. 
McFaddcn,  Surgeon,  W.  G.,  431. 
McFarland,  Garrison,  584. 
McFecly,  Captain  Aaron,  515. 
M'Ginnis,   Brigadier  General   G.  F., 

252,  300,  309,  385,  513. 
M'Graw,  Colonel  John  S.,   159,  708. 
M'Guiro,  Captain  J.  W.  II.,  276. 
Mclntire,  Colonel  W.  T.  B..  430. 
McKahin,  Captain  John,  40. 
McLnuslilin,  Colonel  J.  A.,  251,  301, 

513,  532. 

McLaflin,  Captain  Ed.,  344.  347. 
MeKcehan,  Major  S.  F.,  743. 
MeLeiui,  Colonel  William,  385. 
McMillan,  Br't  Maj.  Gen.  J.  WM  525. 
McVoy,  John,  38.  ' 
Magnolia  Church,  battle  of,  300. 
Mahan,  Colonel  J.  R.,  402. 
Main,  Colonel  Z.  S.,  561. 
Mann,  Captain  R.  F.,  224. 
Mansfield,  Colonel  J.  L.,  513. 


Manson,  Brig.  Gen'l  M.  D.,  704. 

Mark's  Mills,  536. 

Marshall,  Captain  George  K.,  428. 

Marsh,  Lieutenant  S.,  743. 

Martin,  Captain  A.  J.,  428. 

Martin,  Lieutenant  S.  D.,  432. 

Martin,  Francis,  742. 

Matthews,  Corporal  Wm.  IL,  310. 

Matlock,  Captain  James  T ,  729. 

Matson,  Lieut,  Colonel  C.  0.,  733. 

Matthis,  Captain  P.  T..  743. 

Meredith,  Gen.  Sol.,  61,   77,  82,   10G. 

107,  122. 

Meikel,  Lieut.  Col.  G.  AY..  674. 
Meridian  Expedition,  503. 
Merrill,  Lieut,  Col.  Sam,    191,    713, 

7J9,  722,  777,  783,  801.  ' 
Merritt,  Captain  Wrn.  II.,  428. 
Michner,  Corporal  Thomas  K. 
Milburn,  Captain  A.,  478. 
Military  Agency,  140,  141,  CG2. 
Miller,  Brevet,  Major  Gen    John  F., 

131,  149,  153,  15  I  1C6,  171,  404. 
Miller,  Br't  Brig'r  Gen'l  A    0.,   768. 
Mills,  Lieut,  Colonel  N.  W.,  239. 
Milroy,   Major   General   Robert,    94, 

99,  100,  127,  335,  761,  760. 
Mine  Run,  battle  of,  GOO. 
Missionary  Ridge,  464,  465. 
Mitchcll/Corporal,  B.  W.,  26. 
Mitchell,  Captain  E.  R.,  431. 
Mobile,  767. 

Moffet,  Captain  Thomas  Yv7"..  81,  632. 
Monfort,  Rev.  David,  123. 
Monocacy,  G42. 
Montevailo,  768. 
Montgomery,  Ben.,  203. 
Moody,  Adjutant,  Irving,  569. 
Mooncy,  Serg't  Major  Michael,  350. 
Monroe,  Captain  J.  F  ,  478. 
Moore,  Sergeant  Major  J.  B.  S.,  23G. 
Moore,  Lieutenant  John  M.,  432. 
Moores  Charles  W.,  805. 
Moorhaus,  Captain  Albert,  250. 
Morgan,  Dr.  James  IL,  155. 
Morgan,  General  John,  131,  136,  393. 
Morgan,  Brcv.  Brig.  Gen.  T.  J.,'  750, 

762. 

Morgan,  Lieutenant  William  II.,  169. 
Morgan,  Brev.  Brig.  General  W.  II., 

224,  233,  275. 
M  organza,  510. 
Morrcll  Lewis,  788. 
Morton.  Gov.    0.   P.,   1,  5,  10,  12,  14, 

19,  68,  77,  140,  184,  306,  385,  395, 

605,  611. 

Morton's  Ford,  602. 
Moss,  Captain  A.  J.,  743. 
Mossy  Creek,  503. 
Mud  Campaign,  73. 


INDEX. 


811 


Murfreesloro,  142. 
Murray,  Colonel  C.  D.,  528. 
Myers,  Captain  J.  B.,  4GG. 
Myers,  Lieut.  Col.  B.  H.,  744. 
Myers  Henry,  533. 

N. 

Nagle,  Amos,  300. 
Nashville,  131,  142. 
Nashville,  battle  of,  762,  766. 
Naylor,  Captain  Wm.  A.,  456. 
Neal,  Lieutenant  Moses  M.,  150,  169. 
Neff,  Captain  J.  L.,  790. 
Neff,  Colonel  Andrew  J.,  432. 
Neff,  Lieutenant  Colonel   Elias,   160. 
Neff,  Lieut,  Uol.  Francis  L ,  420,  744. 
Negroes,  223,  252,  253,  254,  282,  326, 

335,  341,  369,  756,  762,  783. 
Newland,  Captain  A.  J.,  743. 
New  Hope  Church.  110. 
New,  Dr.  George  W.,  40. 
New,  Mrs   Adelia,  662. 
Newton,  John  H.,  733. 
Ncvftonia,  242. 

Nickston,  Lieutenant  L.  S.,  428. 
Noble,  Charles,  93,  126,  127. 
Noble,  Captain  George  M.,  155. 
^Noblo,  Adjutant  General  Laz.,  394. 
Norris,  Lieut,  Gol.  Wesley  W.,  340. 
North  Anna,  crossing  of  the,  633. 


O'Brien,  Colonel  Wm.,  431. 

O'Daniel,  Captain  Andrew,  319. 

Ogborn,  Corporal  Allen  W.,  107. 

Okolona,  564. 

O'Neill,  Lieut.  Colonel  John,  400. 

One  Hundred  Days'  Service,  605. 

Orchard  Knob,  461. 

Orr,  Lieut.  Colonel  John  W.,  284. 

Opcquan,  686. 

Osborn,  Colonel  John,  149. 

Osborne,  Captain  Adam,  739, 

Otwell,  Adjutant  T.  P.,  499. 

Owen,  Colonel  Richard,  513. 

Owens,  Captain  F.  G  ,  744. 


P. 


Pace,  Colonel  Thomas  N.,  340,  402. 
Packard,  Brevet  Brig.   Gen.  Jasper, 

227,  744,  758. 

Parker,  Captain  J.  B.  W.,  431. 
Parks,  Lawrence,  742. 
Parks,  Lieutenant  S.  B  ,  428. 
Parker,  Lieut.  Col.  George    W.,  727. 
Parrish,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  C.  H.,  402. 
Parrott,  Major  Robert,  414. 


Palmetto  Ranchc,  800. 

Patterson,  Major  James  E.,  705. 

Patterson,  Lieutenant  James,  429. 

Patton,  Major  William,  594,  602. 

Pcdcn,  Corporal  Seth  C.,  621. 

Pcdigo,  Captain  J.  0.,  004. 

Peach  Tree  Creek,  Til. 

Perry,  Lieutenant  James  F.,  310. 

Perry,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Oran,  513. 

Peoples,  Captain  Thomas  N.,  708. 

Petersburg,  661. 

Pfrimmer,  Major  J.  S  ,  394. 

Phelps,  Lieutenant  D.  L.,  429. 

Picketts-  Mills,  710. 

Pine  Bluffs,  508. 

Pleasant  Hill,  526,  534. 

Poole,  Lieut.  Colonel  John  W.,  574. 

Port  Hudson,  842. 

Porter,  Adjutant  C.  H.,  742. 

Potts,  Charles,  3. 

Prairie  d" 'Anne,  535. 

Prairie  Grove,  243. 

Pratt,  Adjutant  J.  P  ,  83,  87,  90,  95, 

103,  110,  114,  629,  645. 
Price,  Lieutenant  R.  T.,  430. 
Prisoners,   216,  539,    574,    579,    678, 

751,  791. 

Prosser,  Captain  Henry,  166. 
Prow,  Fred.  L.,  278. 
Pulaski,  756. 

Q. 

Quigley,  Captain  Henry,  629. 
R. 

Rader,  James,  527. 

Ragan,  Major  Z.  S.,  716. 

Ralston,  Lieutenant  Josiah,  274, 

Ransdall,  John  C.,  678. 

Rai/mond,  battle  of,  307. 

Redding,  Captain  J.  W.,  739. 

Redfield,  Lieut.  Col.  J.  II.,  513.  521. 

Red  Mound,  278. 

Red  River  Campaign,  519. 

Read,  Brig.  General  Theodore,  797. 

Reed,  Lieutenant  Isham,  729. 

Reed,  Lieutenant  W.  S ,  742. 

Rees,  Lieutenant,  D.  B.,  767. 

Reese,  Lieutenant  T.  II ,  429. 

Reeves,  Captain  G.  Wr.,  569. 

REGIMENTS    OF    INFANTRY    AND  CAV 
ALRY. 

Sixth,  149,  169,  404,   422,  428,  456, 

478,  503. 
Seventh,  20,  25,  31,  40,  50,  61,  70,  82, 

93,  109,  123,  598,  617. 


812 


INDEX. 


Eighth,  251,  256,  262,  298,  302,  312, 

317,  510,  683. 
Ninth,    144,   155,   170,   420,  466,  477. 

703,  719. 

Tenth,  135,  422,  423. 

Eleventh,  251,-  270,  285,    287,   298, 

309,  312,  613,  G83. 
Twelfth,  17,  269,  281,  322,  459,   46G, 

704,  773. 

Thirteenth,  581,    635,   639,  GG3,  785, 

789. 
Fourteenth,    21,   35,  50,  62,  82,  112, 

122,  594,  617,  625,  636,  663. 
Fourteenth  Regulars,  (Colored,)  75G, 

762. 

Fifteenth,  146,  149, 159,  478,  503,  741. 
Sixteenth,  4,  17,  271,  284,  299,  312, 

510,  521,  530,  533. 
Seventeenth,  179,  202,  407,  430,  449, 

712,  768. 
Eighteenth,  246,  251,   2G2,   296,   302, 

317,  516,  534,  G83. 
Nineteenth,  25,   33,  61,  82,  93,    100, 

122,  601,  617,  663.  671. 
Twentieth,    25,    46,    61,   82,  92,   111, 

122,  601,  617,  627,  063,  794,  790. 
Twenty-First, (  First   Heavy    Artill- 

lery,)  344,  509,  770. 
Twenty-Second,   149,   169,   192,   503, 

739,  782. 
Twenty-Third,    225,    281,    297,    301, 

312,  326,  513,  562. 
Twenty-Fourth,   249,  251,   270,   285, 

298,  311,  770. 
Twenty-Fifth,  224,  233,  245,  26G,  274, 

281,  560,  782. 
Twenty-Sixth,  241,  323,  510,  541,  770. 


Thirty-Eighth,    169,   200,    429,    477, 

713,  739,  782. 
Thirty-Ninth,  (Eierhth  Cavalry,)  149, 

168,    199,  404,   433,   451,   737.  767, 

773. 
Fortieth,  144,  159,  170,  478,  503,  705, 

719. 
I  Forty-First,  (Second   Cavalry,)   134, 

143,  403,  500,  503,   705. 
Forty-Second,  149,  167,  170,  430,  477, 

710,  741,  782. 

Forty-Third,  249,  270,  340,  535. 
Forty-Fourth,  149,  170,  430. 
Forty-Fifth,  (Third  Cavalry,) 

Eastern  wing  of,  25,  40,  46,  567  64, 

71.  81,  97,  100,  106,  123,   126,  594, 

602,  617,  636,  683. 

Western  wing  of,  136, 143, 151,  170, 

203,  408,  741. 
Forty-Sixth.  248,  251,  270,  285,292, 

305,  312,  329,  490,  503,  613. 
Forty-Seventh,    250,    287,    298,    513, 

531,  770. 
Forty-Eighth,  224,  266,  292,  307,  358, 

459,  477. 
Forty-Ninth,  273,  285,    296,  301,  517, 

531. 

Fiftieth,  17,  277,  537,  770. 
Fifty-First,  149,  157,  170,  206,  221. 
Fifty-Second,  560.  570,  770. 
Fifty-Third,  224,   234,   266,   322,  562, 

741. 

Fifty-Fourth,  273,  285,  299. 
Fifty-Seventh,    146,    159,    453,    478, 

503,   705,  719. 
Fifty-Eighth,  144,  158,  170,  430,  478, 

503,  741,  773. 


Twenty-Seventh,   21,   34,  40,  50,   72,      Fifty-Ninth,  224,    237,  266,  292,  307, 

82,  92,  122,  385,455,  710. 
Twenty-Eighth,  (First  Cav.,)  Eastern 

wing  of,  25,  55,  82,  123,  595. 

Western   wing  of,   247,   251,  270, 

298,  339,  503. 
Twenty-Eighth  Regulars,   (Colored,) 

604,  667. 


Twenty-Ninth,  145,  150,  169,  423. 
Thirtieth,  149,  429,  119,  741. 
Thirty-First,  149,  155,  169,  429,  741. 
Thirty-Second,    149,    169,    404,    429, 

479,  503,  613,  741. 
Thirty-Third,  133,  179,  193,  208,  383, 

741. 
Thirty-Fourth,    249,    287,    297,    312, 

513,  800. 
Thirty-Fifth,  136,  149,  165,  170,  429, 

466,  476,  713,  741. 
Thirty-Sixth,  146,  155,  165,  170,  429, 

4G6,  476,  719,  741. 
Thirty-Seventh,   131,   146,   154,    169, 

186,  429,  711,  741. 


319,  459. 

Sixtieth,  17,  271,  285,   299,  513,  534. 
Sixty-Third,  704,  723. 
Sixty-Fifth,  133,  484,  723. 
Sixty-Sixth,  6,  17,  271,  284,  299,  319, 

513,  534,  770. 
Sixty-Seventh,  17,  271,  284,  299,  319, 

513,  534,  770. 
Sixty-Eighth,   17,   179,426,430,479, 

503,  763. 
Sixty-Ninth.   17,   274,    284,  290,  301, 

319,  513,  770. 
Seventieth,  3,  133.  100,  705,  713,  728, 

740. 
Seventy-First,    (Sixth    Cavalry,)   17, 

133,  394,  484,  712,  733,  75G. 
Seventy-Second,  179,    204,   407,   430, 

450,  563,  712. 
Seventy-Third,    133,    146,    156,    170, 

206,  755. 

Seventy-Fourth,  17,  133,  430,  741. 
Seventy-Fifth,  13?,  409,  430,  479,  741. 


INDEX. 


813 


Seventy-Sixth,  5. 

Seventy-Seventh,   (Fourth  Cavalry.) 

133/179,  403,  504,  741,  756. 
Seventy-Eighth,  16. 
Seventy-Ninth,    149,    1G5,   170,    431, 

467,  503,  711,  727,  739. 
Eightieth,  10,  133,  484,  709. 
Eighty-First,  147,  1G9,  430,  741,  767. 
Eighty-Second,    147,    162,    431,   456, 

709,  733. 
Eiehty-Third,  18,   274,  285,  306,  459, 

466,  741. 
Eighty-Fourth,  10,  133,  179,  431.  453, 

702. 
Eighty-Fifth,  133,  179,  192,  208,  383, 

728,  782. 
Eighty-Sixth,  149,  170,  431,  467,  502, 

703,  711,  740. 
Eighty-Seventh,    133,  408,  431,   479, 

733. 
Eighty-Eighth,    149,    168,     431,    476, 

709,  782. 
Eighty-Ninth,  17,  521,  533,  560,  570, 

770. 
Ninetieth,  (Fifth  Cavalry,)   18,    133, 

39G,  484,  503,  712,  733: 
Ninety-First,  5,  761. 
Ninety-Third,  18,  281,  301,  560,  570, 

770. 
Ninety-Seventh,    18,    209,    322,  459, 

465,  741,  773. 
Ninety-Ninth,  18,  282,  322,  459,  466, 

711. 
One   Hundredth,   18,    267,   280,   322, 

459,  460,  704,  74-1,  773. 
One  Hundredth  and  First,    10,   133, 

179,  199,  426,  433,  479,  741. 
One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth,  402,  490. 
One   Hundred    and    Sixteenth,  402, 

490,  497. 
One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth,  402, 

490,  497. 
One  Hundred  and  Eighteenth,  403 

490,  496. 

One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth  (Sev 
enth  Cavalry,)  402,    560,   564,  570, 

573. 
One   Hundred   and   Twentieth,  402, 

741. 
One     Hundred     and    Twenty-First, 

(Ninth  Cavalry,)  402,  755,  707. 
One    Hundred     and    Twenty-Third, 

402.  741,  761. 
One   Hundred   and    Twenty-Fourth, 

402,  741,  761,  790. 
One    Hundred     and     Twenty-Fifth, 

(Tenth  Cavalry,)  402,  755,  770. 
Ono  Hundred  and  Twenty-Seventh, 
(Twelfth  Cavalry,)  402,    755,   767, 
770. 


One  Hundred    and    Twenty-Eighth, 

402,  741,  758. 
One    Hundred    and    Twenty-Ninth. 

402,  758. 

One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth,  402,  741. 
One     Hundred     and      Thirty-First, 

(Thirteenth    Cavalry,)    402,     755, 

767,   770. 

One  Hundred  and  Forty-Ninth,  800. 
One  Hundred  and  Fifty-Third,  £00. 

Reissner,  Frank,  586. 

Rcsaca,  705. 

Reynolds,  Major  General  J.  J.,  135, 

179,  203,  407,  423,  425,  426. 
Rheatown,  490. 

Rheinlander,  Major  John,  235. 
Richmond,  A"?/.,  14. 
Richmond,  Va.,  fall  of,  79G. 
Rigby,  Captain  Silas  F.,  30. 
Ritter,  Captain  J.  D.,  429,  742. 
Roach,  Lieutenant  A.  C.,  221. 
Robb,  llev.  Hamilton,  540. 
Roberts,  Captain  Thomas  B.,  224. 
Robinson,  Captain  Ben.  II.,  699. 
Robinson,  Col.  M.  S.,  251,  431. 
Robinson,  Lieut.  Col.  W.  J.  II..  252. 
Rose,  Lieut.  Col.  A.  D.,  510. 
Rose,  Captain  E.  E.,  346. 
Rose,  Frank  B.,  495. 
Rosencranz,  Major  A.  C.,  504. 
Rptramcl,  Lieut,  George  W.,  92,  601. 
Roy,  Lieut    Col.  Wm.,  344,  343. 
Royse.  Adjutant  Dan.,  160,  162. 
Rugg/Lieut.  Col.DeWittC.,  227,  231. 
Russell,  Lieutenant  Burr,  479. 
Russell,  Captain  Milton,  207. 
Runyan,  Lieutenant  D.  N.,  743.     . 
Russell,  Captain  Samuel,  423. 
Russell,  Brev.  Brig.  Gen.  C.  8..  G04, 

667. 
Rylancl,  Adjutant  Fredus,  432. 


Sabin,  Rev.  E.  II.,  68. 

Saline  Pass,  511. 

Saline  Cross  Roads,  524,  533. 

Sackett,  Surgeon  L.  M.,  569. 

Salisbury  Prison,  679. 

Sanderson,  Colonel  Wm.  L.,  22,  712. 

Sanitary  Commission,  68, 140,  662,  666. 

Savannah,  775. 

Sawyer,  Rev.  Sam.  W.,  252,  253.  341, 

531. 

Sccrest,  Major  N.  A.,  604. 
Sccrest,  Lieutenant  J.  II.,  767. 
Scammehorn,  Major  John  A.,  167. 
Schell,  Captain  Eugene  M.,  767. 
Scott^  Captain  J.  A.,  504. 


814 


INDEX. 


Scott,  Captain  George  L.,  742. 
Scott,  Lieutenant  Robert,  591. 
Scott,  Sergeant  Major  J  E.,  334. 
Schauble,  Captain  Gotlieb,  310. 
Scribner,  Col.  Ben.  F.,    149,  169,  200, 

422,  423,  477. 

Scliussler,  Surgeon  Charles,  428. 
Scars,  Lieut.  Col.  F.  A  ,  514. 
Senior,  Lieutenant  Joseph,  519. 
Seifcrt,  Captain  Hcm-y,  743. 
Shalcr,  Henry,  125. 
Shanklin,  Lieut.  Col.  J.  M,,  149,  167, 

176. 

Shanks,  Lieut.  S.  B.  H.,  477,  5GO. 
Shanks,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  J.  P.  C., 

402,  560,  5G5. 

Shannon,  Lieutenant  Abner  L.,  81. 
Sharp,  Lieutenant  J.  C.,  743. 
Sharra,  Captain  Abraham,  56. 
Sheets,  Lieutenant  Frank,  434. 
Sheets,  Lieutenant  ColonelJ.  W.,  206. 
Sheets,  Lieut.  W.  II.  H.,  157,  165,  435. 
Shell,  Henry,  310. 
Shelz,  Lieutenant  Henry,  479. 
Shephard,  Charles,  651. 
Sherman,  Dr.  Mason  G,  171,  428. 
Sherrow,  Lieut.  J.  H.,  788. 
Shinn,  William  H ,  303. 
Shipherd,  Lieutenant  L.  C.,  428. 
Shirk,  Orderly  George,  428. 
Shively,  Captain  L.  B.,   743. 
Showers,  Captain  11.  J.,  709. 
Shook.  Captain  Hezekiah,  154,  186. 
Shryock,  Colonel  K.  G..  400. 
Shuler,  Colonel  L.  S.,  400. 
Shulz,  Captain  Abraham  D.,  170. 
Shunk,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  David,  254. 

257,  317,  686,  699. 
Simons,  Captain  J.  S.,  629. 
Simonson,  Captain  Peter,  744. 
Sims,  Captain  J.  A.,  491. 
Simpson,  Major  J.  E.,  308. 
Skelton,  Captain  J.  W.,  569,  570. 
Slack,  Brig.  Gen.  James  R.,  300,  309, 

385,  513,  532. 

Sloan,  Captain  Wm.  W.,  247. 
Slocum,  Lieut.  Col.  Paul  E.,  743. 
Smith,  Lieutenant  C.  D.,  432. 
Smith,  Lieutenant  C.  W.,  518. 
Smith,  Captain  J.  M.,  478. 
Smith,  Colonel  J.  T.,  429. 
Smith,  Major  0.  J.,  733. 
Sons  of  Liberty,  607. 
Southard,  Captain  Wm.  M.,  471. 
Spaulding,  James  C.,  729. 
Speed,  Sidney,  203,  205. 
Spears,  Lieutenant  Wm.,  743. 
Spencer,  Surgeon  Robert,  206. 
Spicely,   Colonel  Wm.   T.,  249,  270, 

285,  300,  573. 


Spies,  hanging  of,  212. 
Spooncr,  Colonel  Ben.  J.,  18,  267,  744, 
Spottsylvania,  84,  G24. 
Stalcy,  Captain  James  G.,  760. 
Stebbins,  Captain  Frank,   169. 
Stcelc,  Captain  Sam.,  430. 
Steele'K  March  to  Camdcn,  534. 
Stephens,  Lieut.  James,  706. 
Stepp,  Captain  William  T.,  786. 
Stevens,  Frank,  392. 
Stevenson,  Gillett,  662. 
Stidham,  Major  J.  S.,  743. 
Stewart,  Colonel  J.  W.,  135. 
Stewart,  Colonel  Robert  Pv.,  402. 
Stiles,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  I.  N.,   704. 
Stockdale,  Wm.,  357. 
Stone  River,  battle  of,  142. 
Stough,  Lieut.  Col.  G.  W.,  432. 
Stoughton,  Colonel  S.  J.,  2G7,  322. 
Stradcr,  Captain  F.  P.,  478. 
Stratton,  Lieutenant  Henry,  319. 
Streight,  Colonel  A.  D.,  140,  205,220. 
Sullivan,  Brig.  Gen.  J.  C.,  224,  230, 

276,  657. 

Sulphur  Branch  Trestle,  755. 
Suman,  Colonel  J.  C.  B.,  144,  170. 
Suffolk,  siege  of,  587. 
Sutton,  William,  582. 
Swafford,  Corporal  John,  319. 
Swain,  Lieut.  Colonel  William,  310. 
Swain,  Captain  F.  F.,  744. 
Swank,  Lieutenant  Wm.,  705. 
Swihart,  Lieutenant  A.  H.,  477. 


T. 


Tanner,  Lieut.  Col.  Thos.  B.,  151, 169. 
Taylor,  Lieutenant  Gamaliel  L,  98. 
Taylor,  Captain  J.  D.  M.,  768. 
Taylor,  Colonel  W.  C.  L.,  617. 
Ttche  River  Campaign,  511. 
Thomas,  Surgeon  Charles  L.,  236. 
Thomas,    Adjutant  E.  D.,    172,    179, 

411,  440,  470,  709,  714,  721,  723. 
Thomas,  Colonel  DeWitt  C  ,  252. 
Thomas,  Captain  John  F.,  627. 
Thompson's  Station,  battle  of,  195. 
Tibbits,  Captain  Miles  H.,  157. 
Timberlake,  Lieut.  Col.  John,  1-19, 
Timber-lake,  Colonel,  394. 
Tripp,  Colonel  Hagerman,  119,  423. 
Trout,  Benjamin,  676. 
Tucker,  Captain  Charles  E.,  351. 
Tyler,  steamer,  263. 
Tullahoma,  409. 
Tunnel  Hill,  421,  469. 


V. 


Van  Antwerp,  Lieut.  W.  B.,  639. 


INDEX. 


815 


Van  Buskirk,  Captain  David,  92. 
Van  Cleve,  General,  152,  105. 
Vaudcvcnder,  Capt.  Hiram  T,  319. 
Van  Dyke,  Captain  A.  M. 
Vane?,  George  P.,  134. 
Vance,  Colonel  Samuel  C.,  134. 
Vance.  John,  203. 
Vanor.-dall,  Lieut.  William,  40. 
Vanskike,  David,  742. 

Vauyht's  Hill,  engagement  on,  190. 
Vcatch,    Brig.    Gen.   James   C.,  224, 
233,  7G9. 

Vicksbury,  assault  on,  31G. 

Vicksbury,  263. 

Von  Selilcn,  Captain  John  C.  H.,  SO. 
Von  Trcbra,  Colonel  Henry,  149. 
Voss,  Sergeant  F.  M.,  317. 


W. 


Wade,  Lieut.  Col.  A.  B.,  157,  75G. 
Wadswortli,  Captain  S.  A.,  688. 
Wagner,  Brev.  Maj.  Gen.  G.  D.,  149, 

155,  1-58,   171,    192,    203,  420,  479, 

705,  719. 

Walker,  Lieutenant  J.  TV.,  743. 
Walker,  Captain  Win.  H.,  271. 
Walkers  Ford,  407. 
Wallace,  Maj.  Gen.  Lewis,  4,  13.  399, 

G41. 
Washburn,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  II.  D.. 

2G1,  317,  513,  089. 
Waters,  Lieutenant  J.  II.,  742. 
Waterman.  Captain  Richard  M.,  155. 
Weaver,  Lieutenant  James  II.,  742. 
Webb,  Sergeant  Samuel,  319. 
Wells,  Colonel  Samuel  T.,  277. 
Wells,  Captain  J.  M.,  604. 
West,  Dr.  Calvin,  336. 
Wkeatley,  Colonel  Win.  M.,  242,  243. 
Wheeler,  Colonel  John,  82,   93,    122. 
White,  Lieut.  Colonel  Frank,  478. 
White,  Lieutenant  Joseph  E.,  92. 
White,  Lieutenant.  David,  743. 
White,  Brevet  Brigadier  Gene'l,  768. 
Whitenack,  David  and  Gcorgo,  751. 
Wilcoxen,  Captain  John  W.,  40. 
Wilde,  Lieutenant  Samuel,  147. 
Wilder,  Colonel  John  T.,  5,  200,  203, 

406,  409,  415,  421,  449. 
Wilderness,  the,  84. 


Wilderness,  battle  of,  620,  651. 
Wiles,  Colonel  Wm.  M.,  171. 
Willard,  Lieut.  George  0.,  742. 
Williams'  Canal,  287,  291. 
Williams,  Capt.  E  P.,  207,  280,  413, 

437,  4G2,  470. 
Williams,  Lieut.  Henry  M.,  130,  184, 

414,  433. 

Williams,  John  J..  803. 
Williams,  Major  Jonathan  II.,  CO 7. 
Williams,  Captain  Josiah  C.,  92. 
Williams,  Captain  0.  D.,  070. 
Williams,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen.  Reuben, 

18,  281,  704,  712. 
Williams.  Col.  S.  J.,  67,  82,  107,  G17, 

G21,  628. 

Williams,  Col.  Wm.  C,,  149,  170. 
Williams,  Col., of  Home  Legion,  399. 
Williamson,  Surgeon  T.  W.  C.,  311. 
Willich,  Brig.  Gen.  August,  146,  150, 

163,  404,  423,  42G,   70G. 
Willitts,  Lieutenant  II.,  4o3. 
Wilson,  Major  John  L  ,  130. 
Wilson,  Lieutenant  Lewis. 
Winset,  Corporal  Thomas,  107. 
Witt,  Surgeon  Wm.  B.,  519. 
Wirz,  Captain,  359. 
Wood,  Lieutenant  George,  350. 
Wood,  Colonel  Gustavus  A.,  149. 
Wood,  General  Thomas  J.,  425. 
Wood,  Lieut.  Colonel  Wm.  F.  247. 
Woodmansee,  Captain  II.  M.,  498. 
Woodward,  Captain  Pyrrhus,  170. 
Wcollcy,  Lieut.  Colonel  John,  504. 
Wootcn,  Captain  Daniel  P.,  171. 
Wright,  Lieutenant,  A.  W.,  533. 
Wright,  Captain  II.  F.,  571. 
Wysong,  Captain  Fred.  S.,  319. 

Y. 

Yaryan  Adjutant,  J.  L.,  430. 
Yazoo  Pass,  287,  291. 
Yellow  Bayou,  532. 
Yellow  Tavern,  G31. 
Yellow  House,  G71. 

Z. 

Zeek,  Captain  F.  S.,  530. 
Zent,  Lieut.  Col.  Sam.  M.,  C69,  671,. 
787,  789. 


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